by Astor, Marie
With his two close friends by his side, Taylor was fairly certain that the three of them would be able to keep any mayhem in check. However, he sincerely hoped that it would not come to that, not after the agreement that he and Jeffrey struck last night – he did not expect Jeffrey to understand the reasons why he skied the way he skied, but he expected Jeffrey to respect him and his friends, and, more importantly, to respect the mountains; otherwise, the project Taylor and Ryan had worked so hard to bring to life would have to be put on hold indefinitely.
“Top of the morning to you,” Ryan greeted Taylor by the entrance to the Owl Lodge.
“Hey man! What are you doing here so early? We still got almost an hour before everyone gets here.”
“Well, I thought I’d give you a hand.”
From the look in his eyes Taylor could tell that that was not the real reason why Ryan showed so early; a moment later, Ryan confirmed his friend’s guess.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he added.
“Can we talk in the shop? I want to check the equipment.”
“Sure, by all means.”
Taylor headed in the direction of the ski shop that was located in the back of the lodge. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” asked Taylor while he looked at four pairs of skis he had selected for Jeffrey, Charlie, Maggie and Bethany the night before.
“It’s not too late to call it off, you know.”
“I’m afraid it is – they’ll be here in less than an hour,” replied Taylor, as he ran his finger along the edge of the skis.
“That’s not what I meant.” Ryan looked squarely at Taylor.
“I know what you meant. But the contract is signed, and I am ready to do this – we’ve been looking for a producer to film me skiing the Needle Eye for over two years. It’s now or never.”
“I’m starting to think that never might be a better option.”
“What are you talking about? I thought we both wanted the same thing.”
“We do.” Ryan shoved his hands into his pockets. “It’s just that I don’t trust that Jeffrey character, and I admit it, it’s my fault: I should have never suggested that you approach him about the project in the first place. When I met him through a friend of mine at Chamonix last year, he seemed to be genuinely interested in off-piste skiing, and I thought that with his big network connections he might be just the ticket we needed. But now, I see that his big clout comes with an even bigger ego and zero respect for anyone or anything.”
“I know what you mean, Ryan, but I can handle him. Jeffrey may be the producer, but when it comes to safety and terrain conditions, I’ll make sure that you and me will have the last word.”
“Are you certain of that?” Ryan cocked an eyebrow. “‘Cause to me, Jeffrey does not seem like the kind of guy who would yield his authority.”
“It’s either that, or I will put the brakes on the whole thing.”
“Well, as long as you promise me that, we’ll pull through... Hey, do you think you could manage without me today?” added Ryan.
“I thought you were coming,” retorted Taylor, the disappointment palpable in his voice.
“I still can, if you need me, but I wanted to do some extra reconnaissance on the runs we’re going to shoot for the documentary.”
“Yes, sure - Shawn and I will be fine.” Taylor nodded.
“Someone called my name?” Shawn appeared in the doorway.
“You’re right on time.” Taylor grinned. “Looks like the two of us are on our own today – Ryan here is bailing out.”
“Well, we’d better get started then.” Shawn glanced at his watch. “They’ll be here soon, and I get the impression that Jeffrey Preston is not the kind of man who likes to be kept waiting. I’ve got to say that you handled him very well the other night – if it had not been for you, I would have punched the arrogant bugger.”
Taylor grinned. “I barely resisted the same urge.”
“But you were right – it’s not worth it. I know how much the documentary means to you, and if making it happen requires putting up with that jerk for a couple of weeks, I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Thanks Shawn. This really means a lot.”
“Hey, what are friends for?”
Just then there was a sound of approaching footsteps. A moment later, Jeffrey Preston appeared in the doorway. “Good morning, gentlemen!” Charlie Whittaker was standing right behind him. Both men were holding two pairs of ski boots each.
“Good morning, Jeffrey, Charlie.” Taylor smiled, and Shawn nodded by way of greeting.
“We brought the ski boots just like you said,” Charlie said eagerly, propping his ski boots on the counter.
“Is the rest of the group still coming?” asked Taylor – the question jumped off his lips before he could give it another thought. What he really wanted to know was whether Maggie was coming, and he hoped that the tone of his voice did not give him away.
“They’re waiting outside – I’ve got Maggie’s boots right here and Charlie has Bethany’s.”
“Okay, great. We just need to adjust the ski bindings, and then we’ll be ready to go.” Taylor placed the first pair of skis on the counter: it was the latest demo model for intermediate skiers he had selected for Maggie and quickly adjusted the bindings. Then, he picked up a flashy pair of skis that he had selected for Bethany – these were not Chanel, but he hoped that the glitzy design would meet Bethany’s approval. Meanwhile, Shawn started working on the skis for Jeffrey and Charlie.
“Thanks for letting the girls come along,” said Jeffrey. “Truth be told, neither Maggie nor Bethany are the best of skiers – I mean, they are girls… But they were so adamant about coming, and I appreciate you putting up with them.”
“Trust me, that’s no problem at all.” Taylor did his best to keep his voice cool. In truth, he could not have disagreed more with Jeffrey’s remark – Taylor’s friend, Hannah Crawley, the redhead who worked the information desk of the Owl Lodge part time and skied professionally full time, was one of the best skiers Taylor knew. Hannah too had a small part in the documentary, and now, Taylor wondered why Jeffrey had offered her the part.
