Page 8 of One Last Run

Danica locked her phone, stifling her grimace at the photo of Eddie she’d put there to keep up appearances. She turned to Kiera, focusing solely on her friend. “I just told her I didn’t need help.”

Kiera’s expression was one of skepticism and what Danica noted was just the tiniest smirk.

Danica lifted her chin in defiance. It’s so awkward when someone tries to help you stand back up on skis. I would havejust taken us both down.” Danica adjusted her coat on the back of the chair, then tugged at the sleeves of her base layer shirt.

A server appeared to take their order, and disappeared just as quickly. Danica sipped water out of a red plastic cup that had seen better days. She missed plastic straws. Paper straws were a travesty. In the age of space travel and the Large Hadron Collider, why couldn’t someone invent a straw that didn’t instantly dissolve on your lips, kill sea turtles, or need to be toted around in your purse? Thankfully, the server’s return with their beers saved her from further straw grief.

“So, what’s really up? You seem off,” Kiera said, wiping at the corner of her mouth after taking a large sip of her cloudy beer.

Danica gulped at her own beer, a smooth golden ale. “Isn’t it weird that Pete is here after just being absent for fifteen years? No one’s even mad that she just hasn’t talked to any of us except for Izzy in fifteen years?”

“Yeah,” Kiera admitted. “I guess that’s a little weird.” She raised an eyebrow at Danica.

“I mean, even Izzy comments on my social media posts or sends me a Happy Birthday text. Pete just disappeared and then shows up and acts like we’re just as close as we had been.”

Kiera made a noise of agreement, thoughtfully looking down into her beer.

“She doesn’t even seem to have changed at all,” Danica said quickly. Only with Kiera could she be so honest. “She’s still impulsive and just doing whatever she likes and acting like those of us with careers have sold out to… the man or something.”

Kiera snorted. “Damn the man.”

“Hell yeah, except the man signs my checks that pay my mortgage so like, yeah, sure, if that’s selling out, then consider me sold.”

Kiera looked amused and concerned at the same time. “Wow. You’re really riled up.”

Danica laughed self-consciously. Kiera wasn’t wrong. Her heart was pounding and she felt a rush of adrenaline from her complaints. “Have you talked to her at all in the last… well, since college and not told me?”

“Uh, no, I was obviously Team Danica in the pseudo-breakup.”

“God, I love you,” Danica said, grinning. “She does seem like she’s happy, though. Annoyingly.”

“I’m honestly jealous she gets to travel so much. Wouldn’t you, if you had the chance?” Kiera asked.

Danica shrugged. Most days she preferred her couch and her favorite throw blanket and a cup of tea or wine. “It seems exhausting.”

“Nothing can be more exhausting than teaching cells and biodiversity to 85 pubescent middle schoolers all day,” Kiera said with a tired grin.

Danica groaned. “Yeah, that does sound… rough.” She tipped her glass in acknowledgement. “Major props to you for sticking with that, especially after Covid. No, thank you.”

“It has its moments. I’m glad to have work. I can’t imagine how Maggie is a stay-at-home mom. I feel like my brain would just melt,” Kiera admitted.

Danica raised her eyebrows. “Same, but she seems happy, too.”

“Everyone does seem that way, I think,” Kiera said, her expression unreadable.

Danica nodded slowly, feeling like she might be the only one who wasn’t. Just another reason to not tell Kiera about her breakup with Eddie, she supposed. Honestly, it surprised her that Kiera hadn’t already sussed it out. Maybe being around Pete had frazzled Danica so much that Kiera couldn’t see beyond her immediate distress. She cleared her throat, shifting the subject just slightly away from herself. “What’s new with the girls? DidLizzie decide what her science fair project is going to be or is she still overthinking it?”

They talked about Kiera’s daughters, two perfect little hellions who Danica adored. They were tiny Kiera clones in every way, from their round faces and dark hair to their snark. Although Danica found that fact perfectly delightful, Kiera found it endlessly annoying.

They finished their meals in better spirits, laughing as they shared stories about work and kids and life while Danica avoided talking about her own relationship. Still, something in the back of Danica’s mind knew that the conversation about Pete wasn’t over. Kiera had never let her off the hook so easily before, and she doubted that would start now.

CHAPTER 4

PETE

For their lastrun of the day, Pete and Izzy took See Forever again, a blue that ran along the topmost ridge of the resort’s boundary. The views were incredible and the easier run was perfect for her worn out legs. Better yet, they could board from the top all the way down to the bottom, right into the courtyard in front of the condo.

They explored the runs near Lift 9 along the resort’s western edge for most of the afternoon, including a lunch break with Maggie at Bon Vivant, a French restaurant positioned two-thirds up the mountain. You couldn’t go wrong in Telluride — it was truly one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been, and having the time to leisurely take in the sights while also flying down the side of a mountain was basically peak happiness. They wove down See Forever toward San Sophia Station, cutting over on Smuggler to Misty Maiden, which would lead them straight into Mountain Village.

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