Page 58 of Snowed In with You

‘Who’s Sasha?’ asked Willem.

‘Nate introduced her as a friend,’ said Alex with a shrug. ‘She knew we were staying here and has been waiting for us to get back. She seems to be very much in control of things.’

‘She works with me and Nate,’ said Lucy. She tried to catch Nate’s eye, but he was deep in what appeared to be an intense conversation, Sasha holding his hand. ‘Am I booked on the same flight?’

‘No,’ said Alex bluntly. ‘Nate asked the same question. There weren’t enough seats, so Sasha said you could fly back tomorrow.’ He turned to Willem before Lucy could say anything. ‘Can you take my stuff back to Amsterdam? I’ll buy whatever I need in London.’

‘Sure, no problem,’ said Willem, his tone weary and resigned.

‘It was great to meet you, Lucy,’ said Alex, already turning his attention back to whoever was on the phone. Lucy could see that he was in influencer mode now, thinking of all the ways he could milk this for every content opportunity. A little make-up in the car to hide the shadows under Nate’s eyes, maybe videos of him walking through the airport, a short interview on the plane where he’d humbly say how shocked he was by the welcome party. Alex would ask him to sing a verse or two, and Nate would say an embarrassed no. And because it was Nate, it would all feel totally authentic and charming.

‘Ik houd van je,’ said Alex, kissing Willem on the lips and hurrying off, holding out his arms to herd Sasha and Nate out to the car. Nate was hidden from view, so there was no way of knowing if he had looked back, or hesitated and said he wanted say goodbye to Lucy but was told there was no time. Within moments he was gone.

‘What did Alex say?’ asked Lucy.

‘He said “I love you”,’ said Willem with a hollow laugh.

Lucy tried to remember the last time anyone had ever said that to her, other than Jonno or her parents. Nope, not once, she thought, blinking away tears of exhaustion and grief and loss and a whole bunch of other emotions she didn’t have a name for right now.

‘You really liked Nate, didn’t you?’ said Willem, putting his arm around Lucy’s shoulders.

‘We hardly knew each other,’ said Lucy, tempted to shrug him off but instead leaning into his sturdiness. ‘But then . . . things snowballed. It’s complicated.’

‘Love always is,’ said Willem wearily. ‘Where are you staying?’

‘A hotel down the road,’ said Lucy. ‘I need to get back there and charge my phone.’

‘Same,’ said Willem. ‘And I need a shower and some sleep. You want to meet up later, get some dinner?’

‘Sure,’ said Lucy, already not relishing the idea of being in the Titan hotel on her own. ‘Are you going back to Amsterdam?’

Willem shrugged. ‘I’m booked here until Friday, so I’ll probably stay and do some skiing. There’s nothing to rush home for now, Alex could be in London for a while.’

‘Shit,’ said Lucy. ‘This has really fucked your holiday. And your engagement announcement. I’m so sorry.’

‘It’s fine,’ said Willem with a resigned smile. ‘When you date a man like Alex, you get used to the rollercoaster. I might start planning our wedding for the autumn; it will give me something to focus on. Will you come?’

‘Of course,’ said Lucy, reminded that she’d agreed to go to a wedding with Anthony next weekend, and she really needed to let him and Marco know she wasn’t dead.

‘Go back to your hotel, Lucy,’ said Willem, putting his hand on her arm. ‘You look exhausted.’

‘OK,’ she said, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by tiredness and an aching, hollow feeling she hadn’t felt since the months after Leo had died. She grabbed a pen and piece of paper from reception and scribbled her number on it. ‘When you’ve charged your phone, drop me a message so I have your number, and we can meet up later.’

‘Sure,’ said Willem, pulling her into a hug. ‘Keep me updated.’

Lucy blew him a kiss and headed back out into the snow, slipping and sliding her way back to the Alpina. It was almost dark, but the front door was open and the key to her room still worked. Everything was just as she’d left it, apart from the note from the owner on her bed that read It is fine for you to stay tonight but we have new guests arriving tomorrow. Please vacate by 10 a.m.

She sighed and plugged in her phone and her watch, unable to decide if she needed food or sleep more. A trip to the bathroom necessitated a glance in the mirror while she washed her hands, and she was forced to acknowledge that she looked like someone had drawn a pair of eyes on a crumpled paper bag. Maybe she’d have a snack, then a shower and a nap, then meet Willem for dinner later.

She padded down to the breakfast room in her socks, filling a bowl with some kind of muesli, then sat by the window to eat while she watched the gentle flurries of snow. Nate would be well on his way to Geneva airport by now, Sasha and Alex already working together on a strategy. Lucy wondered how Nate was feeling, and whether there was a tiny part of him that was still thinking about her, or if that had been left behind on the mountain to melt into nothing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When Lucy trudged back upstairs and turned on her phone, she found a message from Willem so she had his number, along with dozens of messages from, in order of volume, Jonno, her mum, Sasha, Anthony and Marco, then a handful of colleagues and a couple of old friends she hadn’t heard from in years, the ghouls. All expressed varying levels of concern and disbelief about her predicament, and urged her to get in touch. Lucy smiled at Anthony’s message, which just said Heard you were stuck on a mountain. Need me to rescue you? and included a picture of him holding a chunky rubber torch instead of his penis. How far had Alex’s videos spread for him to realise that Lucy was part of the drama? Or had hers and Nate’s predicament been on the local news? Her mind boggled at the thought of what had been going on while she and Nate had been obliviously having sex this morning.

Lucy cut and pasted the same I’m fine, back in hotel and home tomorrow to everyone, then left her phone charging and lay on the bed. She wondered for the twentieth time in the past hour what Nate was doing now, but all thoughts eventually drifted to memories of him naked and horizontal and driving her wild with those beautiful hands that might not be able to play the piano, but had composed a symphony that had spanned the length of her body. The confusion she felt manifested as a dull ache that was definitely not going to dissipate in this lonely hotel room.

She shivered, even though the room didn’t feel cold, and pulled the cuffs of her sweatshirt down over her fists. Except it was Nate’s sweatshirt, not hers – she hadn’t had a chance to give it back in the rush of his departure. She held the sleeve up to her face and breathed in the smell of him, wishing she could time-travel back to last night and the peace and contentment she’d felt falling asleep in his arms. Thoughts of what he’d said earlier about Leo kept creeping in, casting a dark shadow over the memories.