"So you're in Telluride right now?" Jen said, her voice crackling through the line.

"Yup." I stared out of my hotel room window, a little intimated by the mountain despite the fact that I would not be the one charging down it on a thin little board.

"I thought that place was crazy expensive," she pointed out. Her voice was carefully diplomatic, repressing all of the things she actually wanted to say.

"Oh, it is." Between my flight down here, renting a car to get to the resort, and my insanely expensive hotel room, I was spending as much here as I did in Costa Rica. It certainly didn't help that everything had been booked up well in advance so hotels could jack up the prices to people like me who made impulsive choices.

"You spent all that money to get down there and didn't even tell Hudson that you were going to be there?"

"I didn't want to give him a chance to plan any kind of long, winded speech. Whatever he says to me, if he decided to talk to me at all, will be completely uncensored."

"Have you considered that you might not even cross paths? You said it was a huge event, drawing in thousands of people. There is a chance that he might not even see you among the hoards of adoring fans."

I sighed and turned my attention to the adore chalets that dotted the town. They looked so quaint from up here on the seventh floor. It was so strange that I was here, so strange that I was trying to justify choices to my sister that I didn't even understand myself. I felt like I barely knew myself.

But, it also felt right.

And somehow, despite all of the uncertainty, I was oddly content.

"I'm not really sure what I want. I don't know if I want to have another heartfelt apology from him. I've already had so many. I also don't know if I just want to leave things as they are. As much as I fought it, I definitely started to have pretty serious feeling for him. This way, it's almost like the world decides."

"So you're choosing to believe in fate right now?"

"Something like that," I agreed, smiling at I unpacked the jacket Hudson had paid for.

I tried to do some editing the next morning and tie down some concrete plans with an equestrian team that needed photos of their top rider and horse. It was my way of reassuring myself that, no matter what happened, this hadn't been a waste of time.

Then, at noon, the events began and I was on the mountain, wrapped tightly in my jacket with my camera in my hand. The place was packed. I had thought that the howling wind that almost shook my hotel would be enough to thin the crowd, but they only added more layers and persisted. I did my best waddle over to the first event that I knew Hudson would be partaking in.

The snowboarding half pipe was massive. It sloped downwards with the mountain and had looming sides that soared above my head. I swallowed nervously just staring at them, even from where I was standing, it was huge. And I was all the way in the back, the only space left after the enthusiasts took up the front row, leaning over the barricades to get a better view as the contest started.

The first snowboarder was a young girl from Norway who killed it as far as I was concerned. The crowd roared for her. I stayed silent in the back, snapping a couple pictures here and there to add to my portfolio. The second snowboarder was a man from America who shot out of the half pipe, gliding and flipping through the air like it was nothing. I got amazing action shots of him.

Then it was Hudson's turn. I would like to say that I watched him in awe, that I knew how talented he was because I had learned his sport. I wished I knew what he was doing, I wished I was such an avid fan that I cared as much about his performance as I did our future.

But I didn't.

I just watched him from the backrow with knots in my stomach.

When he finished his run, the crowd screeched like they always did. I stayed in my spot, staring at him intently, hoping that he would look up at see me. His goggles came off, like they always did, propped on the helmet. I waited for his eyes to meet mine as he smiled at the crowd, waving.

But, someone approached him and pulled him to the side. Someone else grabbed his snowboard and immediately began cleaning it or waxing it, I couldn't tell. Then cameras and microphones were shoved in Hudson's face and the next athlete descended.

I waited for him to finish his interviews, secretly wishing that it was me behind the lenses, laughing at the silly things he always said. But, after he done, he was carted away by someone else who was chattering away and gesturing the the hill.

I wanted to stay in the hopes that he would come back. But, I still hadn't learned my lesson about cold weather. My fingers were starting to go numb and I was losing feeling in my toes.

I opted to dive into a lodge to warm up, and maybe to have a poutine for a while.

I weaved around all of the ski bums who were using lingo I didn't understand and found a very busy concession. While in line, I listened to the people behind me talk about something called corduroy and steaze, whatever that was. I just ordered my greasy poutine and found an empty seat where I could pull up the schedule of events and find Hudson's next competition.

Thank God this was a three day event, because I had already blown today by not being prepared for the dedication of snowboard lovers.

"Shouldn't you be freaking out over your camera changing temperature too quickly and the condensation on the lens?" someone asked.

My head snapped up, the fry I was eating leaving a gravy streak on my chin.

"Hud-"

He cut me off with a slow shake of his head and I realized that long gone was his outdoor gear. He was out of anything that had a brand on it. Anything that would label him as the prosnowboarder he was. Another man in the lodge squinted at Hudson, trying to place him, but then gave up and glanced away.

"Are you signed to a new athlete here?" he asked, nodding to my camera as I desperately tried to clean my face up with a napkin.

"Um, no, I'm actually not," I admitted.

"Did you come for the poutine?"

"No, I have to tell you that Americans just don't get poutines right," I joked.

"Yeah, it was a temporary addition to the menu because they have so many Canadian competitors this year, but it's a total flop," he teased back. Then, he was suddenly unable to meet my eyes and stared down at the battered