Page 51 of Hidden in Memories
Daniel reaches out and opens the door to discover narrow stairs that appear to go all the way down to the ground floor. His expression is grim.
“How about this for a possible escape route?”
40
There is hardly anyone waiting when Ida reaches VM8, the wide chairlift at the heart of Åre’s ski system. With an elegant turn she slows down and skis over to the barrier.
She is surprised at how few tourists are around, given that it’s the middle of the Easter week. She can’t quite believe how lucky she is. Alice is at preschool, and Ida’s mother is picking her up this afternoon—which means a rare opportunity to spend some time on the slopes.
Daniel couldn’t have come, of course—there was no point in asking him. This new case of the hotel murder is taking up every waking hour, and as usual it has swallowed him up completely.
He is barely aware that she and Alice exist.
It’s fine—she doesn’t mind skiing alone. Actually it’s nice to be on her own. She can’t remember when she last had time to herself. At the weekends she always does something with Daniel and Alice. In spite of her determination not to lose touch with her girlfriends, she has noticed that they are drifting apart.
Today is a rare luxury.
Ida shows the lift pass on her sleeve and slides through the barrier to the embarkation platform. The chairlift sways as she settles down on the far left of the seat.
March and April are the best months in Åre. The weather is nice, and the snow is still good. Today the sun is high in the sky, and it’s wonderful to be outdoors.
Before she had a baby, she often used to ski the “eight at eight,” like many other enthusiasts. That means you are at the VM8 lift at precisely eight o’clock, an hour before the rest of the system opens. The slopes aren’t busy, and with a bit of luck, you might be the first to ski on virgin snow.
It’s quite a while since she did that.
Ida can feel the sun on her back, and she turns her head so that the rays touch her left cheek. It is lovely and warm. She closes her eyes and enjoys the sensation. She pulls down the zip of her jacket a little way.
“Ida?” says the guy sitting next to her. “It is you, isn’t it?”
She looks in his direction. He’s wearing an oversized sand-colored ski jacket and black ski pants. A dark-gray helmet covers his hair. It is impossible to see behind his mirrored goggles.
He pushes them up onto his forehead, and she realizes who he is.
“Gustav! Hi!”
He smiles, clearly delighted to see her. “It’s been a while! How are you?”
Ida smiles back.
Gustav also used to be a ski instructor; they were colleagues for several years. She’s heard that he now works for the Åre Guides, which sounds like an absolute dream job. They take groups of expert skiers out onto the mountain, or skiing on powder snow on the back of Skutan. If she’d been able to juggle the hours with looking after Alice, she would have applied without hesitation.
“I’m fine,” she says, shifting her position so that she can see him properly. He’s every bit as cool and good looking as he ever was.
“Someone said you had a baby—fantastic!”
Ida nods. “A little girl. Her name is Alice, and she’s eighteen months old.”
She almost takes out her phone to show him a picture, but stops herself. It seems silly—why would he want to see that? She can’t imagine Gustav being interested in looking at photos of a toddler.
He lives in a different world.
“I’d never have believed it,” Gustav says with a grin. “You used to love to party!”
Ida isn’t sure how to interpret his comment. They are approaching the disembarkation point at the VM plateau, over twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. From there she is intending to take the gondola lift all the way up to Åreskutan.
It is such a long time since she was there. And since she really let go on the slopes.
“Are you on your own?” Gustav asks. “Or are you meeting friends at the top?”
