Page 11 of One More Chance
Chapter 7
BILLIE JOE’S THIGHSburned like they were on fire, but there was no way she was stopping. She reached the bottom of the mountain and just as she did an aggressive hockey-style stop heard her phone ringing. She reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone. It was the instructor, Jessica. Tabitha was done for the day.
Charlotte brushed the slushy spring snow from her skis with her leather mitts, threw them over her shoulder and headed over to the bunny hill.
“Tabitha,” she yelled at her niece who was sitting at the picnic tables at the base of the slope.
Tabitha whipped her head around and Charlotte breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw the shit-eating grin on her niece’s face.
“How did it go?” She set her skis down and straddled the bench seat, dying to know the details of Tabitha’s lesson, but keeping a wary eye open for a certain royal blue ski jacket.
“It was super fun. I can turn and stop, and Jessica says that I can go on the rooster for our next lesson.” Tabitha was talking a mile a minute. The rooster was one of the chairlifts that went to mid-mountain.
“The rooster! That’s amazing.”
“She IS amazing,” Jessica smiled and patted Tabitha on the shoulder. “It was a bit touch and go at the beginning, but she stuck with it.
“She’s bull-headed like her mom,” Charlotte grinned and squeezed Tabitha’s shoulder.
“And she has your hair too, lucky girl,” Jessica said. “Do you want to sign up for another lesson? I have availability every morning this week.
Charlotte looked to Tabitha. “What do you think, Tabby Cat?”
Tabitha nodded so hard her helmet slid forward on her head. “Alright, Jessica. You heard my niece.”
“Oops, sorry. I thought that you were her mom.”
“That’s okay. I love her like a daughter.” It was true and she felt such a sense of pride walking away from the mountain, their cheeks pink from the wind.
“What did you say about hot chocolate earlier?” Tabitha looked up at her aunt as they loaded the skis into the roof rack.
“You don’t forget a thing, do you?” she laughed. “Let’s head into town and you can meet my best friend Megan. She runs the cutest little coffee shop in town.”
“Auntie Charlotte?” Tabitha said as they drove away from the mountain.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I have some lunch at the café too?”
Charlotte felt her stomach drop - it had been in knots with the knowledge that she could run into Logan at any second. She hadn’t even thought about what she was going to feed Tabitha.
“Of course. That was the plan.” It wasn’t the plan. What kind of awesome aunt was she? She forgot about feeding the kid.
The windows were steamy, and the smell of coffee beans and croissants welcomed them into the only coffee shop in town. Charlotte hadn’t been to the café since opening day, so she was happy to find the place bustling. “Charlotte!” Megan called out from behind the counter and waved as Charlotte and Tabitha joined the lineup. Megan undid her apron, hung it on a hook, and jogged over to give Charlotte a huge bear hug.
“You’re barely showing.” Charlotte pulled back from the hug and held her friend by the arms as she surveyed her slightly rounded belly.
Megan ran her hand over her sweater and smiled. “I felt the baby move for the first time this morning.”
“How exciting,” Charlotte said, her eyes glazing over. Megan was one of her last child-less friends and while she was happy for her, she was also sad that their conversations were now going to consist of diaper comparisons and complaints about lack of sleep.
“Enough about that,” Megan extended her hand, “You must be Tabitha.”
“I am,” Tabitha smiled and shook her hand.
“She goes by Tabby Cat,” Charlotte smiled, and Tabitha mirrored the grin back.
