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She needed to put this little setback behind her and do some damage control.
“After you.” She gestured toward the groomed portion of the hill.
They hiked back to where he had left his snow machine. There was plenty of room for two, so when he suggested she climb on, she did. He took off slowly and putted along until she directed him to stop a few hundred feet up the hill where she began to give him the status report she’d practiced.
“We’re almost directly in the middle of the ski terrain right here...”
Hannah went on to explain how the runs taking off from each of the four lifts would be arranged to accommodate every type of alpine skier—beginner, intermediate and advanced.
“Chair four—the last chair—will be a nice mix of beginner and intermediate runs along the front here, and has a dual purpose of allowing Nordic skiers access to the eastern terrain. It’s full of trails where they can cross-country ski for miles. We have plans for a small lodge in that area eventually. Alaska has a substantial amount of cross-country skiers and I believe we should really capitalize on this...”
Feeling confident and cruising through her practiced spiel, she believed their awkward meeting was well behind them when he interrupted.
“What about snowboarding?”
“What about it?”
“Does the resort offer anything for snowboarders?”
She thought for a second. The man had been a professional snowboarder for many years; of course snowboarding would be the first thing on his mind.
“Yes, of course. They will be allowed to transport their boards up on the lifts for an extra fifty dollars a day. And we’re only charging them ten percent more on rentals, food and lodging.”
His dark brows dipped down, midnight-blue eyes full of consternation. The man really was serious. Much more so than she had expected. And definitely more than seemed called for. Every snowboarder she’d ever known was pretty much the opposite of serious.
“I’m kidding,” she finally said.
“Oh... That’s funny.” He let out a laugh. The sound was deep and rich, and it surprised her. He should laugh more often, she thought, because it made him seem much less uptight.
Inexplicably proud of herself for the grin still on his face she went on. “Seriously, though, we will offer snowboarders the same things we offer skiers—top-of-the-line equipment rentals, meticulously groomed slopes and plenty of beautiful dry powder. As you can see, we have the most delicious snow here.”
“No terrain park? Or a half-pipe? Quarter-pipe at least?”
Disappointed to find his intensity already back, she recovered quickly. “Not at this time. Too expensive. We’re a family-friendly ski resort catering to the recreational skiers of beginner to intermediate levels. Our focus is—”
“Ski and snowboard resort,” he interrupted again.
“What?”
“It’s a ski and snowboard resort, right?”
She felt a furrow of frustration bending her own brow and made a conscious effort to ease it away. “Doesn’t that go without saying?”
A thoughtful expression evolved on his face. “Not really, no—not from a marketing standpoint. Snowy Sky Ski and Snowboard Resort sounds better, don’t you think? I do,” he confidently answered his own question and then went on, “Snowboarders like to feel welcome. For so long we were looked down on, even banned in some places.”
Was he serious with this? That had been, like, twenty years ago. He wanted her to change the name of the resort to that tongue twister so that snowboarders would feel welcome? Not happening.
But how best to state it diplomatically? “Um...”
“So, you expect the more advanced athletes to do what?”
She felt her brows shoot upward in surprise along with a spike of impatience. “Whatever they like. We have some advanced runs. And there’s always JB Heli-Ski for you adrenaline junkies.”
She was referring to the heli-ski operation she’d opened the winter before with her friend Cricket Blackburn. The business wasn’t a part of Snowy Sky, but she knew Tate was aware of it because Cricket had told her that he had visited Rankins a few times in the past year. Cricket had even given him a ride in the helicopter earlier in the fall, before the onset of the ski season.
“I’m not an adrenaline junkie,” he replied with a steady tone.
She had the feeling he was going to add something else, but he didn’t. He just stared with that same sober expression. She tried not to fidget, but it was so disconcerting.
“I’ve seen you compete. You’re telling me those tricks you do—the tricks you invented—that doesn’t give you a rush?”
“It was my job. I was good at it.” He shrugged like he was still thinking about the question. “Winning gave me a rush I guess. I like to win.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, trying not to let her consternation show. “You should try heli-skiing sometime. It’s fun.”
“I snowboard. I don’t ski.”
Thank you for clarifying, Mr. Literal, Hannah thought, just barely managing to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she offered up a smile. “You can take a board into the backcountry, too, you know? People do it all the time. I’m sure it’s not as fun as skiing but...” she trailed off with an easy shrug.
