Rebound (Boomerang #2)(49)

“They really are,” I say. “My family has a place in Aspen, and it’s beautiful there, but Jackson Hole is amazing.”

“Are you a big skier?” Sadie asks.

I nod. “Yes, I love it.” Next to horseback riding, it’s my favorite outdoor thrill. I love the feeling of flying over the snow, everything white and glittering and soaring past.

The thought of indoor thrills brings Adam to mind again, and I busy myself with my bags for a moment, trying to hide the blush I feel rise to my cheeks. It’s so strange to feel rooted in two places at once. Part of me is in the stable, locked together with Adam, and part of me stands at a distance from all of that, measuring, trying to establish for myself what’s real and what’s not.

Philippe says, “Not me. Going downhill, fast, on ice, while strapped into metal blades is not my idea of a good time. But I’ll keep the lodge cozy for you all.”

“I’ll definitely keep you company,” says a voice behind him, and Mia slips beside him into the room. She’s wearing fitted jeans and purple suede boots with a chunky high heel—totally impractical for the snow but somehow so suited to her. “I’d just be a hazard to myself and everyone else if I got on skis.”

She climbs up the bunk to the top. “Sorry if my stuff kind of exploded around the room.”

“It’s all right.”

“Where’s Adam?” Philippe asks, supplying the question he knows I’m dying to ask.

“He got here early,” says Sadie. “I think he went for a ski, but he should be here soon.”

I wish I could go out and join him on the slopes. I’m sure he conquers a mountain the same way he conquers everything else—like nothing else is possible.

“He’d never miss Jasmine,” Pippa says.

“Who’s Jasmine?” asks Mia.

“Newbies!” Sadie says. “She’s the camaraderie expert.”

“What’s a camaraderie expert?” I ask.

“Do you know Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter?”

I nod.

“Imagine that but, like, old,” says Pippa. “Like fifty.”

“Wow,” Mia says, her tone amused. “Ancient. But what does she do exactly?”

“She conducts the team-building sessions,” Sadie replies. “And dude, she’s tough. It’s like if a pixie and Arnold Schwarzenegger got married.”

Pippa giggles. “Oh my God, it is just like that! Except if they had a baby.”

“What?” Sadie asks.

“If they had a baby. If they just got married, it would still just be a pixie and Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“Right. If they had a baby. And that baby was in charge of making you climb trees and fall on top of each other.”

“Falling on top of each other is a team-building exercise?”

“Well, like a trust exercise. Like stage-diving, only into a group of your coworkers.”

The thought horrifies me.

“Shit,” Mia cries. “My purse!”

A torrent of objects spills down in front of me: a cosmetic case, wallet, various papers, birth control pills, and her phone, which strikes me on the knee and bounces on the floor in front of me.

I bend to retrieve it and see that of course the wallpaper image is of her and Ethan, dressed in their Halloween costumes. They’re standing in front of a window with a blazing sunset creating a tangerine halo around them, highlighting Mia’s blond Marilyn wig, her smooth olive skin. Ethan’s behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His mouth is close to her ear, and I imagine he’s whispering something to her—something to make her laugh, to make her whole face brighten with joy.

They’re beautiful together, and the sight creates an ache in me. For Adam. For that night. For endless hours in that car and garage doors that never open.

Everything’s a flurry of activity as we help Mia reassemble her possessions. Then we’re quiet for a moment.

My phone rings in my purse again, but I ignore it.

“Hey,” I say to Mia and the others. “Let’s go make a fire in the living room and have a drink or something.”

I want to be there when Adam comes in, I decide. I just need to see him. My father laid out my mission, and it’s one I plan to carry out if I can, but more than that, my own need drives me. I have to know him. I have to know his secret, yes, but more than that I have to know him. Know his heart. Know what beats there beneath his bravado and his beautiful smile.

“A drink sounds like a brilliant idea,” says Philippe.

“I make a mean Irish coffee,” Mia offers.

I look at her and smile. “Let’s go,” I say.





Chapter 28



Adam


Between a quick shower and emails I couldn’t ignore from Brooks on potential screenwriters for Blackwood Entertainment’s first feature, followed by a call from Grey trying to convince me to let him drive the Bugatti while I’m out of town, it’s seven before I head downstairs for our traditional retreat kick-off dinner.

I hear Jasmine Star, our camaraderie specialist, before I see her.

“We’re going to be working a lot on our vibrational frequencies this week, lovelies!” she says in a singsong lilt. “Each one of you is a sacred entity, made up of millions of molecules that are connected energetically. What is your energy, Marvelous Mia? And yours, Perfect Paolo? What about you, Caring Cookie?”