by T A Williams
As if to underline his point, his phone started ringing. He reached into his inside pocket and took it out, shooting Annie an apologetic glance as he did so.
While he talked, Annie glanced down as the chairlift climbed steeply up a firebreak between rows of snow-laden pine trees. There was certainly a whole lot of snow up here now. At first sight it looked like virgin snow, but on closer inspection, she saw it was crisscrossed with animal tracks of all sizes and shapes, from tiny rodents to what were probably deer. Deeper tracks, punctuated by muddy holes where some serious digging had been taking place, intrigued her. When he finished his phone call she asked Alex. ‘What on earth made those tracks there?’
His eyes followed her pointing finger. ‘Wild boar, I’m afraid. They’re buggers. They don’t just graze on the surface. They rip through fields, bushes, gardens and, further down the valley, vineyards, uprooting everything in their way with their tusks. I hate the damn things.’ He looked back up at her with a smile. ‘But they are tasty. I will say that for them.’
‘So, tell me more about your big weekend event. What sort of things are you organising for the guests?’
‘Ski tour of the pistes, visits to Santorso and surrounds, gala dinner and, on the Saturday night, a masked ball, no less.’
‘Wow, that sounds amazing. I’ve never been to a masked ball, unless you count the tarts and vicars party I went to a few years back.’
‘Somehow I can’t imagine you as either. Anyway, you can see for yourself what this one’s like. You will very definitely be invited. It’s not fancy dress. You put on your most elegant clothes and then just slip a mask over enough of your face to hide your identity.’
‘How exciting.’ It really did sound good, although Annie felt pretty sure she would be able to recognise Alex, with his thick dark hair and stylishly stubbly chin, even beneath a mask.
He glanced across at her. ‘I’ll look forward to dancing with you. I’m sure you’ll be the belle of the ball. Anyway, as I’m responsible for most of the promotion and marketing for the hotel, I’m going to be fully occupied when we get back from Anguilla, ensuring it all goes to plan. To be honest, this event could potentially make us or break us.’
‘That important?’ What Annie really wanted to know was why he had used the pronoun we. Pretty obviously he wasn’t going on holiday by himself. With some other woman, perhaps? As the thought entered her head she found herself questioning just why this bothered her. There was nothing between them. Nothing had happened, apart from a friendly kiss on both cheeks at the bottom of the ski lift a few minutes ago, and she had definitely not come up to the valley in search of a man. Very much the opposite, in fact. Her life, she told herself, was all about her new school. Men could wait.
‘Put it this way; if these tour operators like what they see, we should be able to open the doors to the public in March with a full hotel. If they don’t, we’re going to struggle.’ He turned his head and his eyes caught hers. ‘But, like I say, as far as I’m concerned, all this means I’m going to be up to my eyes for a while now.’
‘Try not to overdo it.’ She laid her gloved hand on his arm and squeezed.
When they reached the top, they skied off the chair lift and stood for a few moments, adjusting their goggles, gloves and scarves, before setting off. She couldn’t help noticing that he was wearing incredibly expensive, top-of-the-range boots and skis. Clearly, money was not a problem for him. Her skis were relatively new, but she had had her boots for quite a few years now. Buying new kit would all depend on the fortunes of her new school. She crossed her fingers inside her thick leather gloves.
Annie queried which way they were going and Alex gave her a big smile. ‘I was looking as we came up here. The snow’s pretty great right below us. I reckon we can just start from here.’ He indicated a near-sheer slope that disappeared into snow-laden pine trees. ‘You sure you’re up for it?’
‘It looks fantastic. Go for it.’ He nodded his head, pulled down his goggles and set off. Annie waited until he had disappeared over the top and then followed close behind him as they began their descent through the trees.
The run down through the fresh powder was truly amazing. Alex led the way and Annie followed his blue jacket as he snaked in and out of the trees and rocks. Every time he brushed against bushes and branches, a fine mist of ice and snow particles would be thrown up in his wake and this made visibility tricky for her as she skied through the cloud. Nevertheless, she managed to follow him without mishap. As he realised that she was keeping up with him, he became more adventurous, and Annie found herself following him over jumps and through steep, narrow defiles. It was hard work, but immensely exhilarating.
