Between You and Me

He’d decided space would probably be a good thing, no matter how much he found himself drawn to her. But one text, and here he was, answering her right away.

“Good morning, Logan. Thanks for getting back to me so soon.”

He liked her voice. Warm, friendly, yet the intelligence shone through. “Sure. What can I do for you? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Remember when I said I wanted to go skiing soon, and you said you could set that up for me if I wanted?”

“Yeah, sure.” He reached for his sunglasses and put them on. The glare off the snow was blinding. “Which mountain were you thinking?”

“We’ve always gone to Ajax,” Tess said. “I could easily set up a reservation myself, and I’m going to. But I was wondering if you would join me. Do you ski?”

He paused, his brain processing her request. “Uh, yeah. Of course.”

“Would you like to join me, then? I haven’t been skiing in two years, I’m likely rusty. And besides, it’s more fun to go with someone than hit the slopes alone.”

“That’s true.” If she skied on Ajax, she must be a decent skier; that mountain was for intermediate to expert levels. The thought of going skiing with her . . . She wanted him to go with her? He hated how he was grinning, alone in the truck like a loon. Jesus, he was like . . . smitten. Shit.

“It’d be my treat,” she continued. “You took me out the other night, paid for everything on our friendly non-date . . . Now it’s my turn.”

“You’re on. Plus, I can keep an eye on you. Wouldn’t want you falling all over yourself on your own, now would we?”

“Oh good.” She sounded amused. “My schedule is wide open, but you have work hours to consider. So tell me when would be good for you, and I’ll set it up.”

“Um . . .” He ran through his week’s schedule in his head. Lighter than usual, at the moment. And Mom didn’t have radiation again until the fourth . . . “I can do tomorrow afternoon. I’m free after twelve thirty. That’s enough time before it gets dark, right?”

“Absolutely! So I tell you what. I’ll set it all up, you just meet me there. Ajax at one o’clock, then?”

“Sounds good.”

When the call ended, Logan sat for another minute in his truck, thinking over the invite. This budding friendship, or whatever this was, budding between him and Tess, gave him more of a rush than he wanted to admit. She was like a breath of fresh air, yet tangled him up in knots at the same time. Spending time with a gorgeous, smart, nice woman wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to him lately, that was for sure. And just as friends, no pressure? He’d try to get out of his own way and enjoy it.

* * *

Tess yawned as she lay back against the couch. Her eyes were tired from staring at her laptop for three hours straight, and she rubbed them gently to soothe them. The house was quiet, save for the Jack Johnson music playing off her sound system. After her call with Logan in the morning, she’d gone to her yoga class, then spent the rest of the day doing more research. By the late afternoon, she’d made the all-important call: She had an appointment with a doctor at the Garrity Fertility Center for the day after tomorrow. The Garrity, located on the outskirts of Aspen, was a highly touted fertility and reproductive medicine clinic, and the doctor she’d requested was on several Best Of lists. Time to get the party started. It could take months until she conceived . . . if she did at all. She didn’t think she’d have a problem, but she was almost thirty-eight already, so who knew?

No more waiting. She knew she wanted a baby. She longed for one, ached for a little boy or girl to share her life with and lavish her love upon. Maybe, if the first time went well, she’d even be able to do it a second time. She’d always wanted more than one child . . . she’d been so glad to have siblings growing up, and wanted the same for her own family.

She took a few deep breaths and kept her tired eyes closed. Peace and quiet settled over her, even as a spark of excitement hummed through her bones. This time next year, she could be pregnant. Or even, if she was extraordinarily lucky, she could be a mother already. Smiling to herself as that thought warmed her, she tried to decide what to have for dinner.