Dane paused outside Rupert's Bar and Grill. "I guess it wouldn't be cool to go in together for a drink," he said.
Willow peered in through the window. She didn't see Travis behind the bar, but he was almost certainly in there. So she shook her head. "It's too bad, isn't it? It's the only decent bar in town."
"No biggie," Dane shrugged. "I'd just as soon have one in your kitchen, anyway."
Just then the door flew open, and two of the drunken lifties stumbled onto the sidewalk in front of them. Travis followed, breathing down their necks. "I put up with you chuckleheads for too long," he said. "I see you in here again, and I'm going to call the cops. If Annie presses charges for harassment, I'll be the first guy in line as a witness."
Unfortunately, the third lifty appeared behind Travis just then. His face reddened with drunken rage, he coiled back a fist, which seemed poised to fly into Travis's head.
"Watch … " Willow started to say.
But Dane was faster. Letting one crutch crash to the sidewalk, he brought his elbow down fast and hard on the guy's raised arm.
The action upset the drunk's posture, and he began to topple. Dane hitched himself back, pulling Willow with him before the man fell to the sidewalk.
Travis wheeled around, taking in his prone attacker, and then Dane and Willow.
"Urgh … " the fallen lifty said. He scrambled to his feet. And then after he'd scuttled well out of the way, he shot "asshole," over his shoulder. Then he chased his friends down the street.
"Coward," Dane called after him, chuckling.
But Travis had forgotten about the lifties entirely. Willow felt his glance land on her, and on the protective hand that Dane had wrapped around her midriff when the drunk had flailed past them. Slowly, Travis leaned over and plucked the fallen crutch off the sidewalk, handing it to Dane. "Thanks for the help," he said, his voice low.
"It was nothing," Dane said.
Travis closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I haven't seen either of you in here for a while. Wonder why that is?" He gave Willow a pained smile. "You coming in for a drink, or what?"
Willow swallowed hard, not sure what to say.
Travis held the door open wider. "Come on already," he said. "My treat."
They followed him into the bar. Willow sat down first. And while Dane tried to arrange himself on a bar stool, Travis pulled a pint glass off the rack. "So … " His kind eyes studied her. "What can I put in this glass for you, Wills?"
She met his knowing gaze. "How about cranberry and soda?"
"You got it," he said with a quick nod.
When he walked down the bar, Dane cocked his head toward Travis. "So, when your drink order changes, everybody knows your secret? I never thought about it before."
"Sure, but he already knew. I almost threw up on his shoes a couple of weeks ago. That's when he offered to beat some sense into whoever … " She cleared her throat.
Dane whistled. "I'd be offended if I didn't deserve it."
Travis came back with Willow's drink. He set two packets of crackers down next to it. "That's for your stash," he said with a wink. "Now, what can I get you, dude?" His face was perfectly friendly, but Willow saw his hands grip the bar top as if he might strangle it.
"A St. Pauli Girl would be great, thanks."
"Comin' up."
When he turned away, Dane leaned quickly over to Willow gave her a surreptitious kiss on the cheek. "It's my new favorite beer. Come with me to Germany for a race some time, and we can get you a blouse like the one on the label."
Willow tipped her head back and laughed. "These days, I could almost fill it out. Excuse me, while I visit the ladies' room for the tenth time tonight." It was another fun symptom of pregnancy, having to pee every ten minutes. She squeezed his shoulder on the way toward the door.
* * *
Travis flipped a coaster onto the bar in front of Dane. Then he put the beer bottle down and fixed him with a stare. His expression was just burning up with resentment.
"So just say it already," Dane sighed.
"Okay I will." Travis closed his eyes. "I don't know what went down between you two, but she was distraught." He shook his head. "I don't see how you deserve her."
"I'm not in a position to argue the point right now," Dane said. "But I'm working on it."
"See that you do. Because if you screw this up, I will kill you."
Dane nodded. "If I screw this up, I'll let you."
The bartender's smile was sad. "I mean, goddamn it. I'm very perceptive, usually," Travis shook his head. "And I didn't have this one figured out."
"Sorry to spoil your record." Dane swigged his beer.
Travis tapped his fingers on the bar, thoughtful. "Look, I should tell you how sorry I was to hear about your brother. Really. I had no idea."
Dane felt the blood rush to his face, and he wondered where Travis had heard about Finn, and what he knew. Deep breath, Dane reminded himself. It didn't matter anymore if people knew. The family curse was ending, and he had to get used to the idea. "Thank-you," he stuttered.
"Tough couple of months for you, then." Travis picked up his bar mop and began shining the wooden surface.
"Absolutely," Dane said, taking another swig. "And I handled them piss-poorly." He saw Willow coming back into the bar from the hallway. "But now things are looking up."
"Good answer," Travis smiled. "Guess I won't kill you just yet." He moved down the bar.
Dane watched Willow approach, and it filled him with joy just to see her coming to sit down next to him. He didn't deserve her, but she was here anyway.
"Everything okay?" Willow asked, her eyes flicking toward Travis.
He covered her hand with his, amazed at its small size. "He threatened to kill me, but we're cool."
Her eyebrows disappeared into her hair. "How's that?"
He picked her hand up off the bar and kissed it. "It's the kind of thing you can only understand if you have a dick."
Willow smiled at him over the rim of her glass, and it made him want to take her home to bed immediately.
Twenty-nine
The PA system below them announced that the first skier was on course.
"Sweet," Dane said. "So, look uphill. Because it takes longer to brush your teeth than to run a downhill course. This one is under two minutes."
Willow waited. The sky above Lake Tahoe was impossibly blue. She could see it reflected back in Dane's sunglasses. But she wasn't as interested in the view of the lake as in the view of the guy. He was, truth be told, impossibly handsome. His curly hair shone in the sun, and his freshly shaved face smiled down at her.
They'd spent a lot of time together the past two weeks. While Willow was at work, Dane put in grueling days at the gym or physical therapy. In the evenings, he'd taught her all the card games he'd learned from years on the road with other skiers. He was fun and attentive, and surprisingly relaxed, as if a great burden had been lifted from his heart. She gripped his hand and turned her attention uphill.
After a minute, Willow could sense the approach of the skier because shouts of encouragement were audible on the hill above them. Then, as she looked up toward the bend, a figure came shooting into view, crouched into a tuck, legs stretched so far to the side that he ought to have toppled over. Before she could even register the motion, he was centered again, tearing forward at an inhuman speed. A second later, he crossed the finish line-painted red on the snow-to the sound of cheers.
"Jeez!" Willow said. The skier swept around, coming to a stop in front of the crowd. He ripped off his goggles and stared up at the electronic timing board. "That is what you do?" She turned to Dane, her eyes wide.
"Yes, ma'am. Except faster."
"And cockier." She giggled.
"That, too."
Dane rubbed his hands together and pointed up the course. "So, the best seeded racers come down first. The course gets chewed up by the time the guys in the back of the pack come down."
"How is that fair?" Willow asked, staring up the white expanse.
"It isn't really fair," he said. "In most of these races, you get two runs. And then they reverse the order of the seeds on race number two. And there's time trials, for starting fresh … " He laughed. "It's a bunch of technical bullshit, honestly. We put up with it because it's fun to go fast." He scanned the crowd below them. "It's weird being here without skis on."