Better Together

by Jessie Gussman

  Harper put the forkful of salad she was holding in her mouth. Great stalling technique. She looked at him with raised brows. He was the one who’d started this lie.

  He took a sip of water. “I met her when I moved to the states. We’ve been best friends since then, and…”

  “Isn’t she related to your Uncle Fink somehow?” Kayla asked. “I think I remember hearing about a Harper. Maybe in a Christmas letter or something.”

  His dad’s jaw tightened, and those dark eyes narrowed. There must have been some kind of competition between his dad and Uncle Fink he’d never noticed.

  “No. No relation. Uncle Fink married her mom.”

  “I see. So you’re related to her the same way you’re related to me.”

  He had never thought of that. “It’s not a relation.”

  “Right. Connected to her the same as me.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wyatt spent the winter in Colorado, and he was saying that the resort he worked at had a masseuse on staff.” Harper changed the subject.

  Wyatt’s dad’s eyes brightened and settled on Harper. Wyatt brushed her leg with his fingers to thank her for changing the subject. He shouldn’t have. His fingers tingled, and he had trouble concentrating on the conversation.

  “Was that a popular idea?”

  “Not so much in the morning, but as you can imagine, as people came off the slopes, she was busy until late at night. They actually ended up hiring four more.” Wyatt grinned. The wheels in his dad’s head were turning. He made a note to himself to thank Harper later.

  His dad rubbed his chin. “That’s interesting.”

  “Yeah. I think it’s a hard, tiring job, but it’s not hard to get training.” Wyatt had been glad that his job enabled him to be outside on the slopes and pitied the poor people stuck inside working.

  “Were the services included or extra?”

  “They were included for premium guests, but with a limit. Day passes had to pay extra. A lot of people did.”

  “I see.” His dad propped an elbow on the table. “That sounds like an improvement you can spearhead when you move here.” He looked back at Harper. “Is that what you do?”

  “No. I’m a nutritionist.”

  Wyatt’s chest puffed out just a little. Harper had a goofy side that normally only he got to see. Usually, like now, people saw her as an intellectual. Serious. She was one of those people that others were naturally drawn to for help and advice. It seemed his dad was no different. Wyatt contained his smile, but he loved looking at her the way she was now and imagining her the way she could be—like when they walked through the tunnel together or had their Christmas tree trimming race.

  “She helped me some this afternoon with the new menu I’ve been planning,” Sophia said.

  “Hmm,” his dad said. “A degree in sports medicine would be more helpful around here.” He turned his attention to his plate.

  That’s what his dad had wanted him to study in college. Unfortunately, even with Harper’s help, he’d not been able to still his wanderlust long enough to get a degree. He couldn’t bring himself to regret it, but he did hate the nasty, lingering feeling that he had disappointed his dad. Again.

  He didn’t rise to the bait. Everyone at the table, even Steve, knew about his failure to stay in college.

  Somehow that made him think of his mother.

  Even though she’d been gone for ten years, it still didn’t seem right to sit at the big solid wood family table in the kitchen without her. To see his dad with another woman. Not that his parents were married, or were even a couple while he was growing up. Just every time they visited the resort, she was here.

  Wyatt glanced beside him. Harper was another unusual addition to the table. Welcome. She gave him peace. He couldn’t help but compare the welcome he received at her home to what she had put up with here.

  Thankfully Sophia turned the conversation to the great snowmobiling weather, and it wasn’t long until dinner was over.

  “I’ll get you that suit. Follow me,” Kayla said to Harper after they’d carried their plates to the sink.

  “Steve and I’ll grab towels,” Wyatt said.

  “We’ll let the other guys know we’re ready and we’ll swing around back to pick you up after we top them off. Say, twenty minutes?” Steve asked.

  “That’s plenty of time for me. You good with that?” Wyatt asked Harper.

  She nodded and gave him a what-am-I-getting-into look before trailing out of the kitchen behind Kayla.

