Emma carefully wiped her hands on a dishrag. With her hair pulled up, he couldn’t help but notice the regal line of her jaw and neck, her straight, proud spine. A contradiction: quiet and soft on the outside, but firm and certain at her core. Even as his anger swelled, her palpable sturdiness tethered him at a moment when everything else seemed to spin off its axis. At another time or place, he would act on his intense curiosity about her, but not here and not now.
“Maybe you don’t need the same level of acrobatics now, but you also aren’t going to be on stable, man-made runs. Five people died in Colorado last year from self-triggered avalanches in the backcountry. Many others are injured from bad falls from cliffs. Freeriding has as much danger as slopestyle.” Turning from him, she then muttered, “Unlike you, maybe Ryder doesn’t think medals and fame are worth risking one’s life.”
Disdain washed over her words like acid, indicating she agreed with Ryder.
Wyatt flattened his hands on the counter, hung his head, and leaned forward for a minute, thinking. He didn’t know why he’d had this conversation with Emma, but he didn’t like being on the losing end of the argument. He also didn’t like the way his brother had behaved during the past twenty-four hours. Most of all, he didn’t like the way all of this had messed with his head. He had to silence all the noise so he could focus or he would end up hurt.
“You don’t even know me, Emma, so don’t judge me, or pretend to know my motives. And don’t think for one second that you know my brother and his mood swings better than I do.” He straightened, resolved, if also a little dejected. “You and Ryder stay here while telling yourselves that I’m an ego-driven idiot. Meanwhile, I’ll go it alone.”
Through his peripheral vision, he noticed Emma’s head snap up to look at him, but he marched away without waiting for her to speak.
Emma froze, uncertain of whether to chase after Wyatt or leave him be. She hadn’t meant to insult or undermine him. Now he sure didn’t seem to be in the settled frame of mind needed to concentrate, causing her to regret throwing those statistics in his face.
She shouldn’t have spoken out of turn, especially because she hadn’t been completely forthcoming. And the truth was that she would be nervous for Wyatt’s safety today . . . and every day for the next month. He might be a champ on the groomed competition courses he’d mastered before, but the backcountry’s beauty often obscured its grave danger. Did Wyatt know how to read the layers of snow? Her gut told her no.
Good grief, what a quandary. And beyond the Lawson brothers’ troubles, she had to sneak in time today to call her publisher’s marketing team and discuss the book launch. Thank God her mom’s office gave her privacy so she could avoid the tripods Mari had set up all around the first floor. If she got careless about paying attention to them, those cameras could be her undoing. Unlike Ryder, she had the option of staying out of the spotlight.
Poor Ryder. She guessed he felt responsible for Wyatt’s comeback plans. The guy’s fear and discomfort appeared patently obvious to her. How could Wyatt not see that Ryder didn’t want to be part of the process?
Wyatt might need his brother for strength, purpose, and confidence, but that was quite a burden to foist on someone who already had enough to handle on his own. What a mess the Lawson brothers were, she thought as she prepared the snacks Wyatt had requested for his backpack.
When she got to the lobby, she found Andy staring out the window at the snow that continued to fall. All the fresh powder, plus reduced visibility, would only make Wyatt’s maiden runs more challenging today.
His problem, not hers, she reminded herself. She had her own goals, for Pete’s sake. Goals that left no time to get sidetracked by Wyatt, although having him under the same roof had made sleeping near impossible last night. She’d gotten used to daydreaming about Dallas—but the live, walking, talking Wyatt had pushed her over the edge.
“Those aren’t self-cleaning windows, you know.” Emma poked Andy in the back.
He tugged at her ponytail.
“Some days I can’t deal with the way I’ve screwed up my life. I’d give anything to be out on the mountain today with students, or friends.” He squirted Windex on the window. “Not that I don’t appreciate you helping me out when the ski school fired me after my arrest, Em.”
She’d wanted to lend her support, and not just because she could imagine needing it in return one day if her secret were ever exposed.
“I know.” Emma laid her hand on his shoulder. “Things will turn around for you once your probation ends next summer.”