Chairlift for Two?

To the reader: This story is the second episode for Josh and Ashley. To read the first one, You Forgot Cranberries, Too?, click here.

Josh had been dreaming about pie for three weeks: apple crumb, blueberry, pumpkin, even rhubarb, which he didn’t particularly like. He knew why — Ashley.

The Christmas Eve dinner at her house had loosened something inside him. The food, the cheesy movie, the comfy couch, even the way Polly and Dolly fell asleep on her fuzzy rug. It felt like home. Even though it wasn’t his own home at all, and he barely knew Ashley. But he knew he wanted to see her again; see if he was interested in something more than pie.

The Christmas and New Year’s holidays had passed in a blur: hosting his parents for a week, gathering mounds of wrapping paper from their gifts to the girls, enjoying his dad’s family lore. He’d texted Ashley a few times. She always responded. But she’d been busy, too. Teaching skiing at the mountain, working, and hosting her own family and friends.

But today the calendars finally aligned. He could get a sitter. She didn’t have to work. They could go skiing. A low-risk way to spend some time together. His stomach churned. It’s not a date. Was it?

As he picked up Dolly’s skis and his snowboard, he left Vivian’s skis behind in the closet. A wave of guilt crested in his chest. She had loved being outdoors with him and the kids. Was it okay to be moving on?

He closed the trunk and leaned against the car for a moment. He knew Vivian would want him to get outside. The two of them had enough time together near her end to know she wanted him to keep living. For himself and the girls. She didn’t even want him to be alone.

Stop. Just stop. It’s just skiing…and boarding.

Back inside the house, Josh gave instructions to the babysitter for two-year-old Polly, then helped six-year-old Dolly into her booster seat, catching her blue eyes and pink hat in his rear-view mirror. “Ready? We’re going to ski with Ashley and Jessica and Jessica’s son. I think Silas is in your class, right?”

Dolly nodded, meeting his eye. “Yeah. He’s OK. He’s not the worst boy. That’s Jed. He’s really mean. Like, he will even pull hair when the teacher isn’t looking. And Silas’ mom makes good cupcakes. Who’s Ashley?”

“The lady we met on Christmas Eve,” Josh replied, gauging Polly’s eyes, feeling his guilt rise again. But she merely said, “She let us use her sprinkles,” nodding her approval.

They arrived at less crowded Mount Ellen, unloaded, and geared up. Josh was sweating after bending and zipping and wiggling mittens onto Polly’s hands. How was he going to manage with two of them when Dolly was ready to ski next year? 

Ashley, Jessica, and Silas arrived a few moments later in a burst of chatter. “Hey, Josh! Chaos, right?” Jessica said, dumping her own load of gear on the snow. “Silas, say hi to Polly and pop your boots into your skis.”

Josh waved to Jessica and moved next to Ashley, noticing her ski jacket decorated with US Ski patches. A fresh worry broke out. What if he couldn’t keep up with her? “Hi Ashley,” he croaked out.

“Hey!” Her eyes traveled to his snowboard, and she lowered her voice, “Are you sure I can’t convince you to ski?”

“Not unless you want to watch me on crutches for a few weeks.”

She smiled at him, waiting for him to add something more. He recognized this feeling of being tongue-tied. It felt like a date. “I’ve been thinking about pie for a few weeks,” he tried.

“Is that all you’ve been thinking about?” She flirted. Or at least I think she’s flirting.

The whack of metal made them swing around as Silas and Polly started a mock battle with their ski poles.

“Time to go,” Jessica said, waving her hands for them to head to the lift. “Before the little monsters actually hurt each other.”

The five of them lined up. Jessica had the two kids under control, and Josh motioned to Ashley to hang back so they could ride together alone. But as they shuffled forward, Polly turned and looked behind her. “Daddy, I want to ride with you.” Josh caught Ashley’s eye, and he shrugged. “Of course, come on in,” Ashley said, moving over to make room for Polly.

Polly kept up a stream of words the whole ride up. First, all about first grade and how the girls were better behaved, except sometimes Silas was okay since he liked to read books in the resting corner, then how the lunches were really good, especially when they had homemade rolls and chocolate chip cookies. Josh looked over Polly’s helmet several times, catching Ashley’s eye, relieved to see she was enjoying Polly’s monologue.

As the lift reached the top and they raised the safety bar, Josh vowed to get the next ride up together alone.

***

Josh enjoyed carving long, swooping turns on North Star as he trailed behind Polly to make sure she was safe. Not that he had to worry, Polly was a fearless skier and led Silas and him through every woods “shortcut” and jumped over every lump of snow she found.

As they neared the lift for a second rise, Josh stooped to fiddle with his boot, telling Polly to move forward to join Silas in line. She nodded and started asking Silas and Jessica questions about the next run. The plan was working. Perfect, ten minutes to talk, just the two of us. He lined up topics in his head. Kids? Jobs? Cheesy movies? Pie? It had been over a decade since he’d had a date. He felt rusty, like most of the tools in his garage, in need of sharpening.

As the kids got to the front of the lift line, Jessica dropped one of her ski poles and had to stop to pick it up. The kids boarded the lift without her, and she slid back to join Ashley and Josh. Josh held his disappointment in. How were they going to get a moment alone?

As they boarded, Jessica’s phone rang, and she wrested it out of her coat pocket. Looking at the screen, she said, “It’s the sitter for Ethan. Let me make sure everything is okay.”

Josh’s heart jumped. He could take advantage of the distraction. He turned to Ashley, but all his considered topics flew out of his head. “Hi again.” I sound like an idiot.

Thankfully, she jumped in. “You need to come clean about the snowboarding,” she teased. “Aren’t you a little too old for that?”

