Just as she was settling into this wonderful feeling of gliding down the mountain, Will skied closer. “Okay, so this is a green run, but the end is actually the steepest part.” Her stomach twisted again. Skiing was certainly keeping her on her toes, so to speak. “So, just do what we talked about, really bend those knees and lean into the front of the boots, okay?” She nodded.

“And we’ll traverse the slope to take some of the heat off the gradient.” The twisting intensified.

“I don’t—” He lifted a hand and snaked it slowly from left to right, like a shark fin sluicing through the water. She thought she understood; she hoped she did.

“Just follow me, okay?”

“All right.”

Lucy could see the run widening up ahead and that it got a lot steeper. Why would they put the steepest part at the end where you’re supposed to stop?

Will carved left in a gentle arc and she followed. So far, so good. But as he made a rather sharp turn to carve right, Lucy got confused about what to do. Her left ski clipped her right and, in a heartbeat, she was tumbling down the slope. She landed with a thud on her back, leaving her slightly winded. Her left ski—the offending one—was still attached. Who knew where the right one was?

She lay still, arms out like a T, her pole straps limp around her wrists, and took stock of her body. Everything seemed to be intact. Will’s face appeared above her, his goggles pushed up onto his helmet.

She waved, sort of—more of a limp-wristed fling of her hand into the air. “Hello,” she said, as though it was perfectly normal to lie about on the snow with people skiing around her.

“You okay?” Concern etched his face and he reached out a hand.

She lifted one hand to push her goggles up then let it flop back onto the snow. “Are we talking about my body or my pride?”

“Definitely your body. Your pride slunk off that way.” He pointed off towards the ski lift.

“Ha ha, hilariously funny.”

“Am I helping you up, or would you prefer to stay there?”

“Up please.” She thrust a hand in his direction, and he signalled for the other one. When he had both her hands in his, he lifted her from the snow with ease, but as he was downhill from her, she fell into him. He captured her in his arms.

“Oops, hey, are you okay?” They were face to face, barely apart, their breaths mingling in the air between them, and their eyes locked onto each other’s. Lucy nodded slowly, not dropping his gaze. He bit his lower lip, and Lucy had to fight the urge to reach up and touch it. He didn’t seem to want to let her go, and she didn’t want him to.

“Will …” she whispered, not knowing what words would come after that.

He shook his head slightly and the moment was gone. He leant back and made sure she was stable, before skiing off to collect her other ski, which was at the bottom of the run. He put it under his arm, then skied up to her, cross-country style, propelling himself up the slope by planting his poles and pushing.