Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

PETE

For their last run of the day, Pete and Izzy took See Forever again, a blue that ran along the topmost ridge of the resort’s boundary. The views were incredible and the easier run was perfect for her worn out legs. Better yet, they could board from the top all the way down to the bottom, right into the courtyard in front of the condo.

They explored the runs near Lift 9 along the resort’s western edge for most of the afternoon, including a lunch break with Maggie at Bon Vivant, a French restaurant positioned two-thirds up the mountain. You couldn’t go wrong in Telluride — it was truly one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been, and having the time to leisurely take in the sights while also flying down the side of a mountain was basically peak happiness. They wove down See Forever toward San Sophia Station, cutting over on Smuggler to Misty Maiden, which would lead them straight into Mountain Village.

Izzy had her earbuds in listening to music — she’d been blasting The Shrikes’ new album most of the afternoon, ignoring Pete in favor of soaking up the music. Pete preferred the silence, catching bits of people’s conversations and laughter, taking in the rhythmic clanking of the lifts, focusing on the swish of snow under the edge of her board as she carved slow and wide down Misty Maiden.

Her breath fogged in front of her and she flexed her hands in her gloves, winding between the assholes who congregated directly at the end of a run, like people weren’t barreling toward them.

“You sure you don’t want to hop on 4?” Izzy asked, gesturing to the lift station. In this particular area, several lifts joined together.

“No, but feel free to go it alone,” Pete said, bending to undo her bindings.

“Suit yourself.” Izzy paused beside her, then unclipped one binding and scooted off in the direction of Lift 4.

Pete cursed her rental bindings. She preferred the ease of step on bindings, but she hadn’t had the luxury of getting those at the ski rental shop.

It would have been smart to bring her own gear, but the hassle of bringing all of that baggage on the plane from Seattle would have been too much. She preferred to travel with only her backpack and exactly what she needed, nothing frivolous or annoying. She’d sooner cut off an arm than check a bag, even when living abroad. Especially when living abroad. Watching tourists drag gigantic wheeled luggage over ancient cobblestones made something inside of her die of second-hand embarrassment.

She tucked her board under her arm and walked toward the condo’s rear entrance, sniffling in the chilly afternoon air.

“Oh, give me a fucking break,” someone said above her and she froze, glancing around. The voice made something inside of Pete’s brain snap to attention — she’d know that voice anywhere. What had she done to piss off Danica so badly?

On the balcony above her, Danica leaned her back against the railing, her chestnut hair peeking out from under a beanie.

Pete paused just below the balcony, out of sight but well within listening distance. It was just simple curiosity, right? No one could fault her for happening upon Danica’s conversation. She tried to keep her breathing quiet, which was quite a feat with the lack of oxygen in Colorado. Seriously, how did anyone exercise for a full day at 10,000 feet? It took superhuman strength.

“Why are you calling me?” Danica chided from the balcony above her. “I don’t want to talk about this again.”

Pete stared up at the balcony in silent intrigue, every fiber of her body buzzing with curiosity.

“We’ve talked about this.” She stopped abruptly, and Pete ducked, in case she had been caught. A long sigh told Pete that the person had interrupted Danica. “Eddie, seriously, this isn’t a good time.”

Ah, so Danica was talking to her fiancé. Pete knew that Danica was engaged — Izzy had told her when she’d visited Croatia last summer. Izzy hadn’t liked the guy when she’d met him at Maggie’s wedding, but she rarely liked anyone, so that wasn’t exactly a damning endorsement. Danica knew what she wanted – she always had – and Pete trusted that she had chosen someone good for her.

Judging from Danica’s irritation, this Eddie guy sounded needy as hell. Pete cringed, picturing some scrawny dude with tears in his eyes. Who would ever talk to Danica that way? Danica busted her ass to take care of everyone around her. She always had. It was something that had always made Pete feel proud to be her friend.

