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"And so he just left?" she asked in disbelief

"Not before we had the big blowup But yeah, he left and has never been back"

"Oh, Hudson," she said softly "I’h together"

"No, you don’t understand," he said "It was my fault I said…" He closed his eyes "I said shit to him that I can’t take back That’s still between us, and I know it alill be I did this Not Jacob"

She stared up at him "What could you possibly say to him that couldn’t be taken back?"

He turned forward, his jaw tight "I told him if he went, eren’t brothers anymore"

She took that in "Well surely he knew those were just angry words spoken in the heat of the moment"

"Yeah well, I also said that if he wanted to be like our dad, then he should just get the fuck out"

"Oh, Hud," she whispered, and set her hand on his ar If not then, then surely later when he thought about it My God, you were just eighteen-year-old kids No one says what they ht," he said "I’ve spent a lot of ti I could take it all back, but I can’t Fact is, you see, I pushed hiood at it too" He straightened "Face forward Feet up"

"What?" she asked, still lost in his story, aching for his regrets She looked up just in tiasp

They were at the top of the ot her feet and ski tips up before she wasthe transition from chair to snow She wobbled, squealed, and was one hundred percent going down--

But a hand fisted in the back of her jacket and lifted her enough that she got her skis beneath her When Hud set her down, he gave her a push

She gasped and clutched her poles and wavered

"Bend your knees," he directed, all calm and perfect on his skis, the ratfink bastard

But she bent her knees and… didn’t crash When she drifted to a stop off to the side, she turned her head and glared at him

"Problem?" he asked

"You pushed ht in the lane and were about to get run over by the people getting off the lift behind us"

She stared at hiive

He s you until I live to the bottom of this run"

He flashed that badass s him with one of her poles, she pushed off and headed down the hill, which from here looked to be about one hundred miles of ski run but actually was probably only two As it always did, the sensation of gliding over the snow, combined with the utter lack of control she had over that snow, gave her heart a hard kick But… she was doing it She was skiing! She laughed out loud with the sheer joy of it "Look atit!"

That’s when her ski caught an edge For about three seconds she fought the valiant fight, no doubt looking like a cat trying to scrarip She heard Hud behind her, voice calm "Find your center Bend your knees Lean forward, not to the side--"

Too late She leaned

And she fell

Right on her face And for extra shits and giggles, she slid on her face down the hill another twenty feet or so Sprawled out, she pushed up and spit out some snow

She was hauled to her feet Hud, of course He dusted off the front of her and then turned her to get her backside He slapped her there lared at hih enough?"

He sh"