Falling Snow (8 page)

A light dusting of snow was falling when she started down the mountain shredding powder and kicking up a cloud of white snowflakes in her wake. She felt free, pulling tricks over the jumps and edging around stray rocks and tree. Riding pipe was like flying, this was like standing on the nose of a runaway freight train heading downhill. She was pretty far away from the tourist crowd so she only encountered two or three other locals on her path. She went unnoticed as she rode over and over every day. She had more jackets and pants than she would every really need so she could easily blend in every day as a completely new snowboarder. She also had a handful of boots and half a dozen snowboards of various colors and sizes based on whether she was riding powder or pipe.

At the base of the hill she walked the short stretch back to the lift chair and rode back up. She pulled a protein power bar from her jacket pocket and ate it while she rode in the lift chair. She was surprised when her mind flashed to blue eyes, short messy dark hair, and a sexy smile. She had spent most of her time trying to clear her mind and push past the sadness, anger, and hurt over the last week. She really did have a great night after X, until she walked into her house. Her mind flashed back to Cason. She had no idea what it was that drove her towards that woman. She just knew she enjoyed being around her. She seemed happier for some reason. Maybe it was the excitement of having a new friend, or maybe the fact that she was so down to earth and easy to talk to. Either way, Adler knew she wanted to see her again.

***

Cason had just finished sewing a man’s leg back together after he cut it on his snow blower. The blade nicked a major vessel and tore some of the muscle tissue. She rushed him right into surgery and thankfully was able to save his leg. She changed into a fresh pair of scrubs and went back out into the ER.

“Hey, Macauley, you got someone asking for you at the nurse’s station.” One of the ER doctors said when he passed her in the hallway. She knew Serena was at the nurse’s station. She had somehow weaseled her way back onto the same schedule. Cason walked down the hall and turned the corner. Adler was standing there, her face lit up when she saw Cason.

“Hey stranger,” Cason smiled.

“Hey. I’m sorry to bother you here. I finally got a new phone, but I didn’t have your number.” Adler explained.

Cason grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side away from the nurse’s desk and Serena’s ears. She was already starring daggers at the blond. “It’s okay. I just got out of surgery, have you been here long?”

“No, just walked in actually. I asked the woman at the desk if you were here and she was giving me the third degree. That’s when I saw you.”

“Just ignore her. I’m glad you’re here. It’s good to see you.” Cason watched her blue-green eyes and noticed she was biting her bottom lip.

“It’s kind of been a week from hell. I’ve been hiding on the mountain.”

“Yeah, word got around pretty fast I guess. I’m sorry.” Cason wanted to push a stray lock of curly hair from Adler’s face, but decided against it.

“Such is life I guess. I wanted to go ahead and leave for Australia early, but I have competitions and a bunch of other shit lined up for the next three months so I guess I have to ride it out. I’m sure my demise will be old news soon. Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant or some other athlete will mess up sooner or later. It doesn’t help that they sort of smeared Kevin’s name because he’s a writer for ESPN, but hey, do the crime do the time, right.”

“You’re very philosophical today.” Cason grinned.

“Ugh.” Adler rolled her eyes. “My friend Gordy that you met, he reads all this philosophy shit and he gave me some books a while back. I’ve been reading them.”

“I see.”

“Do I sound all educated?” She laughed.

“You’re a very smart woman Adler, no matter what you read.”

“Thanks.” Adler tucked that loose hair back over her shoulder. “So anyway, I came here to see if you wanted to go snowboarding tomorrow. I know I promised you a private lesson.”

“Oh.” Cason cringed. “I’m not much of a snowboarder, like I said. But, if you’re willing to deal with an old chicken-shit, I’m in.”

Adler smiled. “You’re not old.”

Cason raised an eyebrow. “I’m much older than you.”

Adler raised her hands in an excuse me sort of way and laughed. “Oh please.” She said and laughed again. She gave Cason her home address. “I’ll see you at six a.m.”

Cason watched her walk away, then she turned around to go back to the doctors lounge. She only had about four hours left on her twenty-four hour schedule. Thankfully, she would be off in the late afternoon so she would have plenty of time to rest before her snowboarding excursion.