On one occasion he led her into what turned out to be a very deep drift and he ground to a halt, almost waist deep in snow, only just managing to stay on his feet. Behind him, Annie had no chance of stopping and she ended up ramming him in the back and ending up rolling all over him in the deep snow. In spite of the shock of the fall, the feel of his strong body against hers was far from unpleasant. When she came to a halt, he was sprawled on top of her, his face only a few inches from hers and his amazing blue eyes looking down at her.
‘Whoops.’ He smiled and dropped his head until she could feel his breath against her cheek. She found she was starting to turn her mouth towards his, her eyes closing in delicious anticipation, when they were disturbed by a voice.
‘Hey, you guys all right?’
Annie looked up and saw that it was a face she recognised: one of three female ski instructors who would be following an English course with her in January. She was still trying to remember the girl’s name when Alex looked up and replied.
‘Ciao, Anita, we’re fine, thanks. I’m afraid that was my fault. I stopped a bit quickly.’ He rolled off Annie and struggled to his feet in the deep snow. ‘Thanks for looking out for us.’
Annie felt an acute sensation of loss as she lost contact with his body. It had been a magical moment. As she picked herself up and pulled her hat back on, clearing compacted snow from her goggles and trying to ignore the icy droplets that had managed to slip past her scarf and were slowly running down her back, she found she was smiling broadly. Beside her, Alex looked equally happy. He salvaged his hat from the snow, beat it against his leg and looked up at the ski instructor.
‘We’re okay now, Anita. You go on. Thanks again.’
The girl gave a wave of her hand and slipped away down through the trees. Alex looked across at Annie. ‘It’s good to know the ski instructors have got their eyes open. She’s a good girl, Anita. Anyway, you all right?’ Annie nodded, still rather wishing Anita hadn’t been quite so observant and had left them to their own devices.
‘I’m fine. That was fun.’ She wasn’t necessarily talking about the skiing.
‘You ski very well, Annie.’
‘Right up till the moment I wiped you out.’
‘That wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who stopped.’
‘OK, but I was skiing too close behind you. In a road traffic accident, it’s always the one behind who’s to blame.’
He gave her a grin and pulled his hat back on again. ‘All right. You lead this time. I promise I’ll try not to land on top of you.’ He stood back. ‘Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy having you rolling all over me. Okay, off you go. No… stop!’ He caught her by the arm and held her back just as she was about to start off. With his other hand he pointed skywards. ‘Look, just there.’
Annie followed his eyes just as a huge bird swept across the treetops above their heads and soared up into the increasingly blue sky. ‘Wow. Was that an eagle?’
He nodded. ‘A golden eagle. There are a number of breeding pairs up here now. I’m glad we saw that one. Now, let’s go.’ He released her arm and she found herself glancing down to the place where his hand had been, the outline of his fingers still clearly visible on the material, the feel of his warmth still on her. She smiled and looked up at him again.
‘Complimenti, Annie. You really do ski well. I could hardly keep up.’
She grinned back at him. ‘Thank God I’ve got ten minutes on the lift to recover. I’m puffed.’
They skied for another two hours, crisscrossing the pistes and penetrating deep into the forest. Every now and then they would emerge from the trees to find themselves with a stunning view clear across the valley or up to the high Alps in the distance. The sun was high in the sky and Annie was glowing all over when Alex finally, reluctantly, pulled up and looked at his watch. ‘I’m afraid that’s it for me. I’d better call it a day and head off to work.’ He stuck his poles in the ground and sidestepped across until he could take her hands in his. ‘That was great.’
She leant against him and felt his hands move up to her shoulders and from there to her neck. Very gently, he pulled her towards him and kissed her softly, this time on the lips. It felt very, very good. Her eyes closed, her head spun and, suddenly, she was falling sideways. She landed in an inelegant heap on the compacted snow and her hat fell off for the second time that day. She blushed red and caught his eye. There was a broad grin on his face.
