A Twist of Fate Read Online Free PDF Page A

skated toward the small rolling slopes.
    I demanded that everyone join me on a practice run before we
took the lift up the mountain.  Reluctantly, they all hopped onto the conveyor and
let it drag us to the top of the small hill.  I was shaking in my boots.
    When we got to the top, I tried to shuffle out of the way to
wait up for the others, but my skis had other plans.  They started to slip and I
couldn’t right myself.  My skis inched forward until, sure enough, they began
to carry me down the hill.  Straight downhill.
    Faster and faster I went, terrified that I would never stop,
as I headed for the roadside ditch bank filled with snow.  As I neared the
bottom, I saw a rather worried skier with the same trouble and she was coming
right for me.  I was sure our paths would collide in a matter of seconds but, to
my surprise, we crisscrossed awkwardly and fell into the snow.
    I avoided the crash, and had fallen backwards onto my butt,
stopping mere inches from the ditch bordering the private road.  My breaths
were ragged and my head ached, as I rested it back in the snow.  I glanced up
at the sky, begging a higher power to give me strength to get through the rest
of the day.  Edwin was so fast that when I looked up, he was standing over me,
smiling.
    It was Cam, though, who untangled my skis and lifted me to
my feet.  "What happened?"
    "I couldn't stop.  Obviously."  I rolled my eyes,
embarrassed but not surprised.
    "Maybe you should get some ski lessons," Edwin
suggested, as Aliah and Hunter effortlessly glided up next to me.  “Not that I
think it’ll work.”
    "Nah, I can teach her," Hunter insisted.  “Piece
of cake.”
    After a quick refresher course from Hunter, and a few
successful trips down the bunny slope, Hunter figured I was ready for a bigger
mountain.  I had my doubts, as we climbed up the hill toward the ski lift.
    Eager to hit the steeper slopes, Aliah and Hunter lined up ahead
of us and the chair scooped them up and away.  Next it was my turn.
    Cameron cupped my cheek and gave me a quick kiss.  "You
ready?"
    No.   And yet I found myself being pulled in front of
the lift anyway.  The chair swung around and came up behind us.  At the last
minute, Edwin snuck up next to me and hitched a ride.  Being squished between
the two men in my life would have been awkward on a good day; put skis on me
and it instantly became my worst nightmare.
    "You don't think you could've waited your turn?" I
squealed, clinging to Cameron.  It was scary enough hanging from a chair with
sticks strapped to my feet and now I didn't even have a side to hang onto.
    Cam smiled, somehow amused by my horror.
    "Get over it," Edwin said.  "You should be
thanking me.  You’re gonna need all the help you can get."  And Edwin was the
one man that knew that for a fact.
    The last time we returned from a ski trip, I had landed more
than a few bruises, including a really big one to my ego.  I turned to Cameron
with the sudden realization of what I had gotten myself into.
    "I think this was a mistake.  I don't think I'm
ready."
    "It’s a little late for that," Cam said, as we
were met with the top of the smallish mountain.
    Mental imagery was a waste of my time, because there were so
many skis dangling from the chair.  When my sticks touched down, they immediately
tangled with both Edwin and Cameron’s.  Cameron managed to break free from me,
leaving only Edwin to come to my rescue.  I dropped a pole and grabbed for his
arm, causing us both to tumble into a pile in the worn snow.
    Edwin fell hard, sending one ski sliding down the mountain. 
With no control over my body, I crashed on top of him.  Though the weather was
windy and cold, Edwin was warm and soft.
    "You've gotta be kidding me," he moaned, his head
flat in the snow.  He lifted his body up, so we were both on our asses, then
waved a hand toward his stray ski.
    I rolled away from him and stuck out a pouty lip. 
"This is your fault, you know."
    Hunter and