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After having a brief "church" service Sunday morning, while eating an assortment of French toast, frittata, hash browns, sausage, and fruit prepared by the live in housekeeper, everyone geared up for another day on the slopes. Chip was the only one not in attendance during the service, but he joined the group as they were heading to the slopes. The plan was to ski until lunch, then afterwards the guys would teach the girls to snowboard. To everyone's surprise, Chip stayed with them to ski.
"He must be feeling better about things," Jill whispered to those standing near her.
Throughout the morning Chip was mostly quiet, but occasionally spoke with his sister or with Gia.
"I hope your friends don't think I'm a snob," he'd told Gia when they made it to the bottom of a slope nearly simultaneously. "I'm just not much for conversation this weekend.
"Everyone knows your situation." Though it was surely embarrassing for him, she hoped he would realize that meant they would be understanding and not make judgements about his lack of interaction. "The fact that you're spending today with us in spite of that says a lot about you. Try to relax and maybe the change of scenery will work to cheer you up."
"That's what my parents hoped, but your company has been more beneficial with that."
At his words, Gia searched the hill for Nick. They'd gotten separated a while back, and though that in itself didn't bother her, she couldn't help but think it would be good for Chip to see them together. Throwing their relationship in Chip's face during conversation, when he'd not overtly shown interest, seemed hurtful when he probably was only talking with her because she'd happen to be around when he was tipsy and overly talkative the night before.
"And if I relax too much," Chip grinned, I'll be in no shape to take these slopes.
They were both laughing at that just as Evie, Kate, and Jill joined them questioning the cause for levity. Jill seemed pleased that Chip had made a friend, but Gia couldn't help but think it might also be because she had her sights set on Nick. Gia placed a hand over her chest as a feeling of unease came on again. The battle with jealousy was tiresome, and still fairly new. All indications were that Jill was just a truly nice and good woman who would never tread on another woman's territory. The problem was that all that niceness and goodness, combined with her natural beauty seemed enough to lure any man; and now to find that she had a family doting on Nick and she'd soon be spending a good deal of time with him on something close to his heart. How could he not be dazzled? Gia on the other hand had nothing to offer, and it was possible her only appeal had been her proximity at the time he finally opened himself up to relationships.
The discussion turned to snowboarding. It was approaching time to meet back at the chalet for lunch, then afterwards snowboarding lessons for the girls. Evie, Kate, Jill, and Gia all admitted to being somewhat nervous. Kate most of all, since she had read up on the most common snowboarding injuries. Chip insisted, for his part, he would make sure the girls were taught all the safety precautions and that they took things slowly to avoid injury.
Snowboarding lessons did indeed start out slowly. The guys were thrilled to show off their skills. After they spent some time going over everything with the girls as a group, each girl was paired off with a guy. Chip was the exception as he was paired with both his sister and Kate. He'd tried to claim Gia as his second partner, but was turned down by an insistent Nick. Nick's claim on Gia made her heart race and butterflies take over, though the timing was terrible with her need to have all her wits about her while learning to snowboard.
Nessa was the one most worried about taking a spill. In Omar's words "she could trip over her own feet on a flat surface." It sounded demoralizing, but Nessa agreed, and reminded them that she'd already fallen multiple times while skiing. Many of the falls were while simply walking to the next slope.
The location where they started practicing with the boards had some flat spots that were good for learning the basics. Once Gia had the stopping down and had worked on speed control, Nick taught her how to garland. After getting the C and S turns under her belt, she worked on increasing her speed and distance. She'd fallen a couple of times at the beginning, but now her confidence was building.
"I think you're ready to go all the way down," Nick called out.
Gia nodded.
"You go ahead and start working your way down, and I'll come behind you."
"Are you sure. I'll be trying to go fairly slow."
"Yep, I'm sure. No worries, I'll give you a head start, and I'm fine going slow. You just need to focus on what's comfortable for you."
