This was fucking unbelievable. They knew how he felt about Annabelle going skiing without him and now they had bought him a ski jacket, just to rub it in.

‘I’m not going skiing, though,’ he said. ‘So maybe you should return it. I don’t want you to waste money.’

‘I can’t return it,’ his mum said. ‘It’s a second. And it was a bargain. You can have it for Christmas.’

He bit his lip. It was a lovely, thoughtful present and he didn’t want to be ungrateful, but part of him wanted to scream, I don’t want it! I don’t need a new coat to remind me where my girlfriend is!

‘Gosh,’ his mum said. ‘Look at him. Look at that face.’ She laughed and hugged him. ‘You’re thinking we’re a bit cruel and insensitive, aren’t you? Do you honestly think I’d waste money on a coat like that for no reason? Tell him, Colin.’

‘Tell me what?’ Matt said.

‘You’re going skiing,’ his dad said. ‘Two days from now. I found a cheap flight, and a friend has skis and boots you can borrow. He said they won’t be perfect for you, but they’ll be good enough.’

He realized after a second that his mouth was open.

‘For real?’ he said.

‘For real,’ his mum said, with a wide smile. ‘Like we said, it’s an early Christmas present.’

‘And birthday,’ his dad said. ‘For ten years. That was what you agreed to, right?’

‘Twenty years,’ Matt said. ‘This is amazing. Thank you! Does Annabelle know?’

‘Not yet. Her dad does. We arranged it with him a few days ago, but we agreed we’d keep quiet. Make it a surprise. You can tell her.’

3

He stood on a moving runway which took him, and the gaggle of four- and five-year-olds he was with, gently up a shallow incline.

If he was totally honest, he did not enjoy skiing at all. He felt guilty about it, after his parents had paid for the plane tickets and bought him the ski jacket, but he just didn’t really like it.

It didn’t help that he had two choices: spend the days pottering about on the baby slopes, or try to join in with Annabelle and Mike and some French friend of theirs called Jacques and spend the days terrified of dying.

The day before, he had joined them for a run. By the time he had finally emerged at the bottom, they were waiting by a log hut, sipping coffees. Annabelle had said, Why don’t you get a bit of practice in before coming with us again?

I’ll be OK, he replied.

It’s not you I’m worried about, she said. There are kids up there.