Well, and more than friends. Whatever they had been. Friends who slept together sometimes. Friends who texted the other at 1 a.m. to come over to each other’s place “just to cuddle and sleep.”

Everyone always needed Danica, and so Pete was resolved to never add to that burden. And if that meant staying at arm’s length so that Danica never had to worry about taking care of her, then that was the way it had to be.

But that was then. To be honest with herself, a little part of her did feel sad when she found out that Danica was engaged. Sure, they’d never been officially in a relationship, but before their last fight, even after their last fight, she’d always hoped... Well, she’d always held onto the belief that they’d be right for each other someday.

She’d worked hard to make something of herself after college. She’d sold the app she’d made for her senior thesis, a night sky flying simulator called Til Morning that had been the capstone of her Computer Science degree. Til Morning had been dissected into two other apps by a larger company, and she’d used the money from the sale to invest and travel and experience the world.

Had she ever truly grown up like Danica had spitefully suggested during their last fight? Not in a million years. Change, mature, grow into the kind of person who might deserve a woman like Danica? Well, she’d tried.

Maybe it had been too little, too late. Danica was marrying someone who whined on the phone while she was on a trip with friends. Add that to the red flag category, right under Dentist. A dentist . Talk about a career only a psycho would choose. No one — patients or practitioners — truly enjoyed dentistry, surely.

“We’re over ,” Danica said, and Pete’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Had she just witnessed Danica breaking up with her fiancé over the phone ?

Danica was still on the balcony above her, silent and seemingly standing still. Fear of discovery as an under-porch stalker prevented Pete from risking a glance. Nothing said, “I’m definitely worth your time now” quite like crouching under a balcony, breathing heavily while spying.

Danica and Eddie were over… Her pulse jumped and a little thrill shot through her. Of course, Danica being single did not necessarily give her a chance… but it did not not give her a chance.

She adjusted the board in her arms as silently as she could, her hands growing cold inside her gloves from standing still for the past few minutes. The warmth of exercise had worn off, gone was the adrenaline from hurtling down a mountain, and now she was regretting her decision to linger outside. Thankfully, the balcony creaked above her, and she heard the patio door open and shut. After counting to fifteen Mississippi just to make sure, she snuck in the back door as silently as she could, taking off her boots and jacket in the mudroom.

Pete and Maggie were both startled when Maggie appeared in the mudroom a moment later. “Sorry, I was just grabbing something from my coat,” she said a little too casually, reaching past Pete to slip a vape from one of the open pockets. “Want some?” She held out the vape, and Pete could just barely smell the hint of weed.

“Nah, I think that might kill me at this elevation,” Pete joked, placing her boots under the bench where they could dry overnight.

“You know, it might be the only thing keeping me alive at this point. There’s no oxygen here anyway, so might as well replace it with something else,” A grin on her face, Maggie cracked open the back door, vaped, and let the smoke drift away.

The back door opened again only a moment later and Izzy stomped in, her eyebrows raising in surprise to see them both standing there. Maggie handed her the vape before she even had her board stowed against the wall. Izzy laughed, taking a long pull, then opened the door again to exhale outside.

“This really brings back memories of smoking out the window of our first dorm,” Izzy said, handing the vape back to Maggie.

“Room 305 forever,” Maggie said with a grin. Maggie and Pete helped Izzy take off her coat, stepping aside so she could remove her boots with more grace than Pete had demonstrated. Izzy wiggled her toes in her thick Fair Isle ski socks.

“What do you guys know about Eddie?” Pete asked in possibly the least-casual way a question had ever been asked. She couldn’t just tell everyone what she’d overheard — one, it would out her as a creeping creep after all, but two, it was Danica’s torrid news to tell.

“Eddie, like Dani’s fiancé?” Maggie asked, sticking her vape back into the pocket of her coat.

Pete nodded and Izzy rolled her eyes. “Not this again,” Izzy murmured.

Maggie eyed Pete suspiciously. “Not what again?”