"Okay then." Gia took off and felt a rush of adrenaline as she picked up speed. Slowing herself she practiced some turns. Glancing to the side, she saw Evie going down the hill with Scott close by, and gave a small wave before turning forward again. Just as she did, she noticed something dark in the snow right in front of her and quickly tried to twist to avoid it, but instead found herself crashing into the snow. At first she didn't move, or couldn't, she wasn't sure. She opened her eyes to see Nick peering down at her with concern.
"Gia!" Nick ripped off her goggles and baklava so he could see her face. "Talk to me. What hurts?"
When she finally caught her breath she felt relieved. "I'm not sure," she said weakly. My left leg feels funny, like it's asleep, but it also hurts. I think I just need a minute. It knocked the breath out of me." She wasn't sure if the impact or the pain had caused it her breathing issue. When she turned her head and lifted her arms she felt relieved, so she took it further by pushing up on her elbows. That was another good sign. "I think my left leg is the only thing affected." By now their whole group had gathered around.
"You stay with her and I'll go down for help," Chip called out.
Gia tried to smile, but the throbbing in her leg was too much, so she dropped back down to the snow and closed her eyes. When she woke up she was being lifted off a toboggan, that was attached to a snow mobile, and moved into a medical exam room. One of the men moving her introduced himself as Sam the medic and said a doctor would be in to check her. The doctor determined it was a sprained MCL in her knee, and that it was minor. He gave her instructions to keep it iced and elevated for the rest of the day, along with a set of crutches and a knee brace to use as she began to feel good enough to put weight on her leg.
Jill's dad had brought the car to transport Gia back to the chalet, and everyone was determined to return to the chalet as well so she wouldn't feel left out.
"Guys, there's no reason for you to end your day early. Please go enjoy a couple more hours on the slopes. I'll just feel guilty if you all miss out because of me. Hudson and Katherine will both be there, and the housekeeper, so I'm sure I'll be well taken care of."
"Absolutely dear." Hudson moved closer to pat Gia on the shoulder, and Gia made a shooing motion with her hands. "All of you can get going. She'll be fine, and we'll see you when you're done."
Evie looked to Gia for confirmation, and Gia nodded. A modified wheelchair arrived to assist Gia to the car, and the group followed to see her off. Once she was situated, both Nick and Chip went to get in the car.
"What are you two doing?" Gia called out.
"You didn't-" Nick was cut off by Chip.
"I thought my dad could use a hand getting you out at the chalet," Chip offered.
"No worries, I've got it." Nick's jaw tensed as he looked between Chip and Gia.
"I just figured I'd be the best choice, since I'm sort of extraneous on this trip. You can go spend time with your friends." Chip shrugged and reached for the door again.
"I'd rather spend time with my girlfriend." Nick's look reminded Gia of some of the intense looks she'd seen on his face when she first started working at Morgan and Stern. Looking back she'd thought those were times he was battling his past, but that wouldn't seem to apply here.
Chip's eyes widened and he stepped back and glanced at Gia. "Oh, I... I didn't realize." He held up his hands. "She's all yours."
The rest off the group had been silently watching as if they expected a blow up any time. Instead Nick calmly got in the car and Hudson drove off. The ride to the chalet was eerily quiet.
At the chalet they got Gia out of her outer ski layers and set her up on a sofa with a view of the slopes. Katherine fussed over her and made sure she was set up with comforts such as food, drink, and lots of pillows.
Katherine was a talker and didn't like to leave a lull in conversation, so she chatted away. "It was so thoughtful of you to come back with Gia and give up the rest of the afternoon, Nick."
"I should hope anyone would do that for their girlfriend," Nick commented in surprise.
Katherine and Hudson shared a look. "We didn't realize the two of you were dating," Hudson spoke up. "The first I'd heard was at the medic when you were getting in the car."
"It's still fairly new. Only a couple of weeks in." Nick gave a tight smile and reached for Gia's hand.
"Oh, how nice." Katherine looked at Hudson again and stood. "We'll just let you two have some time alone then. Unless there's something else you need?"
"No, no. You've done more than enough," Gia said groggily. The pain killers were kicking in, and the stress of the afternoon was catching up with her.
"Do you have any idea why Jill's brother was following you around like a puppy dog today?"
Gia laughed out loud, suddenly feeling more awake. "Puppy dog? Where did that come from?"
