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  She did appreciate the hard-working doctors and nurses who’d helped her along the way. She understood she couldn’t be where she was without significant medical advances and millions of people’s shared knowledge. But no one could crawl inside her skin and assess how strong or steady or confident she felt. She was a grown woman with an above-average physical awareness and a strong belief that her body was her own damn business, both figurative and literally. She should have the final say, not some men in offices who had never, and would never, click into her ski boots.

  She smiled slightly as she realized that she’d heard Corey say almost the same thing about sponsors and governing organizations. Had part of the snowboarder mentality begun to wear off on her, or had they shared a bit of that cavalier attitude all along? Her smile grew a little wider as she remembered the two of them together in the cold tub and their pursuit of fun on their own terms. Maybe they did have more in common than she’d initially wanted to believe. Was that the point Corey had been trying to make when talking about how skiers and snowboarders always got lumped together, despite not caring for each other? Had that connection factored into her decision to make a last-minute about-face on training in New Zealand?

  She still couldn’t unpack all the emotions swirling within her every time she thought about Corey being in Argentina, not right now while she sat, still and quiet, in a doctor’s office half a world away. She couldn’t begin to process through the decision or how seemingly fast Corey had made it. Her anal-retentive side shuddered at the idea of throwing a long-held training plan out the window without weeks, if not months, of research and deliberation. She also got a little queasy when she considered the prospect of Corey making a decision of that magnitude based in any way on her.

  “With that said . . .” The doctor’s tone shifted to one sounding like a conclusion, pulling her attention once again to the situation at hand. “I don’t see any reason why we should keep your rehab off the slopes.”

  “I’m cleared to ski?” she said, perhaps a bit too loudly, but she wanted to make herself heard over the rapid beating of her own heart.

  “You’re cleared to ease back in under the watchful eye of your trainer. You’re not cleared to compete yet,” he stressed. “I also recommend more regular check-ins with the USSA medical team in Argentina.”

  “I’ve always made myself available for medical check-ins.”

  He nodded. “You’ve been a model patient, but your biggest challenges are still ahead.”

  She bristled inwardly at the comment, but kept her mouth tightly shut.

  “You need to be abundantly careful. You’ll be working muscles you haven’t tested in a long time, and not only in your knee. Don’t try to regain your Olympic standing during your first week, or you’ll end up back here.”

  “And we wouldn’t want that, now would we, doc?” She’d intended to sound playful, but she hadn’t quite mastered the tone she heard from Corey all the time.

  “It’s not that I don’t love to see you,” the doctor explained carefully. “But I know you’d rather be on the go than in an office, and it’s my job to help you get back to what you do best.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment,” Elise said as she rose and headed for the door.

  “Thank you for everything,” Paolo added. “You’ll fax over your report? We’d like to leave for Argentina tomorrow.”

  “It’ll be on the desk of every ski team official before your flight lands. I’m sure you’ll have a whole team of friends eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

  Elise smiled more brightly as she walked out the door.

  Friends.

  A month ago she would’ve rolled her eyes at the idea. By her former standards, she wouldn’t see any friends in Argentina, but she would see Corey. Corey, who annoyed her. Corey, who made inappropriate jokes. Corey, who wouldn’t leave her alone even when given the cold shoulder and an icy glare. Corey, who butted into any conversation or workout whether invited or not. Corey, who brought with her a complex entourage of family and friends and teenage tag-alongs who made her laugh even when she didn’t want to. Corey, who continued to surprise her with her unexpected thoughtfulness or sincerity or passion or her rock hard abs.

  “What?” Paolo asked as they exited the building into the bright mountain air.

  “What?”

  “You’re smiling.”

  “It’s a beautiful day. I got a good report from the doctor. I’m going to be on the snow in forty-eight hours. Isn’t that enough to smile about?”

  “For most people, yes. For you, not usually. Every other doctor’s appointment has left you with this grim sort of glint in your eye, more like a tiger stalking prey.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with a killer instinct.”

  “Debatable, but today you didn’t even argue with the doctor when he mentioned going slow and checking in. Normally I have to threaten to sedate you in those meetings. You seemed a million miles away in some happy place,” he said, then his smile widened. “You’re also blushing.”

  “I am not.”

  “You are. You’re thinking about Corey.” He laughed. “Your cheeks are getting more redder and more redder.”

  “It’s hot. It’s August. The sun is out.”

  “You’re happy. Stop right there. I want to memorize this picture of what happy Elise looks like. I’ve never met her before.”

  The little joke hit her square in the chest. “Never?”

  His face softened immediately. “You’re always thinking about what comes next, and in your mind what comes next is always a race, or a test, or another chance to prove yourself. You have so much focus, and I wouldn’t change you, because it makes you a champion.”

  “But?”

  “But, I want you to be happy, too. I can teach you to race, to turn, to train. I’ve tried to teach patience and balance and perspective, but I can’t teach you to be happy. I didn’t think anyone could teach you that, but Corey’s come a long way.”

  “You’re overstating her influence and her importance,” Elise said coolly. “Besides, you’re my coach. It’s your job to help me win, nothing else.”

