Jillian Hart - Precious Blessings

“That’s great.” Katherine’s initial thought was for the girl who was heading down a very troubled path. “I know you’ll have her feeling better about herself and her life in no time.”

Her second thought was, unfortunately, about Jack Munroe. Had he brought Hayden to the lodge? And if so, had he stayed?

Don’t think about that, Katherine. You’re not interested in him, remember?

“That father of hers is sure something.” Marin turned to the other member of their trio squished onto the narrow bench. “Holly, you’ve got to see this guy. It almost makes you believe in Mr. Right.”

Holly gasped. “But you don’t believe in Mr. Right.”

“True. I’ve done enough marital counseling in my career to know that he’s a myth. Katherine, we’re almost at the top. You might want to open your eyes now. I’m absolutely sure that there is no Mr. Right anywhere in existence on this earth. Just Mr. Almost-Right.”

“And those are few and far between.” With a scoot off the bench chair, Katherine landed, skis parallel and knees bent. When she turned to look over her shoulder, Holly and Marin swished to a stop behind her. “Trust me, Jack Munroe isn’t anywhere close to being Mr. Almost-Right.”

“Wow, did you hear that, Holly?”

“I heard it, Marin. Katherine’s in her denial stage.”

“What is it with everyone? The twins said the same thing. I’m not in denial. Really.”

“Of course you’re not,” Holly said in a comforting way, although Katherine wasn’t fooled. Not one bit. “So, tell me, is this guy—whoa, buddy!”

“Outta the way! Comin’ through!” A man shouted, in sheer panic.

Was it her imagination, or did that sound sort of like Jack Munroe? Katherine hopped out of the way just in time to see a blur speed by. The blur was a black-parka-wearing, wide-shouldered man crouched very low over his skis, his poles held straight in front of him as if he were roasting hot dogs over a campfire.

“That looks like doom on two sticks,” Marin commented. “I’d better pray for that man.”

“He’s going to need it. Oh, he went right through the first turn.” Holly cocked her head to listen. “He missed the trees. I didn’t hear a crash.”

What if that was Jack? Katherine kicked off and followed Marin down the trail. She couldn’t see anything of the fallen skier. That wasn’t a good sign. What if he was hurt?

Lord, please don’t let him be hurt.

“Hey, Katherine,” Marin called as she led the way. “Do you know who that man reminded me of?”

Yeah, she knew. And she was going to stay in denial about that, too. “A beginning skier who missed the rope tow for the bunny run?”

When they reached the first turn, all they could see was a hole in the snowbank and a single ski sliding crookedly along the trail.

Marin reached the edge first. “Mister, are you alive?”

Katherine knew it was him, even before his gruff baritone rang out from the trees.

“Yep. And better yet, nothing’s broken.”

Katherine’s heart skipped five beats as she joined Marin at the edge of the bank. Sure enough, she recognized the man below. Although he was in profile, looking down as he tried to free one of his poles from the branches of an evergreen tree, she already knew that particular man’s profile by heart. There was no mistaking the hard-planed, granite face. Or the dark shock of hair tumbling from beneath the black ski cap.

It was him. Her stomach clenched tight before it fell downward, tingling, all the way to her knees. Just the way it felt on the uppermost crest of a roller-coaster ride when suddenly down you plunged. Screaming.

Yeah, it was something like that. “J-Jack?”

He looked up. “Uhh…Katherine McKaslin?”

He said it in the same way someone might say, Oh, good, there’s a person infectious with bubonic plague. “Do you need help up?”

“No! I can do it just fine. You go ahead and keep right on with your skiing.”

“Oh no,” Katherine said sweetly “we’ll stay and make sure you get up all right.”

Great. Jack stared at the three women staring back at him. Humiliation eked into his soul like the icy wind through his coat.

Why does it have to be her, Lord? If he was going to disgrace himself, did it have to be in front of Katherine McKaslin? And why was his bad side showing whenever she was around? “I’m fine. Just getting my snow legs back.”

“Is that something like sea legs?”

Jack could tell she was holding back laughter. Mirth glimmered like flecks of amethyst in her deep violet-blue irises. He liked the sparkles in her eyes very much. “I haven’t skied since college. I figured it would come back to me.”

“I hope you didn’t ski like this in college.”

His pole came loose from the branches and he gave thanks for that. “Believe it or not, I was a pretty competent skier, but it’s taking its own sweet time coming back to me.”

“I hope it comes back to you before you hit the next turn.”

“Me, too.” Jack wondered how she could say that in a kind way, when she had every right to mock him? After all, he’d been a little overconfident in his abilities.

Okay, extremely overconfident. He grabbed one ski and hiked up the snowbank. “I heard that comment you made. The one about the bunny run.”

“Sound must really carry on this mountain.”

“Don’t you know it. Truth is, it was my pride. I didn’t feel dignified going down the same run as knee-high kids who could ski like Olympians.”

“So you chose the advanced run as an alternative?”

“At least I lived to tell the tale. So far.”

He made it to the top and drew himself up to his full height and still he didn’t feel tall enough, not in the eyes of this woman. He hated it. He really did. Because there was something incredibly special about her. She was easily balanced on her skis, leaning on her poles, serene and wholesome. She made his entire being, his entire spirit, take notice.

Suddenly, he was aware of someone else talking and then he remembered. There were two other women with Katherine. And as they were moving away, one was saying, “C’mon, Holly, let’s go fetch that ski.”

Ski. That didn’t register either. There wasn’t anything in this world but Katherine and the gentle quirk of her smile, and the thud of his pulse in his chest. She kept him glued in place. He could see her heart in her eyes. There wasn’t a drop of judgment, nor was she silently teasing him even when he might deserve it.

“Jack, are you going to be able to make it down okay? Marin has her cell phone. She can call for the ski patrol.”

“No!” He’d rather crash and burn and break every bone in his body—twice—than to admit defeat in front of Katherine. “I’m fine. It’s already coming back to me. I think the fall knocked loose some forgotten knowledge inside my head.”

“Good, because you could have been really hurt. I would hate to see that happen to you.”

That comment was tough on a man’s ego. Tough because she was concerned and caring. That made him like her even more. “Guess I’ll be going now. You want to catch up with your friends?”

She didn’t budge. She didn’t blink. The crinkle of a hint of a smile remained in the corners of her soft, pretty mouth. Snow flecked the fake-fur lining of her jacket collar and clung to the sleek matching ski cap. She looked like everything good and sweet in the world, and he didn’t want to think this way about this woman.

“Uh, Jack? Before you take off you need to know something. You’re missing a ski.”

It registered vaguely. He straightened his shoulders, looking as tough and manly as possible, considering he only had one ski. “I’ll take care of it.”