“Nothing. I’m just curious. I’ve never met him,” Pete said, stuffing her hands into her pockets. She wanted to get a read on how heartbroken Danica was going to be, but she also wanted to see if this was the kind of breakup that would stick.

Izzy sighed. “You’ve never met Maggie’s wife either,” she pointed out, and Pete could tell by her tone that she hadn’t meant to make Pete feel guilty for being a bit off-grid with the friend-group, but it had struck a chord.

“He’s quiet,” Maggie said. “Reserved, but smiley. Like, really tooth-forward, if you know what I mean. Dani has never given me any hints about how he is in bed, despite my asking several times.”

Pete wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Do you think she’s happy?” Pete asked, her voice taking on an embarrassingly tender tone.

Maggie and Izzy exchanged a look, then a shrug.

“I guess,” Maggie said. “She said they hadn’t discussed having kids and that the wedding has no date yet, so my spidey-senses say something is weird there, but with Dani, you never know. She could be sitting in a burning building and tell you she loves the warmth. It’s so rare to find out how she really feels about anything.”

Hmm. That was a good point. Pete chewed on her lower lip.

Izzy raised an eyebrow, and Pete could tell she knew exactly where Pete’s mind was going. Only Izzy knew about Pete’s pipe dream that things with Danica could go a different way in the future.

Maggie crossed her arms. “What’s going on in that weird little ball of chaos you call your brain?”

“Okay, first, rude ,” Pete said, stifling a grin. “And second, nothing.” She wasn’t a very good liar, but she attempted to conceal that fact with a bit of over-explanation. “I was curious about our friend. Our mutual friend. Our friend who we are all friends with and should care about.”

Her intended stern look gave way to a moment of concern that she might seem too intimidating. Well, that was a worry until both Izzy and Maggie laughed.

“Sure,” Izzy said with a snort of amusement. “Extremely convincing.”

“I had no idea you were still in love with her after all this time,” Maggie said, her voice holding a high note of surprise.

Izzy groaned, taking Maggie’s vape out of her coat again. Apparently, she’d need much, much more THC in her system to handle this conversation.

“Love is a very strong word,” Pete said, holding out her palms to stop that line of thought immediately. “More like a very vague notion, just a hint, really, of interest. More curiosity than anything else.”

Neither of her friends seemed very convinced, based on the skeptical and amused looks on their faces.

“You’re out of your mind,” Izzy said, holding open the door as she exhaled into the cold air.

“No, wait, I actually don’t hate this,” Maggie said, still eyeing Pete. “Eddie seems about as exciting as a hard-to-kill houseplant. Where’s the excitement in that, you know?”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “Weird metaphor, but?—”

“Simile,” Izzy corrected, blowing vapor out the door again.

“Whatever,” Pete said, rolling her eyes. “And what do you mean? Or are you just trying to meddle because you’re boringly happy in your marriage?”

Maggie waved her hands dismissively in the air, hopping on the balls of her socked feet, though Pete couldn’t tell if that was out of excitement or feeling cold. “I love to meddle. Meddling Maggie, that’s what they call me.”

“No one has ever said that,” Izzy said, shaking her head with her eyes closed.

“Maybe they’ll start now. What if we try to figure out this week if you two could… reconnect?” Maggie offered, still hopping.

“Is that a good idea?” Pete asked, feeling a spark of worry at the excitement gleaming in Meddling Maggie’s eyes.

“Uh, sure,” Maggie said, watching Izzy take an admirably long draw from the vape. “You good?”

Izzy nodded, coughing and exhaling inside the mudroom, then panicking and hurrying to open the back door.

“I don’t pretend to understand how vapes work, but if you could not hotbox Aunt Jade’s entire house, that would be helpful.” Maggie scolded Izzy with a smile that said she wasn’t seriously mad. She looked from Izzy back to Pete. “Okay, let’s brainstorm how to figure out this reconnection.”