Page 2 of Ice To Meet You

My blood ran cold at the thought. I wasn’t a daredevil. I just wanted someone to help fund my new gallery.

Gio extended an arm, giving me a glittering smile. “Shall we?”

Shall we?Must we, more like.

A jaunty, “You first,” was all I could muster.

Maria allowed a woman with a fractious child go ahead of us in the queue. She turned to me. “I was hoping we’d be joined by …”

“Shh,” Gio hissed at Maria, his eyebrows threatening to launch into orbit.

“What?” Maria’s mouth formed a perfect circle.

“Not now,” he said.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. Things didn’t feel okay.

“Yes. Wonderful.” Gio’s broad smile didn’t quite meet his eyes, and a crawling sensation tickled the back of my neck.

He looked towards the approaching chair. “You better put your skis on, Esmé. We’re next.”

My heart skipped. I suppose I couldn’t put it off any longer.

I placed the toe of one boot in the binding, locking my heel in. I transferred my weight onto that foot, surprised when I didn’t topple over. Maybe skiing was like riding a bike—something I’d never forget. It’d been a while, but muscle memory was a thing.

Gio and Maria fidgeted at my side, waiting to take their turn on the lift. I followed the same process with the other foot. Toe in, then heel down and “click.”

Only this time, there was no “click.” Only an odd sounding “thunk.” I tried again. And again. But by the time I looked up, both Gio and Maria looked on the verge of panic.

They’d lined up along the spray-painted mark in the snow, ready to be scooped up by the next empty chair. Maria beckoned me, her hand spinning like a windmill in a hurricane.

I tried again to snap my ski boot into place, but the heel wouldn’t catch. I couldn’t take the lift with a ski hanging loose. I’d hardly look competent and investment-worthy. I looked down at my feet, cursing Pikachu and his Pokémon friends.

I pointed at my ski. “My binding is loose. You go on. I’ll fix it and see you at the top.”

Maria looked ready to argue, but the next wooden bench swung around, sweeping her and Gio up and away. The last I saw, Maria nodded wildly at me while Gio secured them in place with the large metal bar.

As the back of his shining helmet ascended out of view, I took a breath. I suppose I should be grateful. Pikachu and his loose binding had given me a stay of execution—a pause before I’d had to reveal my rusty skiing skills to the man I desperatelywanted to impress. If I didn’t get Gio’s investment, I’d have to take out a crippling loan to fund my new gallery.

I stepped aside and jabbed at the binding with my toe. Laughter rippled through a group of school kids, their annoyingly perfect skis gliding ahead.

Wonderful.

I rolled my eyes. Where was a snowy saviour with a screwdriver when I needed one?

2

MATTEO

“Where are you, Matteo? I need you back in Rome.” Antonio’s voice was harsh—a little edgy.

“Breathe, old friend. What’s going on?” He hated it when I called him that. He said it made him sound too serious. But the term fit. Antonio was my oldest friend—and a damn good one.

I moved forward in the chairlift queue, closing my gloved fingers tight around my phone. A group of school children ahead of me erupted into laughter, and I turned my back to dampen the noise.

“What was that? Who are you with?”

With the crowds, it felt like half of Northern Italy. “I’m skiing in Tiano.”

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