“Definitely too old for the park. I don’t do that anymore,” he said. “It’s a buried secret, but I started on skis. Only took up boarding to be cool in my teenage years.”

“There’s hope for you yet, then. I can give a pretty good private lesson.”

“I might just…”

“False alarm. Just a juice box crisis.” Jessica interrupted. “So, what are you talking about?”

“My lack of skiing ability. But I was just going to ask Ashley where she works,” Josh said. He realized he didn’t even know the basics. “Full time ski instructor?”

“I wish. No, that’s just for fun. I’m at UVM,” she said.

“True,” said Jessica. “But what she didn’t mention is that she’s one of the top, probably even the top, ortho surgeon in the state.”

Ashley patted Jessica on the helmet. “My PR rep. But, see, if you do break your leg skiing, I can actually help with that.”

The three chatted about some of Ashley’s more challenging patients on the rest of the ride. She’s impressive. And then Jessica and Ashley switched to a story about a high-maintenance family member coming to visit who would complain bitterly if there wasn’t enough oat milk for her smoothies.

Josh enjoyed the sisterly banter, and finally questions queued up. Where did they grow up? Were there other siblings? Who was older? What was her favorite song? He was ready for their next chairlift ride.

For this second ski run, Polly and Silas chose Inverness, a fast, wide trail built for racing. Josh watched as Ashley let her skis fly, her training on display as she leaned toward the slope on each turn, driving her skis into the snow, creating beautiful arcs that left deep grooves. She flowed down the slope. It was artistic. She stopped and waved from the bottom; her smile radiant. Polly and Silas zipped almost straight down, while he and Jessica enjoyed a more leisurely pace. He hoped he looked at least competent.

As they pulled up at the bottom next to Ashley, she said, “The kids zoomed past me already, headed to the lift again.”

“Damn it, Silas knows he’s supposed to wait. I’ll get them,” Jessica answered and shoved herself toward the lift.

Finally, they were alone. Surrounded by people whizzing past them, but alone.  

He was ready. The words came. “You’re an amazing skier,” he said. “So fluid. And fast.”

 “Thanks. I do love it. And for a boarder, you’re not so bad yourself.”

Josh’s eyes crinkled in response. “If we let Jessica take the kids up, we can have ten minutes on the chairlift. Alone.”

“I’d like that,” Ashley said. His heart gave a little leap.

As they headed back to the GMX lift, Jessica and the kids passed overhead. “Meet you at the top,” Jessica yelled. He waved back.

The line was nonexistent. Just the two of them stood ready for the next chair to swoop them up. This time it would work. He lined up his categories: siblings, books, favorite foods, non-skiing hobbies.

As the empty chair swung around the bull-wheel and approached, they readied to sit. At the last second, a single skier pushed in next to Ashley. “Just made it,” he said.

Damn it.

The chair seat swung under the three of them and lifted them into the air. Josh wasn’t going to let a single skier ruin their ride. He turned toward Ashley. “So, Ashley, how many siblings do you have?”

The intruder said, “Wait? Ash? Is that you?”

He thought he heard her groan. She glanced at her seatmate and pulled down her goggles. “Hi Dan.”

“Small world, right? I almost never ski at Mount Ellen,” he said. He leaned forward and looked around at Josh. “Hey, I’m Dan.”

“Dan’s my ex,” Ashley said in a resigned voice, introducing them to each other.

Figures today is the day he decides to ski here.

For the third chairlift ride, Josh hid his frustration. Dan chatted on and on: some new M&A deal he’d just arranged, his new skis, his recent trip to Vail. “So what have you been up to, Ash? Broken femurs? Collarbones?”

Ashley issued a noncommittal noise. She didn’t ask him a question in return. Josh wondered how the two of them had been a couple. Dan seemed eager, like a big puppy, cheerful but clueless. Ashley was literally shifting as far away from Dan on the little chair as she could get. And his shortening of her name to “Ash” was driving him nuts.

Dan leaned forward around her. “And, Josh, right? Where do you work?”

“Beta Engineering,” Josh replied, feeling Ashley shift on the seat next to him. It was impossible to read her expression through her mirrored goggles. Had she wanted him to ignore Dan?

His response sent Dan off on another monologue about IPOs versus private equity.

With every foot the chair ascended, Josh’s spirit descended. We are probably just cursed. Kids. Sister. Exs.

The ride couldn’t end fast enough for him. As they unloaded, the kids were waiting, and Jessica’s eyes widened.

“Jess? Family reunion day, eh?” Dan patted her on the shoulder, oblivious to the distaste on her face. “Hey, Ash. We should ski together sometime. Give me a call, right? I’m going up. Great to see you all.” He waved goodbye to the group and pushed off toward the Summit chair.

Jessica threw a pitying look at Ashley. “That must have been horrid.”

“He’s behind me now,” Ashley said curtly. “But are you guys okay if I just call it a day now?”

“Are you sure?” Jessica said, looking between Ashley and Josh.

Was she mad at him? Tired? He had no idea.

“Come on, kids, which trail this time?” Jessica took the kids off for another run.

Josh leaned closer. “Can I call you later?”

“Are you sure you want to?”

“I’m sure.”

“I don’t know, Josh. Two dates that never happened last year. A dinner, but not a date. One now where we couldn’t even get a few minutes alone. I think the universe is telling us something.”

“Well, I’m choosing not to listen,” he said. He slid a hand under her chin and lifted it. “Unless you want to?”

Her eyes met his, and she inhaled deeply. A weak smile showed on her face. “Fifth time’s the charm?”

“Absolutely. You owe me a ski lesson after all, remember?”

“Pushy boarders.” But her smile grew.