CHAPTER 3

“You want to make the team again?” her coach asked.

“You know I do. This is not a big secret, Coach. I have to get back out there soon if they’re going to consider me. You know that.”

“No, I know that you need to listen to me. I’m in charge, remember?” he asked with a stern expression she’d seen more than once. “We’re a year out, Drew.”

Drew was the kind of person who needed a coach like this. She’d previously had one she’d been able to walk all over, and that hadn’t worked out because she needed someone to tell her how it was and insist that she follow their instructions. If not, she’d just risk going out on her own, getting herself hurt, or even just being too tired to make smart decisions on the course or in her training, getting hurt that way. It might as well be her Achilles heel. This coach knew that and made sure to tell her when she was being the kind of athlete he didn’t coach for that very reason.

“I am well aware of how far away the Olympics are; trust me. I don’t need a reminder.” She shifted from lying down on the physical therapist’s bed to sitting up and letting her legs dangle over the side of it instead. “I have three different countdowns on my phone. One for the team selection date, one for the date I’d leave with the team, and one for what would probably be my first race. I’ll change that one when the schedule is out. I’m ready.” She looked down at her knee, which looked completely normal now.

It was no longer swollen, and the scars had healed up nicely.

“You’re ready mentally and emotionally, yes. That’s not surprising; you’re a tough person. But your knee needs more time to heal, even if it doesn’t look like it. And don’t think I can’t see you staring at it right now, thinking about telling me that it’s fine.”

Drew rolled her eyes more at herself than at him because she’d been about to do just that.

“The doctor and PT said it’s good to go. And I’ve been training, too, so I don’t see the problem with amping things up to see how it does now.”

“We’ve done light stuff only. I think you need another week at least before I put you on any kind of course or attempt to race you,” he replied and crossed his arms over his chest.

That was the pose that told Drew he was serious and not likely to change his mind. But Drew was stubborn, and this was definitely her last chance. She’d already be surprised if she made the team, given her age and her recent injury, but they likely wouldn’t even consider her in four more years, so she needed to get back out there and show them that she was fine.

“I’ve missed two competitions already. I can’t miss another one. They won’t want some washed-up thirty-six-year-old on their team. I’ll be thirty-seven then, so even worse. I have to be at the top of my game, or they won’t risk it. You know how good US boarders have gotten since I started.”

“I do know. Still, you need to trust me. I know what I’m doing here. I’ve not steered you wrong yet, have I? I want you to take a little time off. I don’t mean forever. If you must, you can do some of what we’ve been doing in training recently, but take it easy on that knee. Make sure to ice it several times a day if you do anything at all. Your body doesn’t heal as quickly as it used to, Drew. You were going non-stop before you got injured, which is probably what led to you getting hurt in the first place. We’ve got a long way to go before the Olympics, so you need to remember that even if they select you, you still have to be uninjured and ready, or you won’t end up going. You know that as well as I do, so arguing really isn’t going to do anything for either of us right now.”

“I know. I know. You want me to take a break; I get it. But is now the best time? I need to at least keep my face out there. Even if I don’t compete, I can still go, support other boarders, and find ways to keep my name in the mix with interviews or something.”

“Yes, it is the right time for you to take a short break. You’ve got a busy season coming up. A little time will help your mind calm itself while your knee gets stronger. I also think you should go somewhere. Just sitting at home won’t work; I know you. I’ll give you a workout schedule you can do, so make sure you book a hotel with a gym wherever you go. And I want you to delete those countdown apps.”

“What? No way. They help keep me motivated.”

“No, they don’t.” Her coach shook his head. “Just delete them. You know the dates already, and you need to be worried about getting better before the next race. That’s all that matters. You have to race well in that one and the one after that and so on for them to pick you. Focus on that.”

“Fine,” she replied. “But I’m not happy about it.”

“I’m not sure you’ve been happy in a while, so maybe this break will help you with that, too.”

“I doubt it,” she said with little enthusiasm and climbed off the PT table.

She’d hurt her knee about six months ago, and while there hadn’t been any permanent damage, it had been slow to heal. She knew that was because she’d continued to train and hadn’t told anyone about it hurting until it was probably too late. She’d had some scar tissue built up in there that required a quick procedure to remove, but that meant she needed to stay off her leg and have some PT after, so in Drew’s mind, she was way behind schedule.

She would be thirty-seven years old by the time of the next Olympics, and she’d already been inconsistent at best in the years since the last Games, where she’d been knocked out in the preliminary race. Drew’s life had changed a lot since then. She’d been living with her girlfriend of about a year when Andy came in fourth at the Olympic Games. After they’d gotten back, though, the fighting had begun immediately, and Drew knew it had been mostly her fault because she’d been jealous that Andy had at least made it to the final while she’d been kicked out by someone who hadn’t even known how tightly to take her turns. Andy had dumped her only a few months after they’d gotten home. Since Drew had been the one living in Andy’s apartment, she had to move out and stay with her parents temporarily until she could find something else. She’d ended up staying in their basement for well over a year, which she’d managed to turn into a private apartment-like space with a little work while keeping herself busy with snowboarding, trying to remain at the top of as many podiums as possible. She’d kept up with that at first, but then she began to struggle when she tried to start dating again.

Eventually, her parents had told her that it was time for her to move out. Drew knew it was tough love from them, but that hadn’t made it any easier. She’d had to find a new apartment, and she’d done that. Then, she’d stopped dating because it was pulling her focus too much to try to find a woman on some app, go out with her, talk to her about her career and how she traveled a lot, especially while she was in-season, and then hear some of their responses.

“I don’t like the cold,” one had said.

