Edge of Glory

by Rachel Spangler

  “Who is she?”

  “Who?” Nate and Holly asked in unison.

  She turned back to face them, trying to shake the trance she’d felt while trapped in the woman’s gaze. “Elise Brandeis, who is she?”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “She’s a world champion skier. She was like, the biggest thing in winter sports a couple years ago.”

  “Was?”

  “She wrecked. Spectacularly. Do you live under a rock?”

  “You know I don’t follow skiing like you do.”

  “I’m sure I mentioned it,” Holly said, then shook her head. “I guess I should’ve shown you a picture.”

  “Even I’ve heard of her,” Nate said. “She was in Sochi.”

  “Forgive me. I was a little busy in Sochi.”

  Both of them smirked.

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I had my own events. I didn’t have time to watch skiers, but if she’s been around so long, why haven’t I seen her here before?”

  “She’s too big a deal to train with mere mortals, or at least she used to be,” Holly explained. “She had all the major sponsors, but I guess she lost them after the crash.”

  “She’s only deigned to appear here in order to secure funding on her way back to the top?” Nate asked, disdain in his usually easygoing voice.

  “Yeah. I wouldn’t expect her to hang around for long.”

  “Did you see her expression? Icy. Even if she does stick around, I doubt she’d lower herself enough to engage a bunch of board bums like us.”

  “At least she won’t be around long enough to steal any more of your thunder, Corey,” Holly said. “Then again, maybe it’s good she interrupted that train wreck of an interview.”

  Corey didn’t care nearly as much about the stupid, insulting interview as she did the queasiness she felt at the thought of not getting any time with Elise. “Surely she’ll be here for little while though, right?”

  Nate laughed and punched her shoulder. “’Cause a little while is all you need, right?”

  “No. I meant I . . .” She didn’t know what she meant.

  “You like a challenge,” Holly offered.

  “Maybe.”

  “I suggest you focus on the challenge of the upcoming season,” Holly said, “or you’re going to get a lot more questions about retirement.”

  Her stomach tightened another uncomfortable notch, but she dug deep and pulled out the smile she usually felt when pushed. “Let them ask. Doesn’t change the fact that they’re going to have to scrape me off the side of the mountain someday. I’m not retiring. I’m here to race.”

  • • •

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Elise asked as she stood in the doorway of dorm room twenty-five.

  “What’s wrong now?” Paolo asked, sounding even more exhausted than she felt.

  Elise lifted her arm in one sweeping motion trying to encompass the whole room, which wasn’t hard since the whole room consisted of only 150 square feet.

  “It’s a dorm room,” Paolo said drolly. “Be thankful you have one for yourself.”

  “I expected something more state of the art.”

  “You saw the gyms. The equipment is the best, the trainers are the best, the doctors are the best.”

  “The dorms are not the best,” Elise finished for him. The bed seemed narrow under a plain white comforter, not a queen as she’d grown used to, probably not even a full double, and the single dresser didn’t appear big enough to hold her summer training clothes, much less her bulky winter gear. Add in a small table, not even the size of most hotel desks, with two wooden chairs, and tour over.

  “Also you have your own bathroom,” Paolo said excitedly. “No sharing with strangers.”

  “Why do you keep mentioning this sharing with strangers thing as if you almost expected it?” she asked suspiciously.

  “No need to worry about something that might not happen.” He waved her off. “Why don’t you get settled, and we’ll go to the cafeteria.”

  “Cafeteria,” she repeated with a groan.

  “You went to boarding school. Shouldn’t you be used to this setup?”

  “An elite boarding school, not a juvenile detention center. When you pay $70,000 a year, sharing bathrooms with strangers isn’t common.”

  “When your parents pay $70,000 a year,” Paolo corrected.

  The barb stuck under her skin, and her face flamed. He was right, of course. Both the comment and the tone in which she’d delivered it reflected a part of her she wasn’t proud of. She took a deep breath and tried again. “I don’t have enough money left to keep us in the lap of luxury, but I read online there’s a lovely little inn by the lake. We could both be more comfortable without going overboard. They have cabins and homemade blueberry muffins in the morning and no cafeteria.”

  “Do they have a weight room?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Do they have a masseuse?”

  “You don’t know; they might.”

  “Do they have an ice tub and a nutritionist?”

  “No.” She tried not to sound pouty, but she failed.

  “Do they have Olympic ski team officials there to watch you work out? People with the power to nominate you for a spot on the team? Or vote you into the Olympics in less than seven months?”

  “No,” she said forcefully, then softened her tone once more. “You’re right. I’m here to train. I can do this. I will make these Olympics. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

  He smiled sympathetically. “I know. And I know change is hard for you, but you’ve come a long way already.”

  “Not far enough.” She shrugged off the frustration that had followed her for a year and tossed her suitcase onto the bed. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”

  “You can have as much time as you need. They serve dinner all night.”

  “No. I’m tired of waiting around. If people need to see me get back to work, we’ll do a nice public dinner followed by an even more public evening workout. Then I’ll report to the trainers for an eval.”

  He opened his mouth, then paused and nodded. “Okay. Back to work.”

