Page 21 of Snowbody

God, she never shut up.

I turned my back on her, looking at Maddy instead. “Hey. Can we talk?”

Maddy nodded.

I took her hand. Together, we walked away from Melody.

“Maddy, I’m sorry. There’s a lot that I don’t think you know, and I want to set it all straight. Now. So we can move on.”

“Okay, I… are you all right? Jacob, I was scared to death!”

“I know. I know, and I’m sorry. And I’ll make it up to you, but… we have to do this now.”

I turned and gestured to the man at the front doors of the lodge.

Andrew Lowe, the reporter, was waiting there.

I led her to him and nodded. “I’m good to go if you are.”

Andrew nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

As his crew got the camera and mic in position, I looked to Maddy. “I just can’t keep going with things how they are. I want to make it better. For us.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I… I just don’t understand.”

“You will.” I smiled. “Give me a minute, and you will.”

Andrew nodded. “Mr. Reed, we’re recording in five, four, three…”

He turned toward the camera. “This is Andrew Lowe with Channel 2, and I’m here with Jacob Reed, Olympic medalist and current skateboarding instructor at the Sutton Lodge Resort. Jacob, you asked for this interview?”

I nodded. “I just wanted to come clean about some things, and this was the best way I could think to do it. I need to thank one of the owners of the resort, Mark Sutton, for his support. He believed in me when I was a nobody. He was the first person to help me on the road to going pro, and he was there for me when I suffered an injury that ended my career. I owe him a lot.

“However… I also need to come clean about some things. Mr. Sutton put me in a bad position. When I was young and didn’t know better, I let him handle a lot of finances for me. Because I trusted him. And I know now that Mr. Sutton accepted a lot of money on my behalf that he shouldn’t have. This was done without my prior knowledge and without a full explanation of the fact that this money violated the rules of every competition and tournament I participated in, including the Olympics.”

Maddy gasped softly and squeezed my hand tight. I squeezed hers back.

I continued, “I have earned a lot of endorsements over my career and, once I was able to understand the weight of that kind of money, I turned to bankers and investors who knew how to handle it properly. But I understand that some of what got me to where I am now was against regulations and against the ethics of the athletic community.

“I understand that admission may cost me my good standing in the community, and that I may have to forfeit medals and titles. I accept this. I also accept that some of my sponsors may want the be repaid for the money that they gave me. And I am also prepared to do that.”

I squeezed Maddy’s hand again and took a deep breath. “I’m prepared to do this because I’ve invested my money wisely. Now is the time for me to step forward and give a message directly to Mr. Sutton. Part of my investment was into your resort, the place where I learned how to snowboard and started my career. I am the silent partner in the company. If I need to sell my share, I will. But now is the time for me to put myself first, alongside the woman I love.”

I turned to Maddy. She was looking at me, mouth half-open.

I leaned in and kissed her.

The yelp from behind us told me that Melody had seen it all happen.

I couldn’t find it in me to care.

When I broke away from Maddy, she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around me. I looked at Andrew and smiled. “That’s it. I’m good.”

Andrew stared at me for a moment, stunned. Then, he turned to the camera. “Well… that was Jacob Reed, with a shocking announcement. Thank you, and back to you.”

The camera shut off. Andrew looked back at me, shaking his head. “You know that’s going to go viral, right?”

I nodded. “Kinda what I’m banking on.”

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