Page 40 of Crashing into Love

“Billions, but I don’t know the exact number. Over eight.”

“Right. So, out of all those people, only some of us snowboard, right?”

“Yes.”

“And only some of those people keep going and do it professionally, right?”

“Yes,” Gia said again.

“Okay. Well, out of all those people, and it’s still a big number, your mom is ranked sixth in the world right now. That’s crazy, right?”

“She’s sixth?”

Drew nodded and added, “She’s even higher than me. I’m only tenth right now.”

“You got hurt,” Gia recalled.

“Yeah, but that’s not the reason. Every time someone gets on a podium and wins first, second, or third, they can improve their ranking. Your mom has been getting on a lot of those podiums. I used to, but I haven’t as much recently. She’s even better than me, so you should really be learning from her.”

“I guess.” Gia finally looked up at Drew. “But I wanted to color and stuff with you, too.”

“Maybe when I come back.”

“You’re coming back?” the girl asked, lighting up instantly.

“Not tomorrow.” Drew chuckled. “I used to come here more than I do now, though, and I was thinking I might try to come back later this year.”

“Oh,” Gia uttered. “Later this year… So, a long time from now.”

“Not that long. I bet when I come back, you’ll be so good on the board.”

“Maybe. My mom is really busy, so she can’t teach me a lot of the time.”

“Do you know why your mom is really busy?”

“She works and takes care of me.”

“She has two jobs,” Drew explained. “She works here because your grandma needs help, and she snowboards, Gia. Plus, she gets to be your mom. It’s a lot of hard work, and that takes time. Trust me, it’s not that she doesn’t want to teach you something. She’s just busy. I know whenever she has a spare minute, she wants to spend it with you, though.”

“Yeah,” Gia said, sounding maybe half-convinced.

Drew stood up then, deciding there wasn’t much else she could do, and that was when she noticed Selma standing behind Gia by several feet, still well within earshot. Selma mouthed, ‘Thank you,’ and smiled at Drew, who winked at her. Drew was not a winker, though, and she had no idea why she’d just done that.

“Hey, Gia? Why don’t you go see if your breakfast is ready in the kitchen,” Selma suggested.

“Eggs and bacon?” Gia asked.

When Selma nodded, the little girl took off.

“Don’t take offense that she’d choose eggs and bacon over you. She loves eggs,” Selma explained, walking over to Drew. “And it’s turkey bacon, but don’t tell her.”

Drew smiled and said, “Your secret is safe with me.”

“So… You’re heading out today, huh?”

“Yeah. My flight’s in the afternoon, though, so I was going to eat and finish packing.”

“If you eat down here, she’s going to want to eat with you. I can tell her to eat in the office, though.”

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