‘Now, that’s what I call a kiss.’ He reached down, caught hold of her hands and pulled her back onto her feet. ‘I’ve never had that effect on a girl before. It’s almost as if you enjoyed that.’
Before she had time to respond, he drew back and ran his gloved finger down her cheek. ‘If I can manage to find the time, might you be up for dinner again one evening?’
‘Any time, Alex. I’d love that.’
He checked his watch again. ‘My dad normally has a snooze after lunch. He asked if you might pop over to see him after three. He says he’s got some news for you.’ He grinned at her. ‘I know what the news is, but he’s sworn me to secrecy. He wants to spring the surprise himself.’ In response to the expression on her face, he smiled again. ‘All I can tell you is that I think you’re going to like what he has to say.’
She watched as he collected his poles and, with a little smile, set off across the slope to the distant hotel. As he disappeared from sight, Annie knew exactly what she wanted now: a strong black coffee. She skied down to the nearest bar and unclipped her skis, standing them in the rack by the door. She clumped inside and stood for a moment, looking round for a seat.
‘Ciao, Annie.’ She turned her head towards the voice and saw it was Paul, the ski instructor. She gave him a wave and made her way over to the table where he was sitting with a few other instructors. Annie recognised two or three from her interviews earlier in the week and gave them a smile as they made space for her to sit down.
‘Hi, everybody. I’ve just been in the powder and it was awesome.’
‘I saw you from the lift. Were you skiing with Alessandro?’
Annie had almost forgotten the Italian form of Alex’s name and hesitated a moment before replying to Paul. ‘Yes. He’s a really great skier.’
‘It looked to me as if you were doing pretty well yourself, leading him over the jumps. Complimenti.’
Annie managed to attract the attention of one of the waitresses and ordered an espresso, a bottle of water and a sandwich. To her surprise, she saw from her watch that it was already almost two o’clock. Paul introduced her to the others and they chatted about the snow conditions for a few minutes before he lowered his mouth towards her ear and asked her something.
‘Erm, Annie, do you happen to know whether Paolina’s seeing anybody at the moment?’
‘Paolina? Yes, I think so, but I’m not sure how serious it is. She only just started going out with him a week or two ago, I believe.’ She caught his eye. ‘Why, are you interested in Paolina?’
He looked a bit self-conscious. ‘To be honest, I’ve fancied her since I was at school. But she was always one of the popular girls and I was just a skinny little loser. Every time she looked at me I used to blush.’
Annie suppressed a smile. The handsome ski instructor was anything but a skinny little loser now. She remembered the two girls talking about Paul and she had a shrewd idea he might well find himself in with a chance with Paolina now. She had an idea.
‘Why don’t you drop in to the school one day next week? Say, late afternoon? That way you can see her and have a talk. If I’m there I can man the office while you take her for a coffee. I tell you what, I’ll tell her you need to come in for a second interview. Good idea?’
His smile answered for him. At that moment the others all started to get up from the table. Annie saw that it was two minutes to two, almost time for the next lessons. They all trooped off, Paul giving her a smile as he went. ‘Thanks, Annie.’
Annie sat back, well pleased she might be able to help Paolina and Paul rekindle the relationship that had eluded them at school; most of all, though, she felt sure this would be the best way of steering Paolina away from Matt. For a moment she had a sudden thought. What if Matt had been talking about Paolina when he had said he might have found the girl of his dreams? What effect might that have on the school? And what might that mean for Paul? What if Paolina and Paul got together and Matt were to find himself on the receiving end of a dumping for once? One thing was for sure; if that was the case it could spell trouble.
She found a spare seat on the terrace and sat in the sunshine for an hour, thinking back over a wonderful morning and wondering what Alex’s father wanted to tell her. She watched the little birds as they meticulously cleared up every scrap and crumb from beneath the tables. One even came and sat on her hand for several minutes, enjoying the sunshine and preening himself.
