Precious Blessings (Love Inspired) by Jillian Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

ride when suddenly down you plunged. Screaming.
    Yeah, it was something like that. “J-Jack?”
    He looked up. “Uhh…Katherine McKaslin?”
    He said it in the same way someone might say, Oh, good, there’s a person infectious with bubonic plague. “Do you need help up?”
    â€œNo! I can do it just fine. You go ahead and keep right on with your skiing.”
    â€œOh no,” Katherine said sweetly “we’ll stay and make sure you get up all right.”
    Great. Jack stared at the three women staring back at him. Humiliation eked into his soul like the icy wind through his coat.
    Why does it have to be her, Lord? If he was going to disgrace himself, did it have to be in front of Katherine McKaslin? And why was his bad side showing whenever she was around? “I’m fine. Just getting my snow legs back.”
    â€œIs that something like sea legs?”
    Jack could tell she was holding back laughter. Mirth glimmered like flecks of amethyst in her deep violet-blue irises. He liked the sparkles in her eyes very much. “I haven’t skied since college. I figured it would come back to me.”
    â€œI hope you didn’t ski like this in college.”
    His pole came loose from the branches and he gave thanks for that. “Believe it or not, I was a pretty competent skier, but it’s taking its own sweet time coming back to me.”
    â€œI hope it comes back to you before you hit the next turn.”
    â€œMe, too.” Jack wondered how she could say that in a kind way, when she had every right to mock him? After all, he’d been a little overconfident in his abilities.
    Okay, extremely overconfident. He grabbed one ski and hiked up the snowbank. “I heard that comment you made. The one about the bunny run.”
    â€œSound must really carry on this mountain.”
    â€œDon’t you know it. Truth is, it was my pride. I didn’t feel dignified going down the same run as knee-high kids who could ski like Olympians.”
    â€œSo you chose the advanced run as an alternative?”
    â€œAt least I lived to tell the tale. So far.”
    He made it to the top and drew himself up to his full height and still he didn’t feel tall enough, not in the eyes of this woman. He hated it. He really did. Because there was something incredibly special about her. She was easily balanced on her skis, leaning on her poles, serene and wholesome. She made his entire being, his entire spirit, take notice.
    Suddenly, he was aware of someone else talking and then he remembered. There were two other women with Katherine. And as they were moving away, one was saying, “C’mon, Holly, let’s go fetch that ski.”
    Ski. That didn’t register either. There wasn’t anything in this world but Katherine and the gentle quirk of her smile, and the thud of his pulse in his chest. She kept him glued in place. He could see her heart in her eyes. There wasn’t a drop of judgment, nor was she silently teasing him even when he might deserve it.
    â€œJack, are you going to be able to make it down okay? Marin has her cell phone. She can call for the ski patrol.”
    â€œNo!” He’d rather crash and burn and break every bone in his body—twice—than to admit defeat in front of Katherine. “I’m fine. It’s already coming back to me. I think the fall knocked loose some forgotten knowledge inside my head.”
    â€œGood, because you could have been really hurt. I would hate to see that happen to you.”
    That comment was tough on a man’s ego. Tough because she was concerned and caring. That made him like her even more. “Guess I’ll be going now. You want to catch up with your friends?”
    She didn’t budge. She didn’t blink. The crinkle of a hint of a smile remained in the corners of her soft, pretty mouth. Snow flecked the fake-fur lining of her jacket collar and clung to the sleek matching ski