As if reading Taylor’s mind, Jeffrey continued, “Well, of course, your friend Hannah is an exception. She is a firecracker, that one! If I were not engaged…” Jeffrey winked.
Shawn’s expression tightened. “Hannah doesn’t really have much time to date – she’s too busy tearing up the slopes.”
“She sure is – she’s one of the best skiers I’ve ever met,” added Taylor. Shawn and Hannah were Taylor’s closest friends: the three of them had stuck by each other through thick and thin since they were five years old and never kept anything from one another when they were kids. However, as they became adults, Taylor suspected that there was a secret that Shawn kept from him, and, more importantly, from Hannah, which was the way Shawn really felt about Hannah.
“All right, we’re all ready to go,” announced Taylor as he picked up Maggie’s skis and placed them on his shoulder, balancing his own pair of skis on his other shoulder.
“Hey, I can carry that,” offered Jeffrey.
“That’s all right – I got it. If you could just grab your own pair and the poles over there by the wall,” Taylor called over his shoulder.
Taylor opened the back door of the store that led the way into the parking lot. As he stepped onto the front steps, the first thing he noticed was how bright the sun looked that morning as it reflected off the blindingly white snow, and the next thing he saw were the flecks of gold in Maggie’s eyes.
“Do you need a hand with that?” Maggie hurried toward him. Her face was high in color from the morning nippy air. She was dressed in a dark blue Helly Hansen matching ski set, and Taylor could have sworn that he had never seen a girl look that good in a ski suit.
For a moment, Taylor was struck dumb: what was it with him and this girl? Every time he was around her he seemed to lose his command of speech.
�
��Don’t worry, honey, Taylor’s got it.” Jeffrey’s voice carried over Taylor’s shoulder before he had a chance to reply.
“I’m fine,” Taylor added as he placed the skis onto the ground. Hold it together, he thought, she is Jeffrey’s fiancée.
“These are amazing – are they for me?” inquired Bethany, as she pointed at the skis with the flashy design that Taylor had selected for her.
“They certainly are,” confirmed Taylor.
“And these are for you.” Taylor handed Maggie the skis he had chosen for her.
“The latest K2 model – I’ve been dying to try these.”
Well, thought Taylor, she knows her skis too. “From what I’ve heard it’s this year’s best model.”
“Only the best for my Maggie,” Jeffrey piped in, and Taylor had to shove his hands into his pockets to prevent himself from taking a swipe at Jeffrey’s smug face.
“All right then; it seems we are ready to get going,” announced Shawn. “But before we head out, there are a few safety points I would like to go over. Taylor and I will be your guides today – one of the guides will always be leading the group. At no point should anyone in the group ski ahead of the guide – always stay above the guide’s ski tracks. This is for your own safety: there could be hidden boulders and crevasses on the terrain. It is our responsibility to get you back safe and sound, and the last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt. We know the terrain well and as long as everyone follows the safety instructions, everything will be fine.”
“Are we really going to be skiing on such dangerous terrain?” inquired Charlie, his face losing color.
“The chances of an actual avalanche are very slim. I’ve checked the conditions this morning, and there were no warnings. We will be skiing in the lower part of the mountains where the risk of avalanche is very small, but still, it’s always best to be prepared,” Taylor cut in, thinking that Shawn had made the safety presentation a bit more intimidating than necessary. “As a safety measure, everyone in the group will have to put on these beacons – they will help the rescue team locate you in case of an avalanche. Shawn and I will take turns going in the back of the group and will be carrying the safety kit to be used in case of an avalanche.”
“Relax, Charlie, this is just standard procedure.” Jeffrey winked.
Ignoring Jeffrey’s remark, Taylor continued to explain how the avalanche beacon worked. Then, he moved on to the rest of the items in the avalanche safety backpack: a folding shovel and a collapsible probe to reach through the snow to locate those trapped underneath the snow.
“Let’s do this. I’m all ready to go.” Jeffrey clapped his hands at the end of the presentation. “There’s nothing like a bit of adrenaline to get the blood pumping!”
This may be harder than I expected, thought Taylor as he eyed Jeffrey out of the corner of his eye, suddenly wondering if he should have listened to Ryan earlier. He knew skiers like Jeffrey well: they confused disregard for danger with courage and often acted recklessly, endangering not only themselves, but also others. Taylor only hoped that Jeffrey would not do anything stupid on his watch.
Chapter 8
Maggie could not help admiring the way everyone in the group heeded Taylor’s lead. At the same time, Taylor had no qualms about sharing his authority with his friend, Shawn: the two of them worked as a team. Jeffrey was incapable of such humbleness: whether he was producing a TV show or organizing a social event, he always had to make sure that he controlled each and every aspect of the process. Jeffrey was well-known for his controlling personality in the industry; before, Maggie had always attributed his reputation to the jealousy and unfairness of his rivals, but now she was no longer sure.