  “Right, as your coach I have no opinion on your social life, but as your friend, I think she’s good for you. I like to see you two together.”

  “We’re not together,” Elise said quickly. “I find her amusing in limited doses. She certainly offers alternative perspectives from the people I’m used to, but please don’t read too much into anything. If anything, you’re projecting your own happiness about seeing Holly onto me.”

  “Nice with the redirect, but I can admit I like Holly. She’s funny and smart and very attractive. I like spending time with her, and I know Corey made her life a little more harder by changing plans, but I’m glad she did. I’m not giving up my job or getting down on one knee, but I’m happy to get more time with her.”

  Elise’s stomach tightened at the simple statement of emotion. “Good for you.” She didn’t feel the same way about Corey. She simply didn’t. Maybe she felt something she didn’t care to examine too deeply. Maybe it was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time, or ever, but what did that even mean in the face of a return to the slopes?

  “You can’t do it, can you?” he asked, throwing his arm around her shoulder. “You can’t admit that something makes you happy without there being an end goal to it?”

  She sighed and pushed him away. “I’m happy I’m cleared to ski. That’s going to have to be good enough for you.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Okay, good enough . . . for now.”

  Chapter 8

  September 5, 2016

  Bariloche, Argentina

  Corey glanced at her watch as discreetly as possible.

  “I saw that,” Holly said, seemingly without ever looking up from her magazine.

  “I’m checking to see how long I have to wait until I get dinner.”

  “You’re checking to see how long before Elise gets here.”

 
; Corey snorted. “You don’t know me.”

  “No. I just had to rearrange our entire fall training and travel schedule in a week so you could train near the woman, but I know nothing about what you’re feeling.”

  “When are you going to let go of the whole I-messed-up-your-schedule thing?”

  “When you and Elise name your first-born child after me . . . maybe.”

  “You know the idea of anything happening between me and Elise is insane, right?”

  “About as insane as us being in Argentina right now.”

  Corey shook her fist in the air. “Everywhere I turn, I walk right into that.”

  “Fine, I resolve to mention the gross debt you owe me only five times a day from here on out.”

  “Generous of you.”

  “Yeah, well, now that I finished the soul-crushing amount of extra work, I’ll admit Argentina has a few perks.”

  “Like Argentinian trainers whose parents own wine bars?”

  Holly smiled a dreamy little smile.

  “And now you don’t have to wonder if he’s sharing his evenings with Tigger while you’re halfway across the world.”

  “I don’t worry he’d do anything with Tigger,” Holly said. “He’s not the type, and the more she hangs around, the less I think she is either. But it would be hard to know he was spending his evenings with anyone else when I could’ve been here.”

  She sat forward and eyed her sister. There was a softness to her expression and her tone Corey wasn’t used to hearing. “So, this thing with Paolo is really a thing?”

  Holly lifted a shoulder with pretend indifference, but the flush in her cheeks gave her away.

  “Wow. I knew you guys had some fun together, and he’s nice and well kept, and I suppose handsome if you like the tall, dark, and rugged thing he’s working.”

  “I do,” Holly said. “I really do.”

  “So, does he feel the same way?”

  “We haven’t had ‘the talk’ yet. I mean, it seemed silly because we thought we’d be on different continents. And even now, our little joint training trip is a massive anomaly. You bought us another month, maybe six weeks if we all linger, and we’ll work most of the time.”

  “We’ll still see each other sometimes on the tour.”

  “How often do we cross paths with skiers? Our competition schedules don’t line up at all.”

  Her stomach tightened. “Surely we’ve got to get close a few times. I mean how many snowy mountain ranges are there in the world? Three?”

  Holly sighed. “Sometimes I wish you’d had a super hot geography teacher at some point in school so you could’ve learned a couple things.”

  “Is that your way of saying there’s more than three big, snowy mountain ranges?”

  Holly smiled and shook her head. “Never mind. We stole some more time. We might as well enjoy the month. It’ll be over before we know it. I don’t want to bog us down in labels and heavy discussions.”

  Corey didn’t know what to do with the sadness in Holly’s tone. Of the four LaCroix girls, they’d always been the two to share a wanderlust that went well beyond the next race or the next stop on the tour. Holly always looked forward to the next challenge no matter what the stakes, even with men—especially with men—and now she was worried about the prospect of having to move on five weeks before she actually had to do so.

  The uneasy feeling Corey’d had right before she made the call to come to Argentina settled over her again, like searching for something in a dark room, and knowing there’s a table leg somewhere waiting for you to stub your little toe on.

  “They’re here.” Holly hopped up and dropped her magazine in Corey’s lap. “How do I look? Is my hair okay?”

  “You’re perfect.”

  Holly grinned. “I am pretty fabulous, aren’t I?”

  “Always.” Corey laughed as the old Holly bounced back to life and headed breezily toward the glass doors as Paolo pushed through.