“Getting a little cozy with the patients aren’t we?” Serena said when she walked by.

“She’s not a patient, at least, not anymore. We’ve become friends, not that it’s any of your business.”

“She’s straight you know.”

“So are you.” Cason countered.

“She’s just a kid Cason. That’s a little overboard don’t you think?” She leaned over the counter purposely pushing her busty chest up so that her cleavage showed in the V of her scrub top.

“Serena, she’s an adult number one. She’s a straight married woman number two. And again it’s really none of your business. Adler and I are friends, that is all. Now, if you will excuse me I have a patient to check on.”

“She’s going to hurt you.” Serena said to her back as she walked away.

Fifteen

Cason arrived at the small townhouse complex just before six. She still wondered why the hell she was doing this. She was not a snowboarder and never would be. She realized when you get to a certain age the no fear mentality disappears. Maybe if she had learned as a child she wouldn’t be so nervous. Oh well, it was too late now. She knocked on the door.

“Hey!” Adler said when she pulled the door open. She was dressed black ski pants and a white thermal shirt. “I’m almost ready. Are you excited?”

“Yup,” Cason said as she looked around. The bottom floor of the townhouse was an open floor plan. The kitchen overlooked the living room which was modernly decorated with a crème colored sofa and silver tables. She assumed the bedrooms were upstairs.

“You look a little scared.” Adler smiled as she ran up the stairs and came back down with her dark purple ski jacket and matching ski cap. “Okay, I’m ready. I put all the equipment in my SUV when I got up this morning, so we’re all set.”

“Okay.” Cason followed her outside to a black Mercedes SUV with black leather interior. “This is nice.”

“Thanks. I use to drive a Jeep, but my soon to be ex-husband decided I needed to look flashy or some shit and talked me into buying this. I like it though.”

The drove around the mountain in silence, Adler seemed to know all of the short cuts. When they finally reached their destination they parked in a small lot and grabbed all of the equipment. “We have to walk a little ways to catch the lift chair. There is a little private spot I know about on the back side of the mountain, so we will have to hike a bit when we get up there. It has some nice little bunny hills.”

“Sounds great,” Cason forced a smile. She really enjoyed Adler’s company, but she hoped she didn’t embarrass herself to bad.

When they reached the spot Adler was talking about she helped Cason get her helmet and goggles on, then she had her sit in the snow while she strapped her boots into the bindings on her board. “Okay, I want you to watch me first. I’m going to go down the hill and I’ll hike back up. Watch my lines and my movements.”

Cason watched Adler shred from side to side all the way down the little hill that was almost flat. She had to be bored to death; this was nothing like the slopes she usually rode. When she got to the bottom she unstrapped her board and walked back up to where Cason was sitting. “Did you see how I used my body to lean in and out?”

“Uh huh,” Cason said.

Adler laughed and grabbed her hands and pulled her up. “Lean towards me and balance up on the edge of the board. The edge is like your brakes.”

“Okay.” Cason was holding onto Adler for dear life.

“Here we go. Flatten the board out. I’m going to walk you around.” Adler said as she walked next to Cason pulled her along. “Okay now go up on your edge and move your body weight to the front and you can turn to go the other way.” She said as she helped her get to the edge and began pulling her in the other direction. “Good.”

“I feel like I’m five.” Cason laughed.

“You’re cute.” Adler laughed. “Okay, we are going to turn to go back the other way. You need to lean back to get on your back edge and shift your weight to turn the board.” Adler said. Cason leaned back too far and fell on her back pulling Adler on top of her. “That was a little too far.” Adler laughed and got up off of her.

“Sorry.” Cason said as she brushed the snow off her butt.

“It’s okay. You’re going to fall, that just comes with the territory. Now, let’s try it again.”

Adler pulled Cason back and forth showing her how to make the board go, stop, and turn. Just when Cason thought she was finally getting the hang of it she fell again pulling Adler down on top of her. “Damn it.” She said.

Adler laughed. “It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t pull me down with you. I’m probably squishing you.” She said as she crawled off of her and helped her back up.

Cason smiled. How did she tell her she definitely was not squishing her, in fact it was quite nice having her smaller lithe body on top of her. “You don’t weigh enough to squish me.”

