Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
When they made their
way back to their rooms and turned in, anticipating the early
departure tomorrow and the promise of fresh powder, Luke stalled
outside Lenny’s door.
Lenny unlocked her
door but didn’t go in right away. She paused, holding the door
open with an arm, and looked up into Luke’s hopeful expression.
“
I
had fun today,” she said sincerely.
***
“
Me
too.” Luke reached up and brushed a stray hair off her face.
She didn’t pull away this time.
Luke wanted to kiss
her. His eyes drifted to her lips and he stared at their perfect bow
shape. But it was too soon. He still had work to do and kissing her
right now wouldn’t help. Instead, he touched her cheek with
his palm and pressed his lips to the top of her forehead.
“
Get
some sleep, beautiful.” He smiled down at her. “You
have to teach me how to fly tomorrow.”
***
Lenny smiled in
return and went into her room, slowly closing the door behind her.
She sat down on the edge of the bed in a daze.
Oh
no,
she thought with dread,
I’m
in way over my head.
The four day storm
had covered Thompson Pass and the Chugach Mountains with a perfect,
unblemished blanket of snow. It was pristine and lush; Lenny
literally salivated when she beheld it. The drive up had been very
different than the week before. This time, Lenny rode in the back of
Nick’s SUV with Luke and Serge. The atmosphere was cheerful
and mild, probably due to the presence of the unshakable Norwegian.
But it may have also been Luke’s solid resolve from beside her.
Lenny’s
discontent had taken a backseat. She had awoken that morning feeling
refreshed and alive. Knowing Luke was going to be there gave her
soul a little boost. She didn’t entirely know what that meant.
She wasn’t ready to just declare all forgiven and agree to
move to Boston. But she would be lying if she said she hadn’t
thought about it more than once. Luke brought a peace out in her
that no one else ever had. And it really wasn’t anything he
did. It was who she naturally became when then were together.
***
Luke had finally
gotten a good nights sleep. He hadn’t rested since Lenny had
left Boston. The first night in Alaska when he slept outside her
door had been his first real sleep in weeks. Just knowing she was
close by had been enough to allow him to doze off for a few hours.
But after he had walked her to her door last night, he fell asleep
before his head hit the pillow. He’d been so upside down
without her, and having her around had finally righted him. Even if
this was as close as they ever got, Luke knew without a doubt that
they needed to be a part of each others lives. She was his best
friend. And he was never taking that relationship for granted again.
They quickly
unloaded their gear into their cabins and then gathered by Nick for
another rundown of basic avalanche survival training. Everyone
except for Luke had already taken the training when they had first
arrived but with the new snowfall, Nick wanted everyone to be
refreshed before going out there.
They all passed the
basic tests without any problems. Nick reminded them that the
mountains are unpredictable. Especially with the new powder, no one
would be able to tell what’s sturdy and what’s soft until
they’re in the middle of it.
***
“
No
pressure, guys,” Nick spoke through his headset in the
helicopter. “We’re just gonna go out and make a few
turns.”
Lenny nodded when
Nick glanced behind to make sure they had heard. She looked at Luke
who was his usual, the most relaxed and confident person in the room.
She had no idea how he could be so collected even when he was
obviously out of his element.
After the chopper
had set them down and then took off again, Lenny pulled Luke off to
the side.
“
You
don’t have to do this, you know.” She saw his eyes shift
to the mountainside and then back to her.
“
Yes,
I do,” Luke said calmly with a smile. “Besides, if I get
hurt, you can give me mouth to mouth.” He laughed as she
rolled her eyes. She feigned annoyance but the idea of her lips on
his again made her heart stutter. And that annoyed her a little bit
more. Why wasn’t he taking this more seriously?
“
You
need to be a little scared, you know.” Lenny’s concern
was growing.
“
I
know. And I am. Totally terrified.” Luke grinned at her again
as Shane joined them.
“
Ready
to have your life change?” Shane asked.
“
Do
your worst.” Luke accepted the challenge.
Lenny
realized that
she
was the one who the most nervous about Luke riding. If anything
happened to him…Her stomach was full of butterflies as Shane
gave Luke some pointers. This was a bad idea. Lenny shook her head
and finally had to say something.
“
No.
Don’t do that.” Lenny stepped in between Shane and
Luke. “No offense, Shane.” She said over her shoulder
then back to Luke. “Just take it slow. We can ride this hill
all day. Don’t worry about speed.” She looked down at
Luke’s board and bindings and realized why they had looked so
familiar. “Do you have Duke’s stuff?”
“
Yeah,
he said I would need it.” Luke looked at her sheepishly. So
he had been to see Duke first. Was she really the only one who saw
the ridiculousness of the situation?
“
Well,
he’s not wrong. Duke always had the best stuff,” Lenny
conceded. She would have to address that Duke issue later.
“
Just
go slow for your first few turns and see how it feels. Wait till you
can feel how the board responds. We’re not racing.”
Luke put his hands
on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Hey, I’m
gonna be fine. I promise not to do anything stupid,” he said
reassuringly.
She smiled, seeing
the honesty in his face and tried to relax her back-flipping insides.
