Page 28 of Rise After Fall

“This is Ansley, Jena, Brandee, Anna, Maxi, and of course, Momma Tuttle, Sara-Beth,” she introduces, pointing to each of the women joining Taeli and Leona.

Langford leans down and whispers in my ear, “Good luck.”

Then, he kisses his mother on the cheek and dismisses himself.

Great.

I turn back to the group. “Okay, let’s get over to equipment rental and get you gals fitted.”

Once they have all the necessary gear, I lead them out to the bunny slope to go over the basics.

Ansley, Jena, and Erin catch on fairly quickly and begin helping me with Taeli, Maxi, Anna, and Brandee while I pull Sara-Beth and Leona to the side and give them a more hands-on lesson.

I have them both upright on the skis and am showing them how to waddle-walk in them when Morris walks by with a couple of young guys, carrying snowboards.

He whistles. “Looking good, ladies,” he calls.

Sara-Beth and Leona steady themselves and wave.

Then, he puts his hands around his mouth and whisper-yells to me, “Watch them, Zoey. They’re like a cult. A female cult.”

Erin’s head snaps around, and she shouts back at him, “Watch it, baby Tuttle. We’ll put a hex on you next.”

A rich, deep chuckle floats through the air.

“Just don’t let my mom hurt herself, please.”

“Oh, I’m in good hands, son. Don’t worry,” Sara-Beth calls to him.

I draw everyone’s attention back to me. “Okay, ladies, I think you’ve got the starting and stopping down. Who wants to learn the chairlifts now?” I ask.

They follow me over to one of the lifts.

“Okay, there are many types of lifts. This one is a double-passenger chairlift. Watch the couple that’s next in line. Once the current car is loaded and starts to leave, they will hurry to the red line as fast as they can before the next one comes around. You stand facing away, and when it taps the back of your legs, you sit down, and it does the rest. Got it?”

They all nod.

“Do you want to give it a try?” I ask.

“For goodness’ sake, yes,” Erin groans.

“I don’t know. I think maybe I should spend a little more time on the training hill,” Sara-Beth says.

“We’re just gonna go to the top of the green circle. It’s not far, and it’s not steep. At the top of the run, I’ll teach you how to stop,” I assure her.

“Isn’t that something we should know how to do before we go up there?” Leona asks.

“Geezus, she’s the expert. I think she knows what order to show you things,” Erin bellows.

“Don’t get snippy with me. Do you want to be taking care of us if one of us breaks our neck?” Leona asks.

Taeli leans in and whispers to Erin, “She has a point.”

I step in the middle of them.

“Nobody is going to break their neck,” I state.

“She hopes,” Erin whispers through gritted teeth.