“Alright, this time I’m going to let you go down the hill by yourself. I’ll be right behind you. Just remember to lean and guide the board across then lean the other way to turn and go in the other direction.” Adler said. She watched and ran behind her as Cason followed her instructions and slowly carved back and forth all the way to the bottom of the little hill. “Yes!” She jumped up and down cheering. “You did it!”

Cason wasn’t prepared for Adler to rush her with a huge hug full of excitement. They landed in the snow with Cason on her back, again. “I’m starting to think you like me on my back.” She said with a smile before she realized what she actually said. She was too caught up in the citrus and shampoo scent that was distinctly Adler. And the weight of the smaller woman on top of her felt so good.

Adler laughed and got up. “Maybe,” She said with a shrug and began the short hike back up the hill.

Cason balled up a wad of dry powdery snow and threw it at her back. Adler spun around with raised eyebrows and grinned. She bent down and formed a nice tight snowball and threw it back. She was able to throw three more succeeding in hitting Cason in the chest and head as Cason struggled to get the snowboard off her feet. When she finally got free she jumped up and ran after Adler who was running back up the hill. She tackled her and they rolled together wrestling for the top position. Cason was surprised at how strong the smaller woman was. Cason held her down and Adler rolled them over and sat up straddling Cason’s waist. They both laughed as Adler finally got up and pulled Cason to her feet.

“You play dirty.” Cason joked as she wiped the snow off her arms and legs.

“You started it!” Adler laughed. “Don’t start it if you can’t handle it.”

“Oh, I can handle it.” Cason said almost under breath. “I can definitely handle it.”

They picked their lesson back up and Cason got a little better with each pass down the little hill. Adler was finally able to strap on her board and ride with her. She led and Cason followed her lines almost perfectly shredding back and forth on the low hill. After a few hours of riding down together and hiking back up over and over again Adler sat in the snow and unzipped the cargo pocket on her pants. She handed Cason a protein power bar and opened one for herself.

“How did you know I was starving?” Cason asked as she sat down next to her.

Adler smiled. “Call it intuition.”

Cason took her helmet and goggles off and checked her watch. They had been up the mountain for four hours. No wonder she was so hungry. She was running on pure adrenaline, especially after their little wrestling match in the snow. She refused to admit her feelings were creeping way past the friendship level.

“Everything okay?” Adler asked

“Yeah, I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“You looked like you were concentrating on something serious for a second there.” She finished her power bar and put the wrapping back in her pocket. “Did you need to go? I forgot to ask what time you needed to be back.” She had gotten so caught up just plain having fun that she forgot about the time. It had been so long since she felt like a kid again.

“No. I’m off today and tomorrow, so I don’t really have anywhere I need to be.” Cason finished her bar and put the wrapper in her pocket like she saw Adler do.

“Speaking of work, what was that nurse’s problem with me yesterday? She looked like she wanted to claw my eyes out.”

Cason laughed. “Serena is a little territorial.”

Adler raised an eyebrow then furled her eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

Cason took a deep breath. She had a feeling she was about to come out. She wasn’t sure if Adler even knew she was a lesbian. “She’s been trying to get her claws on me for three years now. I guess she got a little jealous when she saw you were there to see me and we made plans to hang out.” She bit her lip and stared at the snow she was sitting in. She picked up handfuls and let it slip through her fingers.

Adler stared at Cason, then all of the pieces sort of fell into place and her gorgeous eyes grew large and she turned away. “So, she thinks you and me…”

“No. I told her we are just friends and to butt out of my personal life.” Cason quickly interjected. “I’m sorry.”

Adler smiled. “It’s okay. I think I’m a little shell shocked.” The pieces fell into place very quickly. She hadn’t really thought much about Cason being a lesbian, but then again she couldn’t deny the attraction to her since day one. She thought she was a man at the time, but nothing changed when she realized he was most definitely a she. She turned and looked at Cason again. She was definitely good-looking in a roguish sort of way. She had this sexy bad-boy look going for her.
Did I just call her sexy?
Adler cleared her throat and stood up. “Should we get back to our lesson?”