Page 99 of Perfect Three

Chapter Forty

One weekend at thestart of winter, the three of them took off to the snowfields.Lucy was able to take the Friday off, so they left early in the morning.The snow season had started ahead of time, with some unexpected heavy falls of snow late in May.It was now June.

Sebastian’s father, Matt, joined them and Lucy was delighted to find he was a charming man with a wicked sense of humor.

At first, he seemed a little unsure of how to act around her.Lucy supposed it was because he’d gotten so used to his son being with Jack, and now there was a third person in the relationship, and a woman to boot!But after a few hours, he began teasing her.

Lucy had never skied before, and she spent more time on her bottom than upright.The three men each tried giving her a lesson, but in the end, Matt turned out to be the best teacher.Jack tended to make assumptions, and Sebastian was too worried she’d hurt herself.By the end of the weekend, she was able to spend a reasonable amount of her skiing time upright, and Matt declared that after another weekend of practice, she’d be skiing like a pro.

Friday afternoon, after they’d spent most of the day on the slopes, Lucy made a snowman.She had finished it with help from Matt when the two boys decided on a few high jinks.

Jack threw a snowball at Sebastian but missed.Sebastian’s aim was truer and he hit Jack.

Then it was on.

Jack laughed too much and kept missing.

Sebastian started taunting him.“You can’t throw for nuts,gubba!”

“You cheat!You bloody, Abo!”

“Oh hell, now they’re insulting each other,” Lucy whispered to Matt.“I know ‘Abo’ is really rude.What doesgubbamean?It doesn’t sound good.”

“Gubba,as Seb’s just used it, is a derogatory term.Means white fella.Back in the 1800s, it meant a white government fella.If one came around it certainly meant some sort of trouble for the black man.”

The two men had started wrestling, both laughing at the same time.Jack got Sebastian in a headlock and, somehow, they managed to roll into Lucy’s snowman.

“Oh no!”She cried, “My snowman.”

The two looked at her and Matt, then at each other.By some unspoken agreement Jack released Sebastian, and they both began pelting snowballs at Lucy and Matt.

Lucy grabbed handfuls of snow and threw them in the general direction of the pair.But not one of them hit the target.Maybe it was because she’d close her eyes each time she threw one.

Fortunately, Matt did manage to get one or two good hits on the other pair.

After about ten minutes of playing, they went back into the chalet they’d rented.Stripping off their wet ski clothes, they hung them to dry in the warm, airing room.

Sebastian sat Lucy in front of the fire with his father while he and Jack made warm drinks all round.

Later in the evening, they walked down to the Village Green to one of the many restaurants for a meal before settling down for the night.

After more skiing lessons and a few hours with a toboggan, on Saturday they again had dinner out.That night, they sat around the large fire in the living room, and Lucy was so relaxed with Matt it felt as if she’d known him all her life.They talked about books and old houses.

He regaled them with stories about a young Sebastian, much to Sebastian’s embarrassment.Matt told them how he and his wife had been shocked when he’d come home from spending the Christmas holidays with scars from the clean-skin ceremony.

Lucy noticed how he always referred to Sebastian’s mother as ‘wife’, never by name.She understood he respected his son and late wife’s beliefs by not using her name.

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