  He shut the door behind him, and she entered her private bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face as she muttered. “Back to work.”

  She’d never left work. Not since the minute she’d woken up in a Swiss hospital. Every single step of this journey had been work. And pain. So much pain. At least she’d have less of that here than she’d had in the rehab clinic. She’d grown used to a certain amount of discomfort, and she’d overcome all of it. Surely the Lake Henry Olympic Training Center wouldn’t be the thing to break her.

  Chapter 2

  “Ah, my favorite restaurant,” Holly said, in a voice similar to the one she used when talking to a man she intended to brush off. Holly had perfected the “let ’em down easy” routine.

  “Does it feel like your first day back at school?” Nate teased. “What if the cool kids don’t want you to sit with them?”

  “What do you mean?” Corey asked. “Holly always was the cool kid.”

  “That’s right,” Holly said. “And if I let you sit with me, people will think you’re cool, too.”

  Corey shook her head as she grabbed a plain white plate and got into line at the main chef station. Holly veered off toward the salad bar, and Nate made a beeline for the panini press. Typical.

  As she waited behind a group of men’s hockey players, she scanned the cafeteria. There wasn’t a huge crowd in July. Athletes came and went year-round, but mostly for short training sessions or camps. She was one of only a handful of Olympians who called Lake Henry home. Most of the other boarders chose to train at the Park City Olympic Center, but she didn’t see any need to move halfway across the country when she had everything she needed in her own back yard. She spent an undue amount of time with archers, skaters, and any number of high school and college groups, but with this being a Winter Olympics year, most of the big nam
es would pass through at some point. She kept her eyes open for kindred spirits.

  She inched up in line as the hockey heads began to find their seats. The smells of sweat and baked chicken lingered in their wake.

  “Big crew tonight, Mac?” she asked her favorite cook.

  “Not too bad. The hockey heads, your crew, and the young boarder who chatters all the time.”

  “Tigger’s already been in? Probably still has a curfew.”

  He grinned as he slid a chicken sandwich with an extra slice of cheese onto her plate, but he wouldn’t join in the reindeer games, and she respected him for it. “Oh, and the new skier’s here.”

  She glanced up at him quickly, then out across the cafeteria. “Where?”

  “She and her coach are at the long table around the corner.”

  Corey had to fight from craning her neck. “Cool.”

  His grin widened as he scooped on a large helping of steamed vegetables, but all he said as he slid her plate back was, “Enjoy your meal.”

  “Thanks.” Corey headed back to the middle of the cafeteria.

  Holly was already there waiting for Nate’s panini to finish. “Usual spot?”

  “Actually, remember how you were talking about this being like the first day of school?”

  “What, you mean two minutes ago? No, I forgot already.”

  “Right, well I know you’re senile and all, but there are some new kids over there.” She tried to act casual as she nodded to the area Mac had indicated. “Maybe we should go welcome them or, you know, haze them. Either way’s cool.”

  Holly glanced over her shoulder, her grin slow as she shook her head. “You’re seriously gonna go there?”

  Corey shrugged. “Trying to be friendly. You don’t have to come with.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Holly said as Nate joined them. “Come on, Nato, let’s go watch Core get burned.”

  “I’m so in,” Nate agreed gleefully.

  Corey ignored them as she carried her plate over to the table Elise shared with her trainer. “Hey, mind if we join you?”

  Elise glanced up, her icy eyes even more startling up close. Corey froze as Elise flicked her gaze quickly over her. She didn’t dare get any closer until given permission, something Elise obviously didn’t intend to offer. “Actually, we’re in the middle of something.”

  “Something that can wait,” the trainer said, rising and extending his hand. “I’m Paolo Diaz. Please join us, Ms. LaCroix.”

  She welcomed the warmth of being recognized after the chill from Elise. Shaking off the cold breeze, she claimed the seat next to Elise. An opening was an opening; she didn’t need a big one. Flashing her most winning smile, she added, “Everyone calls me Corey.”

  “And you’re Nate Walsh,” Paolo said. “I saw a video of your weight training regimen last year. I’d love to talk to you sometime about exercises that transfer stress from the lower body to the core.”

  “Sure, man.” Nate plopped down next to him.

  “And . . .” Holly cleared her throat, “I’m the big sister, not that either of these two would make polite introductions. You can call me Holly, or you could ignore me.”

  “She’s kidding,” Corey said.

  “You can’t ignore her,” Nate added.

  “Why would you want to?” Paolo asked, giving Holly a completely different once-over than the one Elise used. It was the reaction Corey was used to having directed at her, but maybe that ran in the gene pool, because Holly never had any trouble in the appreciative appraisal department, either. They both had the same golden hair and eyes, but Holly had their mother’s build, taller, thinner, while Corey favored their father’s muscle tone and strong jawline. Women and men usually knew instinctually which sister would be more receptive to their attention.

  “Please, Holly, come sit by me and tell me a little bit about your amazing hometown.”

  Paolo clearly knew enough about them to realize they could be useful. Elise showed none of the same awareness or interest. She cut her plain chicken breast into tiny bites and chewed slowly.

  “So, how long are you in for?” Corey asked.

