Page 7 of One More Chance
Chapter 4
CHARLOTTE PULLED INTOthe parking lot of Sugar Peaks Mountain Village and smiled. The sun shone brightly, and the temperature hovered around freezing, perfect for a beginner. Charlotte looked over at Tabitha whose eyes were wide as they took in the gondola cabins that whisked brightly colored skiers and snowboarders up the mountain.
“Are you excited?” Charlotte asked.
“Do I have to go all the way to the top?” her voice shook.
“Not right away. There’s a bunny hill. Once you’re more comfortable we will go to the very top, which you can’t even see from here. There’s a huge bowl over that ridge.” Charlotte pointed to the spot where the gondolas were disappearing from view.
“Wow.” Tabitha wrung her hands in her lap as she stared at the mountain.
“Hey, don’t you worry about a thing. You’ll be flying down this mountain in no time.”
As the two of them walked to the central square, the excitement in the air was palpable, skiers laughed and clomped around them in their heavy plastic boots, skis resting on their shoulders.
“Come with me, Tabby Cat.”
“Tabby Cat?”
“Shit. I mean, shoot.” Being around a kid was making Charlotte very aware of just how often she swore. “I have this habit of giving people nicknames. If you don’t like it, I can think of something else. Or, you know, just call you Tabitha.
The young girl grinned. “I like Tabby Cat. Mom is so serious all the time. I like being a little silly sometimes.”
Charlotte felt her heart swell inside her thermal ski clothes, she was well on her way to being a cool aunt. “Well then, let’s go get you some skis and be silly, Miss Tabby Cat.”
While a scruffy guy named Ethan outfitted Tabitha, Charlotte frantically scrolled through her emails. She was worried about being away from work for a week. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Kate had responded to all messages on her behalf and that there weren’t any fires that needed to be put out. She pulled up her text screen and smirked as she sent a message to Megan.
“I’m in town. What’s the big news, Mrs. Johnson?”
Johnson was Josh’s last name. Charlotte smiled as she envisioned Megan reading the text. Charlotte was 99% sure that the big news was an engagement announcement. She couldn’t have been happier for her friend. Last year, Megan’s husband of fifteen years left her for his pregnant mistress and Charlotte had been there to help pick up the pieces. Now she was with an incredibly hot carpenter, Josh, and four months’ pregnant with his baby. Megan’s story made Charlotte believe in the old saying about when one door closes, a window opens. In Megan’s case, her window had six pack abs and a giant smile.
Her phone chimed.
“Who told you?”
“Ha,” Charlotte said out loud and furiously typed back. “You just did.”
Megan sent back the red, angry-faced emoji.
The phone rang in Charlotte’s hand. She jabbed at the screen to answer the call.
