Free Warm Winter Love by Constance Walker

the steps to the rooms on the upper floor. “You’re exhausted and so am I. Maybe tomorrow will bring us some answers.”
    “Yes.” He was right; already he could read her mind. She was very tired and wanted to sleep, to close her eyes and force unwelcome but wonderful thoughts away from her.
    He stopped on the landing of the second floor and put his hands on the sides of her face so that they stared at each other. She wanted to turn away because to look at him would bewilder her even more. She wasn’t falling in love with Sam. She was in love with him; she already had fallen in love with him. And the more she was with him, the more she wanted to stay near him and to hold him.
    “Promise me, Katie, that you’ll think about everything—us… you… Jason. And that you’ll have an open mind about everything.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead and when she didn’t respond, he moved his head nearer and kissed her lips lovingly. “Promise,” he said, and kissed her again.
    She put her arms around him and held him tight, wanting to hold him forever. “I promise, Sam.”
    “That’s all that I ask.”
    Inside her room, she stood for a few minutes at the door, leaning against it for support, and then, tired, she sat down on the edge of the bed and rocked slowly back and forth, thinking that life had seemed so simple only last week. And now…
    Later, after a distant clock tolled three times, she managed to fall asleep. All night, Sam and his words and his questions kept drifting in and out of her dreams.

 
    Chapter Eight
    When they met for breakfast she could tell that he had slept as fitfully as she. His eyes were ringed with dark circles and some of their gleam was missing. She turned away, not wanting to see the hurt she was causing him, and she looked at the other people in the room, hoping to find a way to avoid talking about themselves.
    “There are a lot of new vacationers,” she said, motioning toward the line waiting to be seated for breakfast. “I guess they heard about the snowfall last night.”
    “Which means that the slopes are going to be crowded.” He salted his eggs. “Why don’t we go over to Devil’s Mist? Not too many beginners on that one.” He took a sip of coffee.
    “No, it’s not for me.” Katie’s throat tightened. She had successfully avoided that ski trail before, and no one—not even Sam—would make her change her mind.
    “You’re afraid of it, aren’t you, Katie?” It was one of his direct-on-target statements and she said nothing. He buttered a piece of toast while she tried to decide whether to admit the truth. “You keep avoiding it. That’s not the way to conquer it.” He smiled and she had the feeling that he was talking about their relationship. “You have to just get up there, go straight to the top, and then come on down the best way you know how, one ski at a time.” He ate the bread. “You’re a good skier, so what’s the problem?”
    “I don’t like Devil’s Mist,” she said finally. “I never have.”
    “Why?” Sam cocked his head.
    “It’s just that it’s difficult, more difficult than Magic Mountain.”
    “It’s not for beginners. That’s what’s so good about it. It takes more skill and more daring. Some things you have to work for, Katie. Some things aren’t easy.”
    She wiped her lips with her napkin. Was he purposely saying things that could be taken two ways? “I just don’t like that run,” she said.
    “You’re avoiding it, Katie. Just like. . . .” He stopped in midsentence, yet she knew what he was going to say. He was going to talk about her avoiding the ski run just as she was avoiding their love. She took a sip of coffee. Well, why not? Why not try to ski the mountain again? Maybe it wasn’t so frightening anymore. Maybe it was all in her mind. She’d try it one more time and if she still felt uncomfortable when she got to the top, then she’d come down any way she wanted to, no matter what anyone said.
    She