“Are you serious about this skiing thing?” she asked.
“I’ve got your gear ready downstairs.”
“Where did you find rental skis around here?”
“I bought them before we left for the trip. I wanted it to be a surprise. Like I tried to tell you before, Amy, if you step outside your comfort zone, you might be surprised what you learn about yourself.”
“I’m 2500 miles outside my comfort zone, darling,” Amy said. She had been a good sport throughout this whole thing, but she didn’t need Ethan telling her how to live her life.
“Well, honey, what’s a few more miles then? I promise, there will be hot cocoa after.”
“You do know the way to my heart,” Amy replied, fanning her hand over her chest like a damsel in distress.
“I’ll be downstairs, getting ready,” Ethan said before heading back out the door.
Why was he doing so many nice things for her? Why was he going through all of this effort if he already knew that she’d play along and help him? Amy wanted to ask him if he were really doing all of this for her or if he just wanted her to be more believable as his wife. Was that the plan? Did he want her to fall in love with him so she’d be more convincing? As she asked herself that question, she couldn’t help but ask herself another: was she falling for Ethan? She knew one thing for sure, if she tried to ski, she’d be falling all day.
***
After Amy had gotten ready, she found Ethan waiting by the door with ski boots and goggles and gloves. “Come on, we have to get going if we’re going to make it out to The Matterhorn.”
“The Matterhorn?” Amy asked. “That sounds a little intense,” she said as she pulled on the ski boots.
“Hank thought you’d chicken out, but I have faith in you. Besides, are you the one who just loves a challenge?”
“You’re the one who will have to inform my family that I’ve died trying to impress you and your business buddy.”
“Let’s go,” Ethan said, he pointed to a snowmobile parked outside. “It’s a bit of a ride.”
***
It was past noon before they finally made it out to Hank’s ski slope. It was off at the edge of the property. Amy had spent the rest of the morning imagining some steep mountain where she’d look down at the clouds below as Ethan zoomed off beyond her. Instead, the slope rose gently before them. It was wide and open, and a small rope tow ran up the side of the trail. I can do this, Amy thought as she clicked her boots into the ski bindings.
Ethan led her over to the rope tow and started it up. “Just follow me. Keep your skis together as you go up and then, when you get off, keep your skis perpendicular to the slope so you don’t slide away. After that, we’ll start.” Amy watched as Ethan grabbed onto the rope and began to slide up the hill. It looked effortless. When she grabbed the rope, she felt like it was going to knock her down. She jerked forward, and it took all of her effort to hang on as she began to rise up the hill.
After a few moments, she got the hang of it. She looked at the line stretching way up the hill. Then she watched as Ethan let go about halfway up and signaled to her. A moment later, she was standing next to him. “I thought we were going up,” she said, pointing to where the hill got steeper. “And when do I get poles?”
“Not yet,” Ethan replied. “Let’s get some practice in before giving that a go. And I’ll let you use ski poles when I’m convinced you won’t impale yourself. Here’s what we’re going to do,” Ethan said, “keep your skis together like a snow plow and follow me back and forth across the slope. After a few runs, we’ll start to work on gaining speed, but for now take it nice and easy.” Ethan reached out and placed his gloved hand over Amy’s. “You’ll be a natural. Trust me.” Then he pushed off and started sliding slowly down the hill.
Ethan spun around and started skiing backwards as he signaled to Amy. Showoff, she thought. She lurched forward as she tried to gain speed, but she felt like she couldn’t move. I’ll be a natural, Amy thought, a natural disaster. She waved her arms as she tried to move forward. Suddenly, she felt herself starting to move. She pointed her skis at Ethan and slowly gained speed. Soon she felt like she was zooming down the trail toward him, even though she knew she couldn’t be moving much faster than five miles an hour.
“That’s great!” Ethan called out. “Now try to turn. Just follow my lead.” Ethan slowly made a wide arc as he turned down the trail. As Amy followed, she tried to do what he had told her, keeping her skis at an angle, but as she turned, she straightened them out, holding them parallel to each other like she had seen Ethan do as he went ahead. She wanted to impress him by turning like she had seen people turn on skis in movies: a little rotation of the hip and she’d nail it. She felt the wind picking up as she gained speed. For a moment, she felt like a pro, like she had figured out exactly what she needed to do, and then she started going even faster, too fast, and she was heading right back toward the rope tow, and she had no idea what to do to stop. “Turn!” Ethan shouted to her. “Turn!”