  “Excuse me?” Elise asked, not looking up from the steamed asparagus she’d begun to slice into evenly measured pieces.

  “The Olympic Training Center. I’ve never seen you here before, so I figured you must be visiting for a camp. How long does it run?”

  Elise searched her eyes for a second before turning back to her food. “As long as it takes.”

  “As long as what takes?”

  “Everything,” Elise said coolly.

  She glanced at Nate, who smothered a grin behind his panini.

  Not much of a conversationalist, Corey noted, and bit off about a quarter of her sandwich at once.

  Elise ate more deliberately, meticulously, but she didn’t waste any time either. She speared one small piece of chicken, then one equally proportioned bite of asparagus, and put them both in her mouth at the same time. While she chewed, she’d start the spearing process over. Her repetitive movements had an efficiency Corey found almost hypnotizing.

  “You’re here for the duration of overland season, then?” Corey asked once again, flashing a smile she hoped showed her to be jovial even in the face of adversity.

  Elise halted the tiny bite parade only long enough to say, “If need be.”

  Shut down again. The answers weren’t rude exactly, but not friendly either. She should’ve bowed out. She’d made a genuine attempt to be nice, and Elise clearly didn’t appreciate the gesture. Maybe Holly’d been right and the skier was a massive snob, but something wouldn’t let her walk away yet. Maybe she liked the challenge of cracking the icy resolve, maybe she was bored with the usual fare, or maybe something in those eyes held her captive. She didn’t consider herself overly superstitious, but she trusted her gut, and it gave a disconcerting little twitch every time Elise hit her with that translucent stare.

  “I hear we had a near miss in Sochi.”

  Elise shook her head, and her shoulders dropped in sadness or maybe exasperation, but she didn’t look up this time, and her voice sounded drained. “Nice. Real nice.”

  “What?” Corey glanced around in time to see Holly grimace. “What did I say? I thought we were both in Sochi?”

  “You were both in Sochi. I think you meant you may have even crossed paths without knowing it. Right?” Holly clearly tried to cover for whatever mistake Corey had made.

  “Of course. That’s what I meant. We nearly crossed paths in Sochi.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Elise mumbled.

  “You’ll have to forgive Elise.” Paolo sounded slightly embarrassed. “She’s jet-lagged.”

  “Oh?” Holly picked up the slack. “Where did you guys come in from?”

  “Park City.”

  “Were you working out there?” Corey tried addressing Elise again.

  “It was work related.”

  “Medical Center?” Nate asked.

  “Orthopedic imaging,” Paolo answered for her, which won him one of the sharp glares Elise shared liberally. “She doesn’t like to talk about it.”

  “Fair enough.” Corey bit her sandwich down another quarter. She didn’t much care for injury talk, either. Some boarders thought it bad luck. She didn’t believe in jinxes, but what was the point of dwelling on the depressing aspects of the sport when there was so much to love? “What’s next on the agenda? Medical? Massage? A scotch on the rocks? We could help point you in the right direction.”

  Elise finished her last perfectly balanced bite and dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin. “I’m sure we’ll find our own way around, thank you.”

  “Actually, we’d better turn in early tonight,” Paolo said, even though he didn’t seem happy about it. “But maybe tomorrow if you guys have time in between training sessions, you could show us around?”

  “Sure thing,” Corey said, trying to end the evening on a hopeful note. “We’ll be in the weight
room first thing tomorrow morning, then yoga at eleven o’clock.”

  “Sounds like a good schedule for a first day out, don’t you think, Elise?”

  “We need to check in with some people before we make those decisions,” Elise said matter-of-factly.

  “Maybe Corey could offer a few insights in that department, too,” Paolo said pointedly.

  Elise gave a noncommittal nod and rose gracefully, but before she could walk away, Paolo added, “You don’t win two Olympic medals without learning a few things about the USSA, right Corey?”

  Elise froze. Her back and shoulders went rigid as she turned her head slowly from Paolo to Corey, her cold eyes bright with an emotion Corey couldn’t quite place. Confusion? Suspicion? Envy? Or maybe just a spark of life that hadn’t been there a moment earlier. The effect warmed Corey through to the point she forgot she’d been asked a question until Nate kicked her under the table.

  “Huh?” she asked with a little jerk. “What?”

  Paolo grinned and Holly snickered. “You know a thing or two about the USSA?”

  “Yep, it stands for ‘United States Ski and Snowboard Association,’ right? But wait, that’s too many ‘s’ words.”

  “Brilliant.” Elise shook her head. “There’s my cue to call it a night.”

  Then she turned and left.

  Paolo appeared torn between politeness and the need to go after her. In the end, loyalty won out, but as he hurried off, he called, “Sorry, we’ve had a long day. We will find you tomorrow when everyone is less sleepier.”

  They watched them, all a bit in shock from the abrupt departure. Finally Corey asked, “Was it something I said?”

  Nate laughed, then dropped the remainder of his panini to his plate, and made a crashing sound.

  “‘Too many s-words,’” Holly repeated. “That’s going to go down as one of your all-time great quotes.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I thought things went well.”

  “Oh yeah, from an entertainment standpoint,” Nate said.