  “Here, this one should work for you.” Kayla held up a purple and green one-piece suit. “I bought it a few years ago, but never wore it. I like bikinis.”

  “Thanks.” Harper wasn’t exactly in a position to be choosy about what type of suit she wore.

  “No problem.”

  Harper started for the door. Kayla’s voice made her pause. “Come on outside when you’re changed. I’m not waiting on you; I’m driving my own machine. I’ll have to go get it.”

  “Okay.” Harper walked out and down the hall to the room Wyatt and she shared. It was easy to see why everyone thought Wyatt didn’t fit with her. She’d never snowmobiled, never skied, never snowboarded. The only winter sport she’d ever done—sledding—hadn’t been mentioned here at all. And she hadn’t seen a single sled.

  But Kayla…she was perfect for Wyatt, and she seemed to know it and want him. Which should make Harper want to try to matchmake, but some nasty, belligerent side she hadn’t even known she possessed had been churning deep within her. The one thing that kept popping to the top: she wanted Wyatt. Which was dumb. He saw her as a friend. And she didn’t fit into his life at all. In a few weeks, he’d be moving here permanently.

  She’d only been here a few hours, but it was enough to know that even if she lived here for decades, she would never feel at home in Chile. She would never be a natural on skis—although if she were here for any length of time, she would learn to ski or wear her legs off trying. She had zero desire to drive her own snowmobile. Wyatt had to have known she wouldn’t want to. Or maybe he was afraid she couldn’t. That was possible, too.

  She finished dressing and closed the door behind her. She could admit to herself that she wanted Wyatt; her feelings had gone way beyond the friend stage. But not only did she not want to ruin their friendship, if she could manage to get him to notice her as more than a friend, she would never fit into this world, and Wyatt belonged here like roots belonged in the ground. Kayla would be the perfect girl for him. He should have snapped her up.

  To Harper, Kayla looked at Wyatt like she’d be more than willing to be with him. She couldn’t imagine what held him back.

  Unfortunately, because Harper was pretending to be his fiancée, she could hardly play matchmaker. But tonight, she could try to talk to Wyatt about Kayla. Maybe she could help her best friend settle down here, which would make his dad happy, and marry the girl who was perfectly suited for him.

  Only the light over the sink lit the kitchen as she walked through it and out the back door.

  From here she could see the ski slopes, well-lit and busy. Lift chairs full of bundled up skiers crawled up the mountain, while colorful dots zoomed down. Laughter and occasional shouts echoed through the cold air. Now that the sun had gone down, she could see her breath coming out in puffs, and the air had a definite bite to it.

  She looked in both directions, but nothing moved close to the house. The full moon, close enough to tempt her to reach out and touch it, glistened on the snow with a sweet, blue light. The silence and isolation of where she stood—close enough to see the crowd, but not a part of it—settled into her soul, and for the first time, a nugget of feeling—admiration…not quite love—stirred in her heart for this country in which she stood. Even at night, it was beautiful.

  The sharp sound of a motor split the bubble that had wrapped itself around Harper. A light cut through the darkness. A snowmobile came into view, skimming across the snow and stopping in front of her.
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  Wyatt lifted up the visor on his helmet, then reached around and grabbed another helmet, holding it out to her.

  “Thanks,” she called loudly, to be heard over the rumble of the motor.

  “You sure you’re good for this?” he said with the same volume.

  She pulled the helmet on. “I’m sure.” Unless he’d changed his mind. But he hadn’t seemed to have; he was grinning.

  If she was going to get the helmet buckled, the gloves needed to go. She started to take them off.

  “I’ll get it.” Within seconds he had it done. He thumbed behind his shoulder. “Hop on. Unless you’re driving?”

  “Not tonight.”

  Or ever. Snowmobiles were as unfamiliar as skis. But much bigger.

  Instead, she put a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder and climbed on behind him.

  “Hold on.”