"It's true he was following you around all day. And based on their parent's said surprise to learn we're dating, I'm left to think he had set you in his sights."
"Set me in his sights?" She was enjoying jealous Nick. It made her feel better about the jealousy she'd been fighting.
"What kind of drugs did they give you that make you repeat everything I say?" There was an edge to his voice.
Gia laughed again. "First off, Chip just got out of a relationship, an engagement actually, so I doubt he is seriously interested in me or anyone. But last night while-". She wanted to say while Jill was flirting with Nick, but would rather not start an argument, or at least further this one. "When I went to the kitchen for water, Chip was there and we talked for a while. He's having a rough time right now, since finding out his ex is with someone else and had probably been cheating on him. He needed a friend, but wasn't feeling sociable enough to be around everyone." She shrugged. "Nothing happened if that's what you're thinking."
"So you're on a first name basis with him now?"
"Like I said, nothing happened. But I will say, I'm flattered by your possessiveness."
"What?"
"Sometimes I worry you'll lose interest in me."
Moving from his chair to kneel beside her, he laid his hands on hers. "Gia, no... never. I've never felt this way for anyone, in fact it's you giving up on me I'm concerned about." Pain flashed in his eyes. "I'm afraid you'll discover the real me someday and won't ever want to look at me again."
She wanted to take those feelings from him. He had that same look he'd sometimes shown. The one she knew meant he was thinking of the "thing" from his past. "It's forgiven by God. How could I ever hold it against you if he doesn't. Come, sit with me." She sat up straighter so he could sit behind her and she could lean on him.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, and it felt comforting, safe, and secure. She loved that feeling. She loved that he could give her that. She loved him. But it was too soon to speak those words. Sighing, she relaxed into him and began to drift off to sleep.
"Oh Gia, you're it for me," Nick whispered.
~~~
Monday morning Gia awoke to her throbbing knee and the reality that she did indeed fall the day before. Unfortunately it wasn't a dream. Her friends said they would hang back with her until time to leave later that day, but Gia insisted they should enjoy their last few hours on the slopes. Even Nick gave in when he realized she wasn't backing down. She claimed the quiet would be nice since she wanted to sketch the scene she could see from her position in the great room. It really was something she'd thought about doing since they'd arrived.
"You and Mr. Finance, huh?" Chip joined Gia on the sofa after the rest of the group took off for their last go at the slopes. "And here I thought I might actually have a chance with you."
Gia let out a dry chuckle. "Right. Just after ending a relationship with your fiancé, then finding out she's with another man." Gia leveled him with a look.
"Hey, it can happen. Love at first sight and all that." He threw an arm over the back of the sofa and leaned in to see what she was working on.
"True. It can happen." In fact it almost seems like that's what happened with Nick, she thought. It just took him a while to catch up with his feelings and allow himself to find happiness. She smiled at him. "I have a feeling there's a woman out there who will fully appreciate you, and is your perfect match."
He smirked. "I'll take your word for it, but I'd be a much happier man if it were you. What? Don't roll your eyes!" He gave her his best shocked face, then tilted his head. "You've done a great job capturing the view."
"Thanks. I'd been hoping to have a chance to sketch it all weekend. Just didn't imagine my chance would come because of this." She waved at her leg.
"I guess not. Did you take classes? You've got a great style. Not that I know that much about art, but I have some friends in the art world."
"I started when I was pretty young. Twelve. But I didn't take any classes until high school when I took art a couple of semesters for electives."
"Do you sell your work? I'd love to have something like this for my office. And of course when you become a rich famous artist, I can say 'I knew her when.'" They both chuckled at that.
"I've never sold anything. It's always just been a way for me to relax and take my mind off of things I might be dealing with in life."
"Like messed up knees." Chip grinned his charming grin.
"Yeah, something like that."
Chip stood. "Is there anything I can get you? Snacks? Drinks?" Gia shook her head. "Well, I'll leave you to it, but if things don't work out with mister finance, I'm your man. Even in the short time I've known you, I can tell he's a lucky guy." He wiggled his eyebrows and was gone.