  “Hola,” he called with a wide smile, then dropped his bag and clasped both hands on her shoulders and kissed her on each cheek twice. Then holding her at arms length they beamed at one another before kissing on the mouth. Corey’s chest constricted. She’d watched Holly with a lot of boys, and then a handful of men, and she’d seen plenty of them moon over her, but she’d never seen Holly return the expression. The experience made her feel happy and lonely all at once, but before she could begin to understand why, Elise pushed through the door behind them.

  Her jeans hugged her slammin’ hips and muscular thighs perfectly, and she’d topped them off with a long-sleeved gray sweater underneath a black down vest. The style was comfortably sexy, but her dark sunglasses added a touch of chic. The ensemble suited her personality more than the gym clothes Corey had grown used to seeing her in. Well put together, but multi-layered.

  Elise raised the sunglasses to rest atop her blond hair and shook back a few locks that had fallen down across the fronts of her shoulders. She paused in the doorway only long enough to notice Holly and Paulo’s total entrancement with each other before stepping past them. She seemed headed for the front desk when her gaze fell on Corey. Her beautiful lips curved up in a tired smile Corey couldn’t help but mirror as the two of them got caught in the same schmoopy haze that had trapped Paolo and Holly, only without the kissing.

  “Hi,” Corey finally said.

  “Hi.”

  Corey nodded to the leather lobby chair next to her. “Seat’s open.”

  Elise nodded as if she wanted to accept the invitation but wasn’t sure she should. “I should probably get checked in, but Paolo has our reservations.”

  “Then you should definitely kick back for a bit. I suspect the lovebirds might need a few minutes.”

  Elise glanced back over her shoulder at them, then lowered herself into the chair. “I suppose it’s better if we let them get it out of their systems before we have to start training.”

  Corey wondered if Holly would ever get Paolo out of her system, or if the feelings would actually get stronger as their stay went on. But saying so might constitute a betrayal of sisterly trust. Instead she said, “I’ve already started training.”

  “Oh sure, rub it in that I’m a week behind,” Elise said, “or a year and a week behind.”

  “You’re here now.” Corey tried not to let her dwell on what she’d missed. The time for mourning those losses had passed, and allowing them to linger once she got on the slopes might be dangerous. “I assume you got the all clear to ski again, or you wouldn’t have made the long-ass flight down here.”

  “Oh my God, the ten hours from Atlanta to Buenos Aires was bad enough, but the two extra hours on a puddle jumper to Bariloche felt mean-spirited after . . .” She eyed Corey more seriously. “Who told you I hadn’t been cleared to ski?”

  “No one had to tell me. I’ve been on the tour for twelve years. I know the orthopedic specialists are in Park City, and I’ve known you long enough to realize you would’ve been the first one down here if you’d had the green light.”

  “Does everyone know?”

  Corey shrugged. “I don’t think anyone else cares. Believe it or not, most people don’t sit around pondering the life and times of the great Elise Brandeis.”

  She scoffed. “I think my life inspires a lot of pondering.”

  Corey smiled, glad to have induced a little sass. “Maybe a little pondering, but what do you care if people know you had a doctor’s appointment? You got the go ahead. That’s what counts.”

  “I guess I don’t like the idea of my competitors knowing how close we cut things. I want them to worry I’m already back in top form. I hate giving them a boost of confidence from knowing I’m not up to their level.”

  “Yet,” Corey amended, “you’ll get there, and it’ll be all that much sweeter when you do. Everyone loves a come-from-behind win. Imagine the stories the networks will run on you during the Olympics. Bob Costas and Mary Carrillo will visit you at the gym, and you can cry on TV.”r />
  “All right,” Elise stood up and turned to go. “I’m going to go check in now that you’ve apparently checked out of the reality hotel.”

  Corey caught her hand and gave her a little squeeze. “It’ll happen, Elise. You’re going to be Team USA’s comeback kid. I know you don’t love the idea of being anything other than a front-runner, but you’re going to excel at this role as much as you did the other one. And the sponsors will eat that shit up.”

  Elise looked down at her, fingers locked, blue eyes bright, and an expression Corey had never seen crossed her beautiful features. Something softer, more introspective, but without the sharp edge of her usual defenses.

  “Corey,” Paolo bellowed. “Amiga, bienvenidos to Argentina.”

  Elise’s smile returned to its more polite state, but she gave her hand a little squeeze before pulling away. “Yes, welcome. We’re all in for an interesting season.”

  Corey grinned broadly as she sat back and folded her arms behind her head. “Interesting.” Yeah, she could work with that.

  • • •

  “If you try to start me on the children’s tow rope, I swear by all things holy, I’ll push you off the side of this mountain.”

  Paolo laughed. “As if I didn’t know that already, but we’re not going to start at the top, either.”

  “That’s where the rest of the team is today,” Elise said. Few other skiers were out at seven a.m., much less the children who would likely populate this particular area later in the day.

  “Which is why we’re down here,” Paolo explained. “We don’t need an audience, and you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.”

  “Apparently I need to prove to you I can still ski a trail bigger than this one. What’s it even called?” She craned her neck to read the bright green Cerro Catedral trail sign. “ABC? Are you kidding me?”