Page 20 of Crashing into Love

“Just checked in the last room of the night, so I’m going to work on the welcome bags for the VIP customers that’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. I’ll check the kitchen. Are we good on cookies?” Selma opened the warmer door. “I’ll bring some more or make sure we’ve got some in the oven.”

“You know I’m good down here, right? You can take the night off.”

“I took half the day off, Kelly.”

“Yes, but you’ve also barely taken time off at all since Ruth got sick. You deserve time with your daughter, Selma. And I know you haven’t been training consistently, either, and that’s important, too.”

“I know. I’ve got some stuff coming up, so I’ll be off for that. I’ll just do a quick walk-around and make sure everything’s good for tonight and tomorrow morning. Then, I’ll get out of here, okay?”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Kelly replied.

Selma shook her head and laughed as she walked from the desk to the kitchen to check on the cookies and see if the staff needed anything. The dinner rush was about to start, with everyone coming back from the mountain, so she just wanted to make sure they had everything prepped and ready. They did, so she went to check on the bar. Their bartender didn’t technically work for the hotel and was employed by a bartending company the lodge partnered with, so they didn’t have to keep him on payroll but could still boast about having a bar available. When he told her that he was fine, Selma turned around, thinking she might go back upstairs to spend some time with Gia and relieve Kirsten of having to hang out with a nine-year-old, but she saw Drew standing there, looking at her.

“Trying to get a drink?” Selma asked.

“Uh… No. I saw you, and I was hoping we could talk for a second.”

“About what this time, Drew? Seems like every time we do that, things get worse.”

“I know. I’m sorry. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”

“You’re sorry? For what?”

“Well, a few things, I think.”

Drew nodded to the table next to them before she pulled out a chair and motioned for Selma to sit down in it. Selma didn’t really want to, but she sat down anyway. Drew then pulled out another chair, moved it to face Selma, and sat down as well.

“I’m sorry about the skiing comment I made last night. I shouldn’t have said that you should’ve stuck to that and never picked up a board. Obviously, crashing out at the Olympics happens all the time, and it could just have easily been someone else clipping my board from the back, or I could’ve been the one doing it to someone else. So, even if you’d stayed in skiing, I still might not have made it beyond that prelim.”

“Okay. Apology accepted.”

“And about today – I’m sorry about that, too. I didn’t know it was you. You had goggles on, along with, you know, everything else, and you were kind of far away. I thought I just saw a coach screwing up their client. I still shouldn’t have walked up and started coaching myself because that’s not my place either way, but I didn’t know it was you. And I didn’t know you had a daughter, Selma, so I’m sorry about that, too. Also, I should thank you for the world’s largest breakfast that you sent me. For a second, I thought I’d drunk-dialed your kitchen last night or something until I figured it out, but thank you for that.”

Selma nodded and said, “I was sorry, too. I mean, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said to you last night, either.”

“Okay. Well, there’s that, at least.”

“As for Gia today…” Selma went to continue. “I might have overreacted. She’s just starting to learn, and I think I was trying to take her through things quicker than she was ready for. It’s hard to remember what it’s like when you’re first starting out. So, you were technically right: I shouldn’t have been teaching her that when she can barely stand up on her board right now.”

“She’s nine?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re…”

“Twenty-seven. I’m assuming you’re asking because you’re doing the math right now. I was a teen mom, yeah.”

“Not judging; just curious, I guess.”

“I got pregnant in high school. Back then, I had a serious boyfriend, and we thought we were careful, but we weren’t. I wanted to keep her. He didn’t.”

“Can I ask?”

“He’s not involved in her life, no. He actually moved across the country, went to college in Toronto, and stayed there. I’ve raised her on my own. Well, I have a lot of help. My parents moved away a few years ago, but they were here before and helped a lot. My grandma has been amazing, too, taking care of Gia whenever I needed to go somewhere for boarding. We live here to make things easier.”

“You live here? At the resort?”

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