Page 32 of Finding Love on the Slopes

Enrique chuckled, “Ha, no. We were unadoptable. Well, Fernando wasn’t, but every time someone showed interest in him, he refused unless they took us all. Two families actually requested his brothers be brought down so they could meet us, but when they saw the rag-tag crew that we were, they hit the door running. We actually adopted each other. It is a long story, but we didn’t want to just be a found family; we wanted to be a real one. Anthony got with a family lawyer and somehow made ithappen. It was pretty amazing, and I don’t think any of us has ever regretted it.”

“So, do you all have the same last name now?”

“That was a long discussion, but no. We almost adopted Johnson as our family name. Anthony had a good family, one to be proud of, well, almost. His mother was amazing but died. His family wouldn’t take him in. He wasn’t bitter about it but also didn’t feel that Johnson was his legacy. We talked about using a totally new name, one that we chose, but then Fernando argued that we didn’t form the family to become something new but to show that we accepted each other for the people that we are. Our last names were part of our identity, and changing our last name didn’t make us family. Our decision to do it did. He had a slightly different outlook on names, as he didn’t even know what his family name was. He was found with a bracelet that said Santos on it and a document that said Fernando. The firemen and child services used those two pieces to name him. It didn’t really matter to most of us, but it did to Fernando, so we kept our names. Most of us didn’t have middle names, so we all decided to take on the same middle name.”

“How did you determine what it would be?” Leigh was enthralled by his story, and he found it interesting how curious she was.

“Well, you would think we put more effort into it than we did, but we just took Gabriel’s name. He was the only one with a middle name, and his last name was cool, so we all decided that for him not to have to give up one of his names,we needed to take one of his. His middle name is Michael. I know it’s a little weird that he’s named after not one but two archangels, and his last name is Knight. Fernando was always going on and on about how we needed to defend the innocent and less fortunate, and he read us stories at night like Ivanhoe. So, it made sense to us to use Knight. Now, my name is Enrique Knight Rodriguez. I think it’s pretty cool.”

The whole thing kind of blew Leigh’s mind. It was such a strange and unique story but one that made so much sense to the man she was coming to know.

“Can you tell me about your parents? Did you know them?”

“Um, you’re not ready for that particular story yet. Why don’t you tell me about you and Curtis? I have heard a little bit of his side of the story, but I wonder what your take is on being raised by your older brother. We have that in common, you know. I was raised from fourteen on by my brother Anthony and his wife Hannah.”

“Really, I have to hear how that happened. You definitely have an unusual story for someone who grew up in an orphanage. I’ll give you a break and share some of my story first. Don’t get too comfortable, though. Mine is nowhere near as interesting as yours.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Leigh sank back into her corner of the couch and stared off into the flames.Where to begin…

“Well, you said you already know about my dad dying in the trucking accident, so I assume you heard about my mom sinking into a deep depression and just forgetting she had a toddler and ten-year-old to care for. Curtis had always been an extremely responsible child, from what I’m told, and had already taken a keen interest in my care, so when my mom disappeared into her never-ending time of mourning, he took care of me. Looking back on things, it’s crazy how that all worked out. I have a hard time believing the authorities would allow it now, but I guess times were different thirty-two years ago, and a ten-year-old acting as a caregiver for a three-year-old was okay.”

“Hm, as long as they didn’t have to deal with it, they turned a blind eye? That sounds very similar to my story. How did he manage, though? I mean, he had to go to school, right?”Enrique asked, intrigued by his friend’s dedication to his baby sister at such a tender age.

“That’s the crazy part! My grandmother offered to take me home with her for a little while, but my mother had a fit, screaming and yelling not to take her babies. Apparently, she was so passionate about us staying at home that Grandma assumed she would snap out of the depression and actually take care of me. Luckily, the accident happened at the beginning of the summer break, so Curtis was able to get things figured out during the time off. He watched the mail, and when the life insurance documents came through, he called my grandmother, and she came to town and helped get that all taken care of. The same is true for social security payments. She always stayed a few days and cooked a bunch of meals for him and stocked up the pantry and paper goods. She took him to the store and made sure he knew how to spend the weekly funds wisely on the necessities. Then she would head back home to the mountains, coming every two weeks or so to try to coax my mother out of bed and stock the house again. She called every day to check in, though.” Leigh hadn’t ever really talked about her childhood with anyone before. It seemed strange now, and the details didn’t reflect particularly well on her family.

Picking at a string on the edge of the blanket draped across her lap, she continued, “In her defense, she thought she was helping him learn life skills and that my mother would move past her grief in a normal amount of time. I’m not sure what that time frame looks like, but no one thought she would climbso far into her shell of sadness that it would take her nearly ten years to start living again.