“Yeah, no, I mean—I know. I’ve been boarding in backcountry before. That’s not what I was referring to.”
She had no idea how to respond. He really was a tough crowd.
Luckily, he changed the subject. He pointed in the vicinity of lift four and asked a technical question that got them back on track and into safer territory.
Hannah knew the answer, and after they’d toured a portion of each of the four lift areas, more of the runs and prospective runs, they headed to the main lodge. The building had been framed and roughed in before winter hit so the interior could be completed during the darker, colder months.
They ventured inside as she explained the plans for the lodge, including the layout and its features, and even some of the design aspects.
Throughout the tour Tate took notes and asked numerous questions, none of which stumped her and all of which she felt she’d answered thoroughly and with ease. He seemed satisfied with her responses and as the time flew by, he seemed to relax.
She even made him laugh a couple more times. And something told her that might be just as much of an accomplishment as the meeting’s success.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_7aa6f2cd-07aa-51ee-995f-68024eeaad09)
TATE HANDED A set of Christmas lights to his longtime coach, mentor and friend Viktor Kovalenko. He began unwrapping another string from its exasperatingly tight packaging, barely resisting the urge to use his teeth.
“I’m telling you, Viktor, she hasn’t made one move to accommodate snowboarders. At all. Other than the resort will be offering board rentals in the shop. Park told me she has plans to order maybe a third of the equipment she has slated for skiing.”
“Really?” Viktor started up the stairs, looping the string of lights around the banister. Tate had purchased the lights in town as well as a wreath for the door and some other decorations with the intent of spreading some Christmas cheer around the house for Lucas.
“She knows about skiing. I’ll give her that. And she’s doing a fine job there. She’s working on an awesome cross-country set up. And the heli-skiing venture she started with Cricket is amazing. It’s already becoming super popular with backcountry enthusiasts. I went up with Cricket when I was here in the fall. I got a glimpse of the incredible terrain they have access to. And now with this snowpack I’m anxious to get out there and try it out myself.”
Tate had met Cricket Blackburn on his first scouting trip to Rankins. They’d become friendly over the course of three successive visits. Cricket had introduced him to Park Lowell, who had turned him on to the investment opportunity that Snowy Sky offered. Snowy Sky had tipped him over the edge when making the difficult decision of trying to decide where to make a permanent home for himself and his makeshift family.
“This resort could be really special, but she’s limiting its potential. Plus, she seems awfully blasé about her position as resort manager.”
Viktor paused. “Blasé?”
“Yes, she’s young and she’s...” He searched for a description but all he could think of was cheerful. “She’s not unconcerned, but...”
Flippant? No, that wasn’t exactly the right word either. Lighthearted? Yes, but there was really nothing wrong with that, was there? And he didn’t add that she was funny and that he’d also had a good time with her. None of that mattered because he needed to think about the resort’s future success. And Lucas. Especially Lucas.
“I don’t know exactly. She’s mostly professional, though maybe not quite serious enough or...” That wasn’t right either. He gave up with a dismissive head shake.
“What are you going to do?” Viktor asked, plugging one end of the string into an extension cord. The multicolored strands flickered and then glowed with cheerful color. He surveyed their work and grinned with satisfaction. “Lukie will like this.”
Tate agreed. “I asked him what kind of tree he’d like for Christmas and he told me he doesn’t remember ever having a Christmas tree.”
Viktor nodded sadly. It didn’t need to be said that money had specifically been sent each and every year to give Lucas a proper Christmas because they both knew. There had been a tree the last time Tate had spent Christmas with Lucas and Lexie, but Lucas had only been three years old.
“This year we change that,” Viktor stated confidently.
Like always, Tate appreciated Viktor’s optimism. Tate knew he needed to make a lot of changes for Lucas’s sake. It was difficult to even know where to start.
“Yes, we will.” Tate adjusted the lights, making sure they hung evenly. He knew Lucas was asleep in his room upstairs but still he lowered his voice as he asked, “Was I as troubled as Lucas when you took me in?”
Viktor halted his ministrations, his hands twinkling with color, and thought for a long minute. “I am not sure how to answer. It is difficult to know the mind of a child—the damage that is done. It comes out over time. I believe as part of healing process. You were unsettled also, like Lukie, tentative and even quieter. But your dedication to snowboarding saved you as much as I did.”