  She put her arms around Wyatt’s waist. His body seemed to pulse with energy and excitement. It tingled up her arm and stirred her own miniscule sense of adventure. He pressed the throttle, and the machine leapt under them.

  The full moon, the mountain covered in snow, and the droning of the motor contributed to the feeling that the world had narrowed to just the two of them as they flew over the snow, leaving the lights of the slopes far behind.

  Wyatt turned his head and called over the sound of the wind and racing motor, “They’re coming behind us. They were standing around yakking, and I wanted to have you here by myself first.”

  Had she heard him right? He wanted her alone. Electric pulses raced up her legs, but she fought the prickles of excitement. He must have something he needed to talk to her about. Maybe he wanted her help in attracting Kayla. Talk about hard. Could she help him woo another woman?

  Of course she could. She might have more than friendly feelings for him, but she could push that aside. The happiness of her best friend was more important than what she wanted.

  She squeezed him to let him know she heard. Maybe on the way home she wouldn’t be able to enjoy holding his solid torso. So she leaned against his back and inched closer, enjoying the hardness of his muscles and the way she totally trusted his skill on the machine.

  “Am I going too fast?” he shouted over his shoulder.

  “I trust you,” she called back.

  One hand patted her hands where they joined around his stomach.

  “Right here’s the one place you have to watch,” he yelled as he slowed down and pointed his gloved hand at a reflector on their right.

  Craning her neck, she peered at the side of the trail. The gray-blue snow ended abruptly beside the trail into pitch-black darkness.

  “A crevice,” he said.

  “How deep?” she asked.

  His shoulders shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t want to find out.”

  She shivered. “Me either.”

  “Not tonight, anyway.” She felt, more than heard, him laugh.

  She tightened her arms just as he gassed the engine and they lurched away.

  In a few minutes he pointed at what looked like a low-hanging cloud hugging the mountainous terrain. It wasn’t long after that he circled and slowed to a stop, shutting the motor off.

  The silence of the mountain surrounded them like a shield.

  “A hot spring?” Harper asked after contemplating their surroundings.

  “Yeah. This is an active volcano.”

  “Wow. When’s the last time it erupted?”

  “Not sure. But the water’s always warm.”

  “That’s great. We’ll be nice and warm when we die.”

  “And we’ll be together.” He stood, pulling his leg over and hopping off. “That’s what the swimsuit is for.”

  “Okay.” She still wasn’t sure how comfortable she was about the whole active volcano thing, but she supposed they weren’t in any more danger here than they were at the resort. Danger or no, if she had to run from an erupting volcano, she’d rather not do it in her swimsuit.

  Wyatt opened a small compartment at the back of the snowmobile that she hadn’t realized was there and took out two rolled towels. He laid them over the handlebars.

  “Are you going to get in?”

  She didn’t want to. “Yeah, but this is your gig. I’ll follow you.”

  “Set your clothes here. Anywhere else and they’ll get snow on them.” He patted the seat. “You’ll have to take a couple of steps in the snow. I’ll help you. There’s some natural places to sit.” Wyatt laid his coat down and peeled off his shirt.

  Harper stood and unzipped her coat. “Is this private ground?”

  “We own it. But there’s a couple of other hot springs that are easier to get to. That fissure I showed you makes this one off-limits for guests, which is why we chose it. We won’t have to share.”

  “I see.” She laid her coat down and started on her shirts, suddenly self-conscious. Wyatt and she had swum plenty in the pond over the years, but she’d never bothered with a swimming suit—she’d just worn shorts and a tee shirt. Plus, it had been a few years. She glanced over as he turned to lay his shirt down. She didn’t remember those broad shoulders and the muscles that rippled under the moonlight. Her stomach wobbled and delicious, warm sparks of heat poured out of it.

  Not sure what to make of those feelings, she covered them with conversation. “It’s beautiful here.”

  Wyatt unbuckled his pants. Harper skidded her eyes away, focusing on her own clothing.