But then no man was perfect, and Maggie was certain that Taylor too had his faults. At least, that was what she wanted to believe. There was something uncanny about how collected he looked when he talked about the danger of an avalanche, as though to him it were an everyday part of life. She wondered what it was that drove Taylor to lead the life that he chose. Why go out there day after day, risking injuries and death in exchange for a momentary thrill? What was it that he found in the mountains that he could not find on the ground? From the looks of it, Taylor certainly fitted the mold of an adrenaline junkie. Still, she had to admit that she found him intriguing.
“All right, everyone please grab your skis and follow me to the air tram,” Taylor’s voice woke Maggie up from her reverie. Feeling his gaze upon her, she blushed, worried that he might guess her thoughts, which of course was ridiculous, but for reasons incomprehensible to her, she was not herself around him.
The air tram was a little over one hundred yards away. Taylor and Shawn led the way, with Jeffrey and Charlie following next, and Maggie and Bethany walking behind them.
“Is that Taylor guy hot or what?” Bethany whispered, giggling.
“Shhh! What if Charlie hears you?” Maggie exclaimed.
“They can’t hear us – they are too far ahead; besides, it’s not me who’s got the hots for the ski hunk.”
“What are you talking about?” Maggie balked.
“Oh, come on. I saw the way you looked at him. Just be careful so that Jeffrey doesn’t notice.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bethany. I think you’ve imagined the whole thing,” retorted Maggie, her mind pounding with alarm: if Bethany had noticed the way she looked at Taylor, then maybe Taylor had seen it too.
“All right, have it your way. But you don’t have to worry about me – mum is the word.”
You are engaged and you’re fantasizing about some hot ski bum you know nothing about, Maggie thought.
You love Jeffrey. Stop making a fool of yourself before you come to regret it, Maggie reminded herself, as she boarded the air tram. Just then her grip loosened and her skis almost slid out of her hands.
“Careful there,” Maggie heard Taylor’s voice behind her, as he reached just in time to catch her skis, moving alarmingly close to her.
“That was clumsy of me,” Maggie muttered, averting her eyes.
“Everything okay, Maggie?” Jeffrey called over his shoulder.
“Everything is fine.” Maggie got inside the tram, while Bethany watched her out of the corner of her eye with a grin on her face.
The air tram glided into motion, and Maggie was blown away by the view that opened before her: towering snow peaks rose in saw-like progression, one higher than the next. The landscape was as magnificent as it was terrifying and for a moment she wondered if she had asked for more than she could handle. Well, it was too late to back out now and all she could do was tell herself to remain calm, which was easier said than done, especially given the fact that she was about to undertake something she had never dared before.
“We’ll be getting off at the first stop,” Taylor announced, as the air tram neared the first offloading station.
“I thought we were going all the way to the top.” Jeffrey frowned.
“We’re just getting warmed up,” Shawn assured him.
“Everyone, watch your step when offloading,” Taylor called over his shoulder, as the air tram came to a halt.
Clutching her skis, Maggie cautiously crossed over the cabin’s threshold. Walking in ski boots was about as comfortable as walking in a space suit, and the last thing she wanted was to trip in front of Taylor. Not that she wanted to admit even to herself that she cared about how she looked in front him or what he thought of her: she certainly had no business having these kinds of thoughts.
“Follow me.” Taylor started skiing away from the offloading station.
“All right, listen up everyone!” Taylor summoned the group’s attention as he came to a halt at the beginning of an incline. “We’ll start going down this slope, over to my right.” Taylor motioned to the wide expanse of snow behind his back. “It’s an easy, wide run and is a great starting point to get warmed up. Shawn will be going first, and I’ll be skiing in the back of the group to make sure that no one falls beh
ind.”
Her breath quickening, Maggie peeked over Taylor’s shoulder to see what lay in store and immediately realized that she need not have worried: the run that they were about to ski was wide open without any rocks or trees, and the incline was no steeper than a moderate blue. Of course, Jeffrey might be disappointed by how easy it looked, but he would just have to put up with it and enjoy the ride. Again she felt a swell of appreciation for Taylor and how seamlessly he had organized the entire outing.
“Thanks for the lecture, Taylor.” Jeffrey winked. “I think we’re all good now - I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m ready to go down that slope.”
“Fair enough.” Taylor nodded. “Just make sure to stay above Shawn’s tracks the entire time.
“Right this way, everyone.” Shawn dropped into the incline and before a blink of an eye was down two thirds of the slope. At the bottom of the run, he halted and waived his pole for the rest of the group to join him.
“So just ski over to where Shawn is standing.” Taylor stood aside, waiting for the group to begin the descent.
Jeffrey edged his skis and bolted into the incline – he was going even faster than Shawn, and for a moment Maggie worried that Jeffrey’s speed might get the better of him. When she saw Jeffrey ski up to Shawn, she exhaled with relief.
“All right, who’s next?” Taylor grinned. “There’s plenty of space for several people to ski at the same time, you know.”
“I’ll go,” said Maggie, eager to leave her ski tracks next to Jeffrey’s. “See you down there.” Maggie felt a flush of pleasure, knowing that both Taylor and Jeffrey were watching her. Here it goes, thought Maggie angling her skis into the incline, better not fall now.
