Page 39 of Crashing into Love

“You said we could play a game.”

“I know. But I didn’t realize how late it was,” she lied, holding out her hand. “I’m sure Drew would like her night to herself, too.”

Drew looked up at her then and seemingly understood what Selma was doing; likely not the pulling-her-kid-away part, but the part about Selma wanting to take Gia upstairs for dinner.

“Yeah, Gia, maybe another time. Your mom’s right: I have some things I need to do in my room.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Selma answered quickly. “Can you pick up your art stuff and put it back for me?”

“Fine,” Gia said in a grumble and stood up without taking Selma’s hand.

CHAPTER 13

It was Drew’s last day at the lodge, and for the first time in her life, she wished she would have taken more days off. She’d never wanted time away from her training, but this trip had been unexpectedly relaxing, and she was able to confirm that her knee was feeling good at the same time. Racing was different than just going down the mountain, but she was confident. Structurally, everything was okay, which meant that it was all mental for Drew, and she could handle that.

Her coach had texted asking when she was coming back, even though she’d confirmed that with him already, so she sent him her flight information to make sure he had it. Now that she’d done as he’d instructed, he seemed ready to get back to their usual training schedule. He’d even offered to pick her up from the airport and take her straight to the gym to get in a workout. Deciding that they could start back up the next day, though, she had told him no on the picking up part because she wanted to get back to her place and at least unwind a little, unpack some of her stuff, and also call her parents to let them know she was home. Maybe she’d even go over for dinner.

This whole thing was so strange for Drew. When she had taken brief vacations in the past, she’d enjoyed them obviously, but she’d always been itching to get back out on a course to take turns and get some air on a jump, trying to calculate how to pass someone on every inch of the course because she never knew when she’d need to make a move. If she got stuck behind someone at turn four, she might need to pass on the outside. If she was behind on a jump, she might need to take a different angle coming out of her landing.

Today, she was packing because while her flight wasn’t until the afternoon, she didn’t have enough time to get to the mountain, board, and come back before it was time to leave. Instead, she’d pack a little, have breakfast downstairs, and come back up to finish packing before she’d head to the airport. Normally, she’d leave for the airport early because she had a credit card that got her access to the lounge, and she could easily kill time there for a few hours before her flight, but she didn’t want to do that this trip.

“Drew!”

“Another snow day?” Drew asked when Gia wrapped her arms around her middle.

“It’s Saturday,” Gia stated, looking up at her.

“Oh, right,” she replied.

She’d forgotten the day of the week, and not because she’d been on some amazing, relaxing vacation but because she’d been thinking about Selma Driscoll in a way she should not be thinking about Selma Driscoll.

“Are you going out today?” Gia asked after letting go of her.

“No, I’m leaving today. I have a flight later. I’m getting breakfast right now.”

“You’re leaving?” Gia asked, looking up at her with clear disappointment in her eyes.

“Yeah. Your mom told you that, right?”

“Yes,” Gia replied, still sounding disappointed. “But she didn’t tell me it was today.”

Drew got down on one knee so she could meet Gia’s eyes.

“I don’t live here like you do, so I have to get back to my home.”

“I know.” The girl looked down at her feet. “I wanted to learn more about snowboarding.”

“Well, Gia, your mom is one of the best snowboarders in the world. Do you know how lucky you are that you get to learn from her?”

“Yeah,” she said, clearly not convinced.

“Has she told you how good she is?”

“No.”

“How many people are in the world?”

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