Winter Interlude (52 page)

At the top of Squaw One Express, James raced past him
.
Not to be outdone, Paul took fewer turns and quickly caught up
.
Having skied together all their lives, both worked to outdo the other in their typical rivalry.

Nearing the bottom
,
they were neck
and
neck until Paul edged ahead for the win
.

“Damn, you’re tough to beat.” James laughed good-naturedly and glided to the lift.

“That’s because I’ve been up here most weekends and you’ve been buried in work all winter.”

On the next lift
,
he and James ran into a couple of friends and became a team against the other two
.
Kevin Barker and
Stephen
Walters, bankers from the city, were weekend fixtures at Squaw, so trouncing them was challenging. The foursome worked the mountain to find places to race, sometimes hiking up a ways to seek the fresh powder that beckoned
.

They eventually broke for lunch, finding a spot on the deck outside to eat
.
All four wore mirrored sunglasses
—
Paul used his for the glare, but he’d noticed while going through the deli line, the others had kept theirs on indoors
.
He smiled, remembering Judith’s depiction of the ‘good-looking gods of the mountain
,
’ as she’d
called
them
.
According to her, the glasses were part of their uniform and made it easier to scope out the terrain without being too obvious
.

Stephen
and Kevin fit the profile and were eying a couple of women a few tables over
.
The two were dressed in ski outfits that looked like they’d been molded to their bodies
.
Neither showed signs of skiing
.
Their boots were dry and their hair and makeup were fresh
,
as if they’d just stepped out of a salon.

Paul noted Jame
s’
interest
.
“You thinking about chasing snow bunnies?” he asked, nodding in their direction.

James glanced at him, tipping his glasses down to make eye contact
.
“I’m thinking about it
.
Why
?
What’s it to you?”

“Nothing
.
I’m just wondering about
Kate
is all,” Paul said cautiously.

“Oh
?
What’re you
?
Her guardian angel
?
Must’ve been some weekend for you to go from tearing her down to protecting her,” James retorted.

“It’s nothing like that
.”
He cleared his throat
.
“I just never thought you’d cheat on her
.
No one deserves that.”

James smiled
.
“Well, here’s a news
flash, little brother
.
She dumped me.”
He
stretch
ed
out his legs
,
push
ed
his glasses back in place
and moved
his eyes back to their original position, on the two women
.
“So
,
I’m free to
cheat
,” he said, using
his crooked forefingers for emphasis
.

Paul almost choked on the beer he’d been drinking
.
Elation surged through him
.
He quickly schooled his emotions after looking up and catching Jame
s’
scrutinizing stare
.
He took a deep breath along with another sip, forcing himself to remain calm
.
When he could speak without giving himself away, he said, “Really
?”
He hesitated for a heartbeat
.
“When did this happen?”

James shrugged
.
“Last week
—
at dinner
.
I still can’t believe she did it
.
But I’m glad she did.”

“That’s tough,” Paul said in his most consoling voice
.
He waited a few minutes and then asked, “What do you mean, you’re glad she did?”

“
She deserved better than me
.
”
James winced, and even more astonishing, his voice held a twinge of regret
.
“
Considering she wants marriage and I don’t. S
he
need
s
a man who
’s
ready to commit,
y’know
?
I’
d
been
seriously thinking about ending thing so that she could move on
. It only seemed right.
But
Kate
pulled the plug on us
before I even knew what hit me
.
I should’ve manned up long before now.
I
n my
own
defense, she
could be
a little hard to deal with
at times
and it
wa
s easier
just to let things ride
.”

Nodding, Paul silently studied his brother and mulled over the bombshell he’d just dropped
.
At the same time
,
James attention never wavered
.
Awkward seconds ticked by as
they
stared at each other.

Eventually, James offered a wry smile and looked away, sighing
.
“Turns out she met some guy up here last weekend
.”
He chuckled and bent to loosen his ski boot
.
“Funny, I thought maybe something happened between you two, but I was wrong
.
She skied with…”
H
e thought for a moment
.
“Mike…yeah
,
that’s his name
.
Anyway, he gave
her a
ride back to San Francisco
.
I gather she had a date with him after our breakup
.
I figured he’s the reason she broke up with me so fast and without warning
.
Said she needed to
put us behind her
—
so she could start something new.”

Paul’s jaw tightened
,
as his thoughts went haywire
.
It took a tremendous amount of effort to rein them in
.
Even still, he couldn’t keep his shock from showing, nor could he keep the hurt out of his words
.
“So, she’s dating someone new?”

How could she
?

“I’m not sure
.”
James eyed Paul carefully for a long moment
.
He cleared his throat
.
“But according to her, she met someone who changed her life
.”
He shrugged
.
“I assumed it was this new guy
.
I mean
,
who else could it be
?
Something happened
.
Kate
was too set in her pursuit of marriage and nothing was going to stop her
.
Hence the need to put things right
.
It was
past
time.”

The rigid line of Paul’s shoulders relaxed immediately as he absorbed the information
.

James
settled back
and resumed scoping out the bunnies
.

After a while
,
they decided to head back to the slopes, but not before James and Kevin made a little side trip to talk to the bunnies
.
When Paul stepped into his skis, James sauntered up with a wide smile on his face
.
He grabbed his skis and poles, which had been leaning against the rack
.
He dropped them on the ground,
and
proceeded to step into his bindings and lock them in place with a final snap.

He glanced at Paul and nodded
.
“I’m ready whenever you are, bro
!”

“So, I take it you got lucky?” Paul said, noting his pleased look.

James flashed his signature grin, pushing his sunglasses higher on his nose
.
“Luck had nothing to do with it.”

Paul laughed at his audacity, realizing he was probably right
.
When his brother smiled, the ladies always reacted favorably
.
“Well, come on
,
Don Juan
.
W
e’re burning daylight.”

Once in the locker room, after skiing all afternoon, Paul sat as James said, “You’re on your own for dinner
.
I have plans.”

“Little
M
iss
B
unny, I take it
?”

“You got that right
.”
He sported a wide smile.