BooksBarbecue
Back Baggage Claim
Chapters (48)
  1. 1. One
  2. 2. Two
  3. 3. Three
  4. 4. Four
  5. 5. Five
  6. 6. Six
  7. 7. Seven
  8. 8. Eight
  9. 9. Nine
  10. 10. Ten
  11. 11. Eleven
  12. 12. Twelve
  13. 13. Thirteen
  14. 14. Fourteen
  15. 15. Fifteen
  16. 16. Sixteen
  17. 17. Seventeen
  18. 18. Eighteen
  19. 19. Nineteen
  20. 20. Twenty
  21. 21. Twenty-One
  22. 22. Twenty-Two
  23. 23. Twenty-Three
  24. 24. Twenty-Four
  25. 25. Twenty-Five
  26. 26. Twenty-Six
  27. 27. Twenty-Seven
  28. 28. Twenty-Eight
  29. 29. Twenty-Nine
  30. 30. Thirty
  31. 31. Thirty-One
  32. 32. Thirty-Two
  33. 33. Thirty-three
  34. 34. Thirty-Four
  35. 35. Thirty-Five
  36. 36. Thirty-Six
  37. 37. Thirty-Seven
  38. 38. Thirty-Eight
  39. 39. Thirty-Nine
  40. 40. Forty
  41. 41. Forty-One
  42. 42. Forty-Two
  43. 43. Forty-three
  44. 44. Epilogue
  45. Afterword
  46. Also by
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About Author

I carefully sat up and scooched away from Finn. He effortlessly stood in his skis and grabbed my hands to pull me up.

“Thank you.” My voice was quiet and sheepish. I looked down at the snow, unwilling to meet anyone’s eyes.

Cooper, who I had forgotten was even here, spoke up. “You guys good? Do you want to go again?” Amusement lined his voice, courtesy of our little show.

I shook my head and quickly said, “No!” and gave Finn a look that said do not make me go back up there.

Finn looked between me and my family. “Uhh. Yeah, I think we will hang back here for a while. You guys can go with Coop, and he can take you to the next hill.”

I nodded my head so fast my eyes shook, and he held in his laughter.

13. Thirteen

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Olive skiing was the most awkward and adorable thing I had ever seen. It was like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time; I couldn’t look away.

“Oh man…and when that kid shot you the bird.” My laughter filtered between my words as I relived the memory.

Olive and I rode the bus back to the resort, she changed into her previous clothing, and we went to lunch at White Mountain Cafe. I came here often for breakfast or lunch after my shift was over.

“It’s not funny, Finn. That was mortifying. Where were his parents anyway?” She played with the straw in her drink

“It was absolutely hilarious, and they were probably going down the yellow hills like every other adult.”

A crumpled-up napkin was thrown at me in response.

After Olive’s family went skiing with Cooper, I told her I would get her warm, dry, and fed so I could go back to the slopes to get my time in for today. Instead, I’ve spent two hours sitting in a tiny metal chair and learning more about her.

Everything passed so fast it was like I was in a time vortex of Olive. Not to sound self-absorbed, but I had dinner with women pretty often. I wasn’t shy or quiet by any means when I found a girl attractive, so they usually loved my honesty and would jump at the opportunity to go out with me. It wasn’t a luxury I had before tearing my ACL. I stayed in my own lane and never ventured out, but after that life-changing injury, I decided from then on I wouldn’t take a single moment for granted. That being said, when I did take women out, I was never this enraptured. With Olive, I was glued to the table like I had nowhere else to be in the world.