Tate smiled at the man who had managed to wrest him away from Penny at the age of seven—purchased him essentially after dating her during a brief stint of sobriety. She’d been waitressing at the ski resort where Viktor worked. He’d been kind to Tate, introducing him to snowboarding. Tate had been a progeny and Viktor, seeing his potential, had offered to coach him, eventually striking a deal with Penny that allowed him to raise Tate as long as she kept receiving financial help.
Viktor always downplayed the role he’d assumed in Tate’s life, but they both knew very well that he wouldn’t be where he was if it wasn’t for Viktor—not anywhere even close.
“Let’s hope that works for Lucas, too.”
“Yes, we will hope. And if not, we will find what does.”
But Tate wanted this to work. It had to because he didn’t know anything besides snowboarding. He was counting on using the sport to forge a bond with his nephew. Just as it had between him and Viktor.
Viktor added, “He is two nights now without nightmare.”
“Yes, he is,” Tate said with a relieved sigh. “He loves that crocodile night-light you got him. Told me it keeps the darkness away. The actual darkness and the scary kind he has bad dreams about.”
Viktor’s lips curved up into a grin. “You had night-light, too. It was tooth. You remember this one? You get from dentist.”
He did remember. He still had it, tucked in a box in his condo back in Colorado.
“I wonder if Lucas has ever been to the dentist?”
“We will check on that. Before toothache comes.”
“Good idea,” Tate replied. “As far as Snowy Sky goes, I don’t have any choice. I’ll have to take my recommendations to the board. Now that we’re investors we need to think about the bottom line, as well.”
“Does Ms. James know how much of resort you own?”
He grimaced. “Not exactly.” He joined another string of lights to Viktor’s.
“Does she know you own any shares of Snowy Sky?” Viktor asked, adjusting the strings as he slowly descended the stairs.
“Uh...no.”
“How do you think that will go over when she finds out?”
He shrugged helplessly and tried to squelch a surprising, annoying niggle of guilt as the tiny bulbs flashed on, as bright as Hannah’s smile. He couldn’t think about her smile or those amber-colored eyes that seemed to dance with a kind of mischief.
Cricket had mentioned the James family of course. He had even met a few people he now realized would be Hannah’s brothers or cousins. Park had also filled him in about the status and reputation her family enjoyed in Rankins. Undoubtedly she’d had a storybook upbringing as a member of the esteemed James family. It was certainly easy to deduce from her demeanor that the woman hadn’t known much hardship in her life.
But Tate had, and so had Lucas—which was why he needed to stay focused on the endgame.
“I didn’t want that knowledge to influence anything she told me. I wanted her to think she was talking with an objective observer. And, I didn’t want her to think she had to impress me.”
Viktor slowly descended the last few stairs, admiring their handiwork as he went. When he reached the bottom, he turned a hesitant look on Tate.
“Hmm,” he finally said.
“Hmm, what?”
“How are you objective?”
“In my capacity as a consultant I’m objective.”
“But what about your capacity as snowboarder? How does that make you any more objective than Ms. James with her background in skiing?”
Tate conceded that Viktor had a point. But he didn’t harbor any prejudice against skiing like she so obviously did against snowboarding. If only she would make a few simple—okay, maybe not-quite-so-simple—adjustments, equality could be achieved. Then harmony between the two sports would naturally follow at Snowy Sky.
* * *
CLOSING HER EYES, Hannah forced herself to do one more set. The doctors and her physical therapist had told her that the better shape she remained in, the less the trauma her body had suffered would prevent her from doing what she wanted to do in life.
Which made perfect sense, but this was heavy; she’d added more weight to her routine this morning. She focused on pushing the bar up as her muscles began to quiver.
Uh-oh, she realized, barbell now definitely heading in the wrong direction. She was going to have to roll out from under it somehow.
Her eyes snapped open as the bar was suddenly snatched out of her hands. The clinking sound it made as it was dropped on the rack seemed to echo through the empty weight room of the community center.
Cricket scowled down at her. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”
Hannah grinned up at him, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. “No, but I admit I may have pushed it a little too far. Thank you.”
He leaned over so his upside-down face was only inches above hers. “You should know better than to lift this much weight without a spotter. It’s weight lifting 101.”
She shifted her gaze one way and then the other. She tried to sound casual even as the danger of her actions began to sink in. “Well, there’s no one else here.”
“That’s because no one else in their right mind gets up at four in the morning to work out.”
“You do,” she spouted with a laugh.
“Yeah, so next time wait for me, okay?”
