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Back The Chalet Save as PDF
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The Chalet
  3. Dedication
  4. PART ONE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. PART TWO
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. PART THREE
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Epilogue
  71. Acknowledgements
  72. Keep Reading …
  73. Prologue
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher

‘So, not very patient then, by the sound of it,’ Adam says. ‘I did say she’d be better off in a lesson, Will.’

‘Louisa did fine,’ Will snaps, which is also not true. ‘You don’t know anything about it, Adam.’

‘It can be so difficult when you’re learning,’ Nell interjects. ‘Mummy told me I cried my eyes out on my first trip, with Daddy shouting at me because I was doing it wrong. She insisted on paying for lessons for me for every ski holiday we went on after that and, in all honesty, it was much better being taught by a stranger. Easier for everyone concerned, I think.’ She turns to me. ‘Perhaps you might want to give that a go tomorrow? Book a lesson?’

I shrug. ‘I’m not sure I want to ski tomorrow. I think maybe skiing isn’t for me.’

‘Oh, but you mustn’t give up so quickly!’ Nell trills. ‘It’s so fabulous once you get into it. You’ll never look back. The first few times are hard for everyone. Isn’t that right, Will?’

Will nods. ‘Yep. But it’s up to Louisa. If she doesn’t want to ski, she doesn’t have to.’

He squeezes my knee under the table. Normally I would pat his hand but this time, I don’t. It’s abundantly clear that the reason he doesn’t want to make me ski is because he doesn’t want me to ski with him; I’m too slow and he can’t do what he wants to do. But I’m not going to let him off that lightly. I don’t want to ski tomorrow, but don’t want to spend all day on my own either. Will shouldn’t have insisted I come along if he wasn’t going to make the effort to spend time with me.

Our plates are cleared away and a main course is brought out. It’s a chicken and mushroom pie covered in soggy pastry. I pour myself another glass of wine from the unlabelled bottle. It looks like the food is going to be pretty rank this week but, on the plus side, it’s as much wine as you can drink during dinner, even if it is pretty rough. We take our time.

Adam and Nell are banging on about their day, referring to things like powder, off-piste, schuss, and other words I don’t fully understand. Will says almost nothing. I wonder if I can slope off to bed, I’m really tired. I hope Will won’t want to have sex. I’m still annoyed with him. The more reasonable part of me knows he tried to teach me – he can’t help it if he’d rather be off skiing properly than standing around trying to help me. But then again, thinking about that only makes the less reasonable side of me more angry.