“So, let me get this straight: your mother didn’t help care for you and Curtis for over ten years? He had to figure it all out on his own?” Enrique was incredulous. Not that he was particularly cared for by his family, but he didn’t have a baby to care for. Keeping himself alive was hard enough.

“Yes and no,” Leigh replied. “Thankfully, my dad decided to settle in this great little town, and folks looked after each other. The school administration helped get me registered for preschool and, even though we were within walking distance of the school, got us special permission to ride the bus because trudging through rainstorms and snow would have been extra dangerous for me. Teachers were understanding when Curtis didn’t have his schoolwork done or had to miss class because I was sick. When he was invited to participate in a special science club, his math teacher watched me so he could participate. The community really pitched in to make it all possible. Again, I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but they did what they thought was best, and I turned out okay.”

“How did it go on so long though? Ten years of neglecting your kids and the community having your back is mind-boggling.”

“I agree. I don’t understand how my mother lived that way for so long. Someday, maybe I will get the courage to ask her, but right now, it is a mystery to me as much as you. One thing I know for sure, my brother is a saint. He made her food andtook it to her so she didn’t starve. Literally pulled her out of bed to make her shower and changed the bedding while she bathed. He cleaned the house so we didn’t live in squaller. He played with me, helped me with my homework as time went on, did his homework, started cooking our meals, and then, when he was fourteen, got a job at Avalanche Crest. Mrs. Bailey agreed to watch me while he worked and slipped him a little extra for the work I did. I was seven, so I couldn’t do much, but I helped her clean the guest rooms, folded papers in the office, wiped down tables in the restaurant, and did little things to keep me busy and save someone else’s time. I had so much fun there. The Baileys are like a second family to me. They have done more for me than my mother ever did.”

“Is that how you got into skiing, spending all your time at the resort?”

“Good guess,” she said, chuckling. “Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for Mr. Rodriguez, who demonstrated the advanced skill of adding two plus two and getting four.” She gave him a mock bow and soft applause, her eyes gleaming with humor.

“Thank you. Thank you very much. I will return tomorrow for one last show, but be warned, the ticket price just doubled.” Waving his hand in the air, Enrique played along with her mockery of him, showing his ability to take a joke once more.

“The winter I turned eight, Mr. Bailey offered me to attend ski lessons with his daughter, who was on the national ski team before she had an accident and couldn’t compete anymore. Shewas a popular instructor and had been pulling double duty with the younger kids, but she needed help wrangling them. I was her assistant, and in return, she trained me with the older kids when she led those groups. As Curtis’s success as a ski instructor led him to get bigger and bigger clients, my ski instruction kept increasing. Soon, I was entering competitions, and the Baileys were my sponsors from the very beginning. When Curtis started doing the adventure tours, the Baileys let me stay and work here so it was my second home.

“That explains why so many people knew you. That first day, it seemed like every ten seconds, someone called your name in greeting.”

“Jealous?” she teased.

“No. Okay, maybe. I was definitely annoyed that you did not give me your full, undivided attention.” His poor imitation of a pout made her chuckle, but she didn’t doubt for a second that he had been annoyed that first day.

“I spent nearly every afternoon after school and most weekends, not to mention just about every school break at Avalanche Crest since I was seven. Folks who come to visit are pretty loyal and have been coming for years. I knew most of them when they were children, and now they are all grown up like me. Most of them know I don’t live in Colorado anymore, so it caught them by surprise to see me. I haven’t grown in the last ten years, so I wear the same ski suit… folks learn the outfit and can recognize you even when you’re all geared up, and only your hair is showing.”

“Ah, that makes sense. So, how did things progress as you got older? People had to notice that your mother still wasn’t leaving the house, registering you for school, and all the other things that parents should do. Why didn’t they call child services?”

“That’s a good question. I don’t know if they thought she had been through enough losing her husband, the love of her life, so taking her kids away would be cruel. Or perhaps they saw how awesome Curtis was doing with me, so they decided to let us be because it would be traumatizing for us to lose our father and mother and then be separated on top of all that. Honestly, I was so little, I’m sure I’d miss my dad and even my mom, but Curtis had been my sole provider for so long… if they had taken him away from me, it would have been bad. He was my everything. Was that fair to him? Probably not, but to be honest, I have never heard him complain. He has never uttered a word of what if or maybe about how things played out. I may resent my mother for abandoning us so she could cry into her pillow, but Curtis has never said a bad word about her either. I’m telling you; I don’t know what the criteria are for sainthood, but my brother deserves to be considered.”

“I have known your brother for over ten years, and as you said, I have never heard him complain or share a single regret over the years he invested in raising you. You are his pride and joy. I know your relationship is complicated since he is your big brother and father figure, all rolled into one person, but when he talks about you, his face lights up. If I didn’t have a similar love for my brothers, I would be jealous.”

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