Hans looked thoughtful for a moment, and patted his friend on the arm, as gently as he could. Over his shoulder, he could see that Rebecca was pretending to work, but her eyes kept flicking to them. She dropped the tea towel she was holding, picking it up and headbutting the counter in the process. A second later, he could see her head bob up, looking at them again.
‘I think that you and Becks have a lot more in common than you think. You forget, we’ve been friends for such a long time now, and the same for me and Becks. I can see it, Luke, even if you can’t. All I’m saying is, you’re here now. You’re doing it. This is not the dress rehearsal my friend. This is it. Your old life ended when you boarded that plane. One event changed the course of everything you knew. Rebecca forgot that too, for a long time. Since the minute you landed, I see a lot more of the old Becks coming through. That’s a lot in a few days, especially for a nerd who’s supposed to be scared of his own shadow. Your dad protected you all your life, a bit too much maybe, but he loves you. You love him, it’s why you’re here. Love finds a way, Luke. Just let it.’
Luke bear hugged his friend, who picked him up like he was a toddler.
‘I love you man.’
‘Love you too,’ Hans said, wiping a tear away from his goggles. ‘Now get off me, people are staring.’
The two of them pulled away, grunting and patting each other on the back in a manly way.
‘One of us should fart or something. Break the moment.’ Hans went cross-eyed for a moment, but nothing came out. ‘Damn it.’
Luke laughed, heading towards the ski lift.
‘If I fart, I’d go up like a balloon in this get up. I’ve been eating a lot of cake lately.’ He blushed under his goggles at the memory of him eating a slice of cake in Rebecca’s bed, feeding her little spoonfuls in between kisses. If they kept it up like last night, he’d be able to roll down the hill and win the comp as a snowball. Something told him it would be worth it. ‘Come on, we came to ski. Let’s get on with it.’
Luke watched his friend grin and walk to catch him up. Looking back at the café, Rebecca was standing at the window now. He waved, and she waved back. He put his fingers to his lips, touched them to his heart, and then blew it to her. For a second, she stared back at him, and his stomach flipped. Oh God, why did I do that?
Lifting her hand again, she made a catching motion with her hand, pressed her closed fist to her heart, and turned back to the café. Luke watched her work, taking in the moment when he blew a kiss to a girl in a French mountain café, a girl he liked too much already. The moment when he finally started living, and she liked him right back. It was time to call Dad. He wanted to tell him so much, and this time, he was going to bloody well listen.
*
Rebecca turned away from the window and looked down at her still closed fist. She felt like she didn’t want to open her hand, to let his little token out into the atmosphere, but she had customers. And an envelope that was burning a hole in her apron pocket. She’d been desperate to read it, but Alpe d’Huez was getting busy now. Everyone was starting to gear up for the competition season, and the tourists were here in droves. She didn’t even have enough waiting staff to cover everything till next week. They employed seasonal servers, but the rush had hit them a little early. Blindsided. She could relate. This week, she had been through so much, and felt like she was hanging off the back of a carousel horse. Normally, she’d have been screaming for the ride to stop, but now, she wanted to go faster. She wanted to see this out. So he was leaving! They had the time when he was here, and that would be enough. She’d been flip-flopping like this all morning. They were so natural together, even in their collective awkwardness, and she really liked him. Especially now, after that window moment. Last night had been like that too. It had never been like that with Robbie, not that she had compared it in detail. The differences were like night and day between the two, and how they made her feel. Maybe Luke would come and visit Hans again. If the letter wasn’t something too earth-shattering. She’d thought of everything, from him being from another planet, to him being a secret journalist wanting to do a scoop on failure and what it looked like.
Or maybe he was actually married, with a whole brood of bespectacled children with washboard abs and an ability to hack into NASA in their nap times. Or fresh out of prison for killing his father, or all his family, down to the pet parrot.
She kept herself busy, her eyes flicking from her work to the windows, trying to keep an eye on them both. She’d not seen any commotion, so he was still in one piece it seemed. He’d looked cute in his skiwear too. The more she looked at him the more she noticed, and the more she fancied him. Noticed little things that someone who was attached might miss when they were no longer present.
Last night, wrapped around each other, they had just lain there, talking, kissing and gazing at each other. It sounded cringe now, and she knew Holly would take the piss, but when
