Page 79 of Stuck on the Slopes

“What the fuck?” I looked at my mother. “Did you call them here?”

She scoffed. “Of course not!” But she wouldn’t look me in the eye as she said it, instead keeping her focus on her plate.

“You’re lying.”

“Veronica?” My dad frowned. “What did you do?”

“I’ll handle it,” Rachel offered. “If you’ll excuse me.” She stood before I could protest, kissed the top of my head, and then made her way out the back of the restaurant.

“Well, at least now we can talk without her,” Mom said.

“What on Earth could we possibly have to talk about?” I asked. “I have nothing to say to you.”

Instead of looking at her, I watched for Rachel outside. Before she emerged, I could feel my hip lock up, so I shifted in my seat to force it to crack and stay loose. When she approached the photographer, he lowered his camera. They shook hands, and then Rachel crossed her arms as they spoke. I couldn’t make out what they said, but at one point, they both laughed at a joke I couldn’t hear. The photographer did something with his camera, then showed her something on it before he went on his way. After that, Rachel came back inside.

I envied her way with words. Had it been me to go out, I couldn’t promise myself that I wouldn’t have verbally assaulted him. I was never the violent type or one to throw a punch, but my words were rough enough to make up for it.

“Well, that’s settled,” Rachel said as she came back into the kitchen. “He was super nice. Apparently, someone tipped him off that there might be a snowboarding comeback. I wonder who.” Rachel shot a pointed look at my mother as she took her plate. “Not sure about y’all, but I’m finding myself without an appetite.”

I stood with my plate. “Yeah, that makes two of us. Come on, Squatch.”

Sasquatch slid his chin off my thigh and emerged from beneath the table to follow us out of the restaurant. My dad wasn’t far behind, either, leaving my mother at the table alone.

“I am so sorry,” Dad said. “I didn’t know. If I’d even had an inkling, I swear to you, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m not mad at you.”

“We… haven’t been doing well.” He exhaled, like the confession alone was a weight off his chest. “We miss you, sure, but there’s more to this with her and I can’t figure it out.”

Rachel frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Hart.”

“Rachel, please, just Drew is fine. I feel awful.”

“It’s not your fault,” I reiterated. “You can’t control her. We can only control ourselves.”

“And besides, it’ll be fine. I’ve gotten some control on the narrative at the end of the day.” She sighed. “He deleted the photos for me, too. So it all worked out.”

“How’d you manage that one?” Dad asked.

“Turns out his girlfriend was in the same sorority I was. Same chapter and everything. Once I introduced myself with my full name, he recognized it.”

“Small world, huh?” My dad chuckled. “I’ll talk to Veronica later. Rachel, you’re lovely. You clearly make my son happy. Now, not to embarrass you,” he said as he looked at me, and then back to Rachel, “but I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. All I care about is that the two of you are happy.” He patted my shoulder. “And I’m proud of you. I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable enough to come to us about what happened after the accident, but I understand why.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“Of course. We’ll talk more later.”

I wanted to catch his ear more: about what he meant exactly by him and Mom not doing well, about what he planned to do next, about what he’d say to her. We’d have our chance, I was sure, and while I didn’t mind if Rachel heard whatever it was he’d say, I knew my dad well enough to know he was just as private as I could be.

“Anyway, we should check in on her,” Dad said. “Or do we need to go to the lobby for that?”

I rolled my eyes. “I see what you did there.”

“Come on, sport. Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter 22

Rachel

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