“I’m looking to settle down. I’m in my late thirties. I thought you wanted the same thing,” another one had said.

Drew did want to settle down, but settling down for her still involved traveling for her job. Even when she was done racing competitively, she’d still be part of the snowboarding world somehow. She’d been offered coaching jobs already and would have to travel with the boarders she coached. She’d also been offered a few commentator jobs with various organizations and networks. She had options, and yes, she wanted a wife, but she wanted a wife who understood that snowboarding or, really, snow sports in general were a part of her.

Bags packed, Drew found herself surprisingly excited about taking some time off. She was about to travel to her favorite Vancouver ski resort because that would give her a chance to take a break and still get in some time on the snow. She hadn’t told her coach where she was going, so she would be extra careful with her knee and wouldn’t do anything too intense, but the moment she got off the plane, she realized just how much she needed this. Her life had taken a turn in the past couple of years. Inconsistent racing, living in a small apartment with zero personality, having no love life to speak of while her well-meaning parents were crossing into slightly-pushy-parents territory, wanting her to find someone soon – all that had Drew worried that she might not get another chance to win the one medal she’d never won.

Her vacation destination, Whistler, was popular for several reasons, one of them being the home of Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski resort in all of North America. Drew had been there several times as well, but she wasn’t going there this time, and it wasn’t her favorite place. Her favorite resort was nestled in the mountains nearby, and it was a place called Vancouver Skis amp; Boards, which sounded more like a shop where she could buy skis and boards than a resort. It was owned by an older woman who had initially bought it with her husband decades earlier, and it had started as a Skis amp; Boards shop on the mountain.

Drew hadn’t been there then, but she’d seen the pictures lining the walls in the main lobby. It had been a one-room shop, small and homey in a way, and it had served the locals in need of new skis more than tourists. Later, though, when snowboarding had gotten more popular, they added new boards to their selection before they’d decided to expand it in the nineties, buying the land to build a resort attached to the shop when they’d gotten the chance. She’d read the story of the resort on their website and, later, a brochure they had in the lobby. This place was out of the way and much smaller than the other, fancier resorts, with fewer skiing and boarding options for her, but whenever Drew wanted a break, this was the place she’d go.

“I’m checking in. Drew Oakes,” she said at the counter.

“Welcome, Miss Oakes. I’m Olivia. And I see you’ve been with us before.”

“I have, yes,” she confirmed and placed her passport and credit card on the counter.

“And you have a room preference. I’ve got you in room three thirty-three.”

“I have a thing for threes,” she said.

It was a silly superstition more than anything, but Drew had liked the number three since she was a little kid when they’d given them bibs to race in. She’d thought it so cool to be like the grown-up racers with their colorful bibs, and the first bib she’d been given had had the number three on it, and she’d been in the number three slot, ready to race.

“Great. Well, let me get you all checked in here, and I can have someone help you with your bags. Will you be needing to rent any skis or a board during your stay? If so, I can take care of that now for you.”

“No, I’ve got my own. Thanks,” she said.

Olivia was new. Drew usually dealt with the owner, Ruth, who only had a small staff and generally managed the front desk when she wasn’t running around the place trying to take care of everything herself. Business must be picking up if she’d been able to afford to hire someone. Drew looked around the space and felt at home. The big light-colored stones that made up the interior of the space and the large fireplace within it, burning real wood, gave it that kind of larger-than-life feel while also making it still seem like a living room. Behind the fireplace, there were big communal-style tables made of solid wood that matched, and people were sitting at them eating their meals or sipping free hot chocolate or coffee. Drew wanted to get in on that because she loved their hot chocolate.

“Okay. You’re all set. Let me get someone to help you with those bags. Would you like a cookie while you wait? Hot chocolate?”

The resort offered complimentary cookies at check-in, and they were okay but not Drew’s favorite. Still, she hadn’t eaten since lunch and was hungry, so she said yes to the cookie and no to the hot chocolate for now because she’d come back down for that after she got settled into her room.

“This is good,” she noted after taking a bite. “New recipe?”

“Yes, we made some changes recently. People seemed to be liking them a lot.”

“I can see why,” Drew replied.

She both wanted to eat the whole cookie in one bite and savor it in small bites to make it last longer. The old cookies seemed like they were chocolate chip from a tube, but these felt homemade and didn’t just have chocolate chips in them.

“What’s in these?”

“Shredded coconut, white chocolate chips, and a few macadamia nuts.”

Drew turned because Olivia hadn’t been the one to give her that information. Selma Driscoll was standing on Drew’s side of the counter, and she wasn’t wearing any kind of ski or board gear that would’ve indicated that she’d just come in from a day on the mountain. In fact, she was wearing a beige business suit jacket with matching slacks, brown loafers, a white undershirt that looked like it had come with the suit, and a nametag. Selma was wearing a resort nametag. She worked here.

“Hi, Drew,” Selma greeted.

“Uh… Hi. You work here?”

“I do, yes. That cookie you just raved about? It’s mine. I made it.”

Drew swallowed and said, “Well, it’s really good, so…”

“I saw your name on the guest list,” Selma revealed. “Glad to see you got here okay. Olivia, is she good to go?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Olivia replied and slid two key cards onto the counter. “I just paged David to help her with her bags.”

“Great. See you around, Drew. Welcome.”

Then, Selma marched off toward what Drew knew was the kitchen.

“What the hell was that?” she mumbled to herself through a mouthful of cookie.

“Sorry?”

Drew turned back to the woman and said, “Nothing. Um… Is the guy coming out to take my stuff? If not, I can carry it myself. I lugged it all the way in here.”

“He’s on his way, yeah,” Olivia replied with a kind smile.