“
C’mon,
Casey,” Shane waved his arm and started on his run. Luke
pulled his goggles down and joined him.
Lenny
held her breath as she watched them curve in and out and back and
forth. Luke was good. He was actually very good. He kept up with
Shane just fine and Lenny could tell he was a strong rider. His
technique was a little shaking.
But
that can be cleared up with practice back home.
Lenny muttered a curse under her breath for that thought. Luke was
not coming home with her.
She wasn’t
even surprised that Luke had been to see Duke. She figured he had
either talked to Duke or Harrison because they were the only ones who
knew she was in Alaska. She wished she’d gotten a little more
of a heads up though. She’d have to give Duke a hard time for
that one.
She was a little
shocked that Duke had loaned his stuff to Luke. That was the
equivalent of letting someone take your firstborn across the country.
Duke never let anyone touch his stuff. Either Duke was getting soft
in his old age or this was his version of giving Luke his blessing.
Lenny suspected the latter. And that thought only added to her
frustration.
Her heart stumbled
in conjunction with Luke's wipe-out. He had been doing fine when he
lost control and tumbled end over end. Shane had led hip over a small
lip and he caught air. He was clearly unprepared for it and he lost
control before he'd even landed.
Lenny didn't even
wait for him to come to a complete stop. She was already flying that
direction, her heart in her throat.
She edged her board
to a stop so fast so could have had her own fall if she wouldn't have
already disengaged her binders and was in near sprint across the
snowy terrain. She threw off her goggles and hat and sank to her
knees in the snow next to Luke's upturned figure.
He was flat on his
back, his arms outspread. She cleared the snow that had packed in
around his face, her breath coming laboriously.
“
Luke?”
She pushed his goggles up and stopped. His perfect blue eyes were
looking at her with a bemused, almost whimsical expression.
“
Were you
worried?” He asked, his mouth making a crooked grin.
Lenny wanted to hug
him and kick him at the same time. She bit her bottom lip and shook
her head.
Luke pushed himself
into a sitting position and grinned at her. “You came rushing
to my side at the first sign of trouble. I've taken worse falls off
the stage.” He raised his eyebrows as if to make some point.
“
I'm glad
you're okay.” Lenny finally said as she returned to her feet.
She was blushing at her reaction to his mini-wreck and she was glad
he couldn't tell due to the cold air on her face.
“
What if I
would have gotten hurt?” Luke asked as he disengaged his board
and stood as well. He put his hands on his hips and looked at her
with a cocky self-assurance. “Would you be sad?”
Lenny rolled her
eyes and walked back to where she'd left her board near buried a
short distance away.
“
You woulda
cried, I bet.” Luke followed behind her. She smiled to
herself, glad he couldn't see her reaction.
The rest of the day
went by smoothly. No injuries, no avalanches. Shane and Luke
brought an energy to the group that hadn’t been there the week
before. They had bonded quickly and Luke was a complete natural on
the mountain. Just like the night before when they were all bowling
together, Luke was everyone’s best friend. He fit so perfectly
in the group that Lenny was actually shaken up by it. Not in a
scared way…well, maybe in a scared way. Had she been wrong
this whole time? Was her fear of the oncoming heartache all in her
head? Was she really the only one who could ruin this?
They returned to
base camp that night and Trucker and Smitty built a bonfire. The
crew was still amped from an easy day on the slopes and they needed
to expel a little of that extra energy.
The fire burned tall
and bright against the blackness of the Alaskan sky. Some people
were roasting marshmallows, a few were drinking beers. Light
conversation and laughter floated through the air.
Lenny sat on a log
near the fire, a little removed from the group. She stared into the
orange glow and let her tense muscles relax with the buzzing of her
friends voices nearby.
So much had happened
in the span of a few days. The emotional ups and downs had been hard
to keep up with. And now, she had to get her head together and
figure out what the next step was. She thought she had this all
figured out when she had left Europe but it had hurt more than she
had anticipated. She wasn’t sure, that when push came to
shove, she could willingly walk away from Luke again. Even if it was
better for them both. It hurt too much.
Luke sat down next
to her on the log, pushing close against her side till she moved over
so he had room.
“
Did
you have fun today?” He asked her, pulling a charred
marshmallow off of a stick.
“
Yeah,
did you?” She asked giving him a small smile. She was
desperately trying to keep an emotional barrier between them. Luke
always made her question every single one of her rational thoughts.
Luke popped the
mallow into his mouth and grinned at her. She couldn’t help
but grin back, his happy smile was infectious.
“
I
always have the best day when it’s been a day with you.”
Luke said after he swallowed his mouthful a little more serious as he
spoke. Her heart strangled in her chest. That’s exactly how
she felt too.
Lenny had always
been extremely independent. Which is probably why she’d chosen
snowboarding as the first love of her life. It was free and wild,
just like her. She loved her family and they had always supported
her. But even they couldn’t explain the side of Lenny that
came out when she was shredding a gorgeous line. Traveling and
boarding all over the world, she had gotten to meet some exceptional
people. She never had a problem making friends but she hadn’t
truly made any deep connections. Not until she ran away with rock
stars.