  “The full moon is beautiful in any country, but here on the mountain, it’s especially gorgeous. Wait until you’re in the water with the snow and the heat…there’s nothing quite like it.”

  Pride and love laced his voice. He took a boot off, balancing on one foot as he removed his snow pants. He set his bare foot down on the snow. “This is the hard part. If you hurry, I’ll carry you in so you don’t have to walk on the white stuff.”

  She sat on the snowmobile and pulled her boots off, hurrying more because she was suddenly very aware that Wyatt was a man, a handsome, virile man, and she was a woman who found him attractive. Very attractive.

  Kicking her last boot off, she slipped her snow pants off and set them on the seat.

  Before she could say anything, Wyatt scooped her up. His warm skin contrasted with the cold air as he held her tight. She breathed in his familiar, comforting scent mixed with the crisp mountain air. She wanted to make a joke about not falling, or about her being afraid, but she couldn’t, and Wyatt was uncharacteristically silent as well. She did manage to resist the temptation to press her lips against his shoulder, to rub her cheek against his warm skin, to snuggle closer.

  “It’s going to feel pretty warm at first, until you get used to it.”

  He stepped in, seeming to know where the best places to put his feet were, and he set her down. She barely had time to miss the contact of his body before the warm water lapped at her knees.

  “It’s hot,” she exclaimed in wonder.

  “You’ll get used to it and it’ll feel good. There’s a natural bench over here.” Wyatt took her hand and led her around to the far side. He helped her sit and slipped down beside her. The water came up to their shoulders.

  “Is the whole pool this shallow?” she asked.

  “No. I don’t know how deep it is in the middle.”

  That was scary.

  She squinted. It wasn’t very large and lay in the basic shape of a circle. Harper estimated the diameter to be about twenty feet.

  Wyatt leaned back and rested his head on the ledge behind them. Harper followed suit.

  Her limbs floated, weightless in the warm water. Peace and calm relaxed her insides. “This place is amazing,” she whispered.

  “I’ve dreamed about this for years,” Wyatt whispered back. His hand grasped hers, intertwining their fingers.

  Her heart stumbled and her relaxation vanished. Those electric pulses started back up her leg. She drew in a shaky breath. She wanted so much for Wyatt to have deeper feelings for her that she was now i
magining things. Deliberately, she lay her head back and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The hum of snowmobile motors reached Wyatt. Disappointment speared through him. Harper hadn’t had a reaction from his declaration. Maybe she was deliberately ignoring him because to acknowledge what he’d said would make their friendship awkward.

  He slid his thumb over her hand under the water. She didn’t pull away.

  “Haven’t you ever been here in a full moon before?” Harper spoke without opening her eyes, her head still laid back on the rim behind them.

  “A few times,” he answered. He couldn’t tell what she meant, and he didn’t have time to find out. “Everyone else is going to be here soon.”

  “I hear them.”

  He squeezed her hand. Her body relaxed into his. The moon and the night, the snow and the heat, all combined to make his insides feel warm and liquid.

  “I know you’ve felt uncomfortable a lot today.” It had been odd seeing her today. So far from the farm and everything familiar. He’d never seen her so blatantly out of her element before. But the same good nature and humor she handled everything else with had been present.

  “Yeah.”

  “I appreciate you doing all this for me.”

  “That’s what friends are for.” She pulled away from him. “So, what do you think of Kayla?”

  “Huh?” His eyes popped open and he turned his head to study her.

  She met his gaze. “Kayla. What do you think of her?”

  He shrugged and leaned his head back. “She’s nice. She’s actually a pretty good downhill skier. Not Olympic quality, but close.” He tried to figure out why Harper would be asking about Kayla.

  The noise of the snowmobiles grew louder.

  “You two have a lot in common.”

  He really didn’t want to talk about Kayla. It’s not that he didn’t like her, but they’d never been close. He had no desire to be, and after what Steve had talked about, he just wanted to put her out of his mind. “This is the place I spent more time at than any other growing up. I guess the same is true for her.”