She allowed herself to think more deeply about Alex. There was no disguising the fact that she liked him a lot, and that kiss had been quite something. Whether the emotion of his touch or her natural clumsiness had been responsible for her inelegant fall was debatable, but she had definitely enjoyed the kiss. The fact of the matter, she told herself sternly, was that she had only met him three times, and on the first of these, after Leo’s accident, they had barely exchanged more than a handful of words. She had only been out with him once on a sort of date and, before today, she hadn’t even kissed him on the cheek. For somebody who had publicly announced that she wasn’t interested in finding herself another man, this was looking a bit impetuous. She told herself firmly that she should take things slowly. But, in spite of all this, there was no disguising the pleasure his kiss had brought.
The time passed remarkably quickly as she tried to bring some order to her confused thoughts. Finally, she checked her watch. By this time, it was past three, so she got up and headed back to her car. After changing out of her ski boots, she clipped her skis onto the roof rack and drove down the private road to Signor Lago’s chalet. She stopped her car outside the gate and was about to get out and ring the bell when a humming sound and flashing yellow lights told her the gates were opening. A disembodied voice from the keypad on the wall told her to drive in and park. She did as she was instructed and climbed out of the car to be met enthusiastically by Leo the Labrador, his master following behind him.
‘Annie, how good of you to come.’ Signor Lago looked pleased to see her and the Labrador most certainly was. Annie knelt down on the snowy lawn and made a fuss of him. Then she remembered something that had been bothering her. ‘Good afternoon, Signor Lago. Tell me something, please. How is it that Leo manages to wander all over the place up here when you live in a walled garden? He hasn’t got his own key, surely?’
Signor Lago smiled and beckoned. ‘In fact, he has. Come and I’ll show you.’ He led her across the virgin snow to a clump of bushes in one corner of the garden. Behind them, Annie saw a lot of canine paw prints and a small steel door set into the bottom of the wall. As Leo got up close to the door, an electric motor began to whine and the door opened. The dog squeezed through, disappearing from sight. Signor Lago was smiling more broadly. ‘You see, he’s got a magic electronic key attached to his collar so he can come and go as he pleases, but foxes and other undesirables can’t get in. Modern technology’s terrific, isn’t it?’ He gave a low whistle and the dog reappeared. ‘Mind you, Alex keeps telling me I should keep him in more, but I can’t do that to him after he’s had the run of the place for so long.’ As they returned to the house, Annie heard the deluxe dog door close behind them. She wondered idly what something like that might cost, but there was clearly no shortage of money round here.
Back in the luxurious lounge, Romeo appeared and asked if they would like tea. After he had gone off to prepare it, Signor Lago led Annie over to the sofa once more. Now, in the daylight, the view from the panoramic windows was even more phenomenal than by night. Annie could see snow-covered peaks in three countries: Italy, France and Switzerland. It was almost like being in an aeroplane. They chatted about the snow and the skiing for a few minutes until Romeo arrived with the tea.
Once he had poured the tea and offered Annie a plate of biscuits, Signor Lago revealed his secret. ‘Annie, you know you were telling me you were looking for somewhere to live? Well, I might have a solution for you, if you’re interested.’ Annie most certainly was. She leant forward, eager to hear what he had to say.
‘Alessandro probably told you that I was born and bred here. Well, that means I know a lot of the people around here. One of my oldest and best friends is a gentleman by the name of Louis Dumoulin. He lives about halfway down the road towards Santorso. It’s a little village called Le Pont. Anyway, he and his wife have got a similar house to this one; maybe a bit smaller, but nevertheless, a fine house. When they had it built, they got the builders to add what they call the guest chalet. It’s a rather nice little place just along the road from them where they used to put guests or visitors other than close family.’ He looked up and caught Annie’s eye. ‘Now that they’re terribly old, like me, they no longer have visitors outside of the family, so they were telling me they’re thinking of renting out the chalet, but they didn’t want just anybody living there. So, I thought to myself, that’s where you might come in.’
