Page 93 of Sweet Ruin

I preferred the theory that Luther had engineered the trip to help Kaden surprise Cress, but Anna had voiced the fear that was churning deep in my gut. Luther had always seemed convinced Noah and I would end up together, and he’d been going out of his way to set us up since the first day I met him.

Whether or not Anna was right, it didn’t matter. Noah staying in the house next door wasn’t going to affect me, and I had every intention of avoiding all three of those boys as much as possible while we were all here. But the problem wasn’t my feelings; it was Wes’s, and I worried that Noah’s presence might just drive a wedge into the cracks that already seemed to be forming between us. This vacation was supposed to help us fix them, not make them worse.

I tried to push my concerns away and smiled up at my friends. “I thought we were going to forget about the boys,” I said. “Anna, weren’t you saying something about a wine cellar?”

She grinned and nodded. “Come on, I’ll lead the way.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

It turned out Wes and Sawyer’s parents had prepared for our visit as there was a lock on their wine cellar door. The girls were disappointed, and Anna tried her best to pick the lock. But, unfortunately, her skills with a bobby pin were limited to doing her hair.

I was somewhat glad we didn’t drink that night. Since Noah and the boys had arrived, Wes seemed frustrated and irritable. The house was tense, and I felt like drinking alcohol would have been similar to throwing fuel on a simmering fire.

I woke the next morning feeling a little more optimistic that the day would be a good one. The sun was out, and we were all going up the mountain. Wes seemed more himself, and he was struggling to contain his excitement about helping me learn to ski for the first time. It might have been cute if I wasn’t so daunted by the task ahead.

I was buzzing with adrenaline as we headed up the ski lift, and Noah was far from my mind. I knew I’d need every ounce of my focus firmly on my skiing if I wanted any chance of returning to the chalet in one piece at the end of the day. Unfortunately, any hope of that came crashing firmly down to earth when I reached the top of the ski slope.

“This doesn’t seem safe…” My voice trembled as I stared down the seemingly steep slope before me. This was meant to be the easiest run in the resort, especially for beginners, but to me it felt practically vertical. Wes might have given me painstakingly detailed instructions on how to navigate it, but now I was up here, everything he’d told me had faded from my mind.

“You’ll be fine,” Wes said, trying to encourage me. “I’m going to be there every step of the way.”

“You mean every fall of the way,” I replied, giving him a smile I didn’t quite feel.

“Yeah, I’ll be there for those too.” He chuckled.

It was a relief to see him so much happier today and to know Noah’s presence next door wasn’t going to completely ruin our whole trip. Perhaps Wes had realized that just because the boys were staying so close it didn’t mean we had to do anything with them. Last night, we’d all stayed in and watched a movie together. No Kaden, Luther, or Noah. And there was no sign of them down here at the ski runs either. So, there was at least one positive to standing at the top of the terrifying icy descent before me.

Sawyer and Anna were chatting to each other quietly as they waited for Wes to finish giving me directions. They’d insisted on coming to help teach me how to ski, and while I was grateful for their enthusiasm, it only seemed to be increasing my nerves. I didn’t want an audience to watch me make a fool of myself. At least I could be glad Cress had ditched us to ski with Kaden. That was one less onlooker to worry about.

“Seriously, Isobel, just give it a go. You’ll do great.” Wes gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s a lot easier than it looks.”

I responded with a small nod, knowing if I opened my mouth I’d only try to convince Wes this was a terrible idea. I was here now, and I suspected there was only one way I was getting out of this. And that way was down.

I took a deep breath, gripped my ski poles a little tighter to stop my hands from shaking, and prepared to move down the slope. Wes had shown me how to make a wedge shape with my skis so I could control my speed and stop, so that’s what I tried to do. But my skis refused to listen to me. They had a mind of their own and seemed to want to go in opposite directions rather than point together like Wes suggested.

"This doesn’t feel right,” I said to Wes, who was watching from beside me.

“Just get your skis in the pizza shape and then push off,” he replied.

“No, they’re supposed to be parallel,” Sawyer suggested as he slid up to us. “She’s not going to get very far like that.”

“She’s not ready for her skis to be parallel,” Wes said. “Don’t you remember we all started with the pizza?”

“I only remember being awesome from day one,” Sawyer answered, making Wes roll his eyes. “Maybe it would help if you tried skiing without your poles like those kids,” Sawyer continued, nodding at a class of toddlers who were snaking down the mountain behind their instructor.

“Sawyer,” Anna groaned. “That’s only how they teach little kids.”

I let out a frustrated laugh. “You guys, I think we have one too many chefs in this kitchen.” I knew they were just trying to help, but they were only confusing me more.

“Why don’t you both go on ahead?” Wes suggested. “I’ll stay with Isobel.”

Sawyer wished me luck before he took off, but Anna hung back. She appeared to be texting on her phone, but from the way she constantly glanced up at me, it seemed she was still keeping a close watch.

Wes stuck his ski poles into the snow and pushed himself closer to me. “Ignore them,” he said. “I’ll ski down a little way, and then you come to me. Just try to copy what I do.”

I nodded and gestured for him to go ahead. I was ready to watch him carefully as he skied down, but barely a second had passed, and it felt like he was halfway down the slope. He made it looks so easy. Maybe this run wasn’t quite as steep and long as I had imagined. Feeling slightly more confident, I prodded my ski poles into the snow on either side of my skis, bit my lip, and pushed off. I mimicked that part of Wes’s demonstration perfectly, but that’s where the similarity ended. As soon as my skis were pointing downward on the slope, they quickly picked up momentum. I did my best to twist them inward like Wes had shown me, but I was completely out of control.

“Pizza shape, Isobel! Pizza!” Wes shouted from below. I was trying my best, but I didn’t seem to be slowing down. All I wanted to do was stop, but I couldn’t seem to turn my skis anywhere other than directly down the hill. The longer I waited, the faster I was going, so I decided there was only one thing for it. I bent my knees and fell to the side, hitting the snow with a thud that sent my skis, poles, arms, and legs flailing in all directions.

---