He swallowed and she could see he hadn’t expected that answer. That he really hadn’t known, for sure, how she felt. ‘No?’

She shook her head and a moment contracted between them as she saw the shadows leave his eyes.

‘. . . God, I want to kiss you but I’m worried you’ll fall.’

‘Far too late,’ she whispered, looking up at him.

With one move, he pushed off again, holding her effortlessly as she was glided backwards, his arm around her. She felt him brake, then the wall of the rink pressed at her back and his eyes glittered as they both remembered their first time in the pool – accidental, instinctive, inevitable.

She entwined her arms around his neck, no longer even aware that they were on ice. ‘So you really don’t hate me?’ she asked.

‘No.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Yes you do,’ she insisted. ‘You hate me.’

She felt him startle. ‘No.’

‘Admit it.’

His eyes burned as he realized her tease. ‘. . . No.’

‘Just say it. You hate me.’

‘No . . . I love you.’

She stared back at him, seeing past the layers at last. There he was, finally. Unmasked. ‘I know,’ she whispered as he pulled her into him. ‘I love you too.’

Acknowledgements

I must start with a confession. Anyone who knows anything about either snowboarding or St Moritz will know that St Moritz does not have a halfpipe. And anyone who knows anything about competitive snowboarding will know that the FIS St Moritz event, whilst held in early December, is a ski event only. I try as much as possible to stick to ‘real life’ frameworks where I can but it’s not always possible, especially when trying to write a Christmas book which, by definition, is somewhat inflexible on dates!

I had a great time researching this book – first learning all about surfing, then switching to snow and learning about snowboarding. As a skier, it was all new for me, but the thrill of playing in alpine snow is the same. The very first seeds for this story were sown almost ten years ago when I saw a documentary film called The Crash Reel, based on the lead-up to, and fallout after, an accident suffered by snowboarder Kevin Pearce when he was training for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was profoundly shocking and upsetting to watch although I’m glad to report Kevin recovered and, although he can no longer compete, has found fulfilment and success in lecturing about traumatic brain injuries and brain safety. The film made me realize, though, just how life-changing the risks can be when it goes wrong. This is a sport that looks like playing but the consequences of being one degree or one second out can easily be tragic.