A Slippery Slope Read Online Free PDF Page A

me, as if you didn’t know that.’
    ‘Follow
me,’ he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
    He
collected the bags from the hall and, turning in the
opposite direction to the stairs, led the way through a spacious
kitchen. Verity was amazed to see that this also had a fireplace, similar to
the one in the sitting room but somewhat smaller. The kitchen led into a short
hallway and that, to a room, which could only be described as compact. There
were two single beds, two wardrobes, two chests of drawers and hardly any space
left to move in. A door on the left led into an en suite bathroom and a door to
the right opened on to one of the balconies.
     ‘I
see Mr Calder keeps the hired help away from the guests,’ Lucy remarked.
‘Although that’s probably a good thing.’
    ‘It’s
not exactly the Grand Hotel, I agree,’ Etienne said, ‘but I don’t suppose
you’ll be spending much time in here anyway. Meribel’s après ski is second to
none.’
    Verity
glanced around the room. ‘Hmm. I think I’m a bit too old for après ski.’
    ‘Bullshit!
You don’t look a day over twenty-one. Anyway, you’re never too old for après
ski. I’m almost thirty and I can still party like an eighteen-year-old.’
    ‘Preferably with an eighteen-year-old, no doubt. I’m ... a bit older than that,’
Verity said, suddenly remembering that exactly seven days ago she was forty;
along with other memories she didn’t want to deal with tonight.
    She
was a little disappointed that she didn’t have a room of her own. As much as
she loved her daughter, it felt a little odd to be sharing a room with her.
She’d have to keep her nightly sobbing to a minimum so as not to disturb Lucy.
Either that or she’d have to pull herself together and put a stop to the tears
once and for all. But it had only been just over a week since she’d discovered
her husband in bed with someone else. These things take time, she reminded
herself.
    She
rubbed her eyes as she felt the familiar pricking sensation of threatening
tears. Etienne misread the gesture.
    ‘You’re
tired after the journey. I’ll leave you to it and I’ll see you tomorrow.’
    He
smiled, deposited their bags on the few feet of available space and wished them
a good night. ‘I think you’ll love it here,’ he said, suddenly serious and
looking directly at Lucy. ‘I’m ... I’m looking forward to getting to know you
... both.’
    ‘I’ll
see you out,’ Lucy replied.
    Verity
dropped down onto one of the beds and flopped back, stretching her arms behind
her head. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that she’d made the right
decision to take Joanna’s place and join Lucy as a chalet host – or girl as
they had both decided to call themselves in an attempt to harness a spirit of
adventure.
    It
had been a monumental decision, and a rather hasty one, but so had leaving her
job after almost twenty years. And her husband of more than twenty-one –
although that one wasn’t her choice and neither was it her decision. Tony had
made it clear from the texts he’d sent, that he was leaving her. She’d had to
summon up all her courage to borrow Lucy’s phone – after her own was smashed to
smithereens – and text him to say that she needed time to think before they
could “talk”.
    She
needed even more courage to text him just a few days later, to tell him that
she was going to France – and that she may be some time. Amazingly, for the
first time in months, he actually called to speak to her but as it was via
Lucy’s phone, Lucy told him that neither of them had anything more to say for
the present. If he wanted to get in touch with them, he should contact Laura.
They all knew he’d only call Verity’s mum in a dire emergency.
    ‘Well,’
Verity said, ‘I’m here now and I’m going to make the most of it.’
    ‘I
think you’ve already got an admirer,’ Lucy said, racing back into the room and
diving headlong onto the other bed.
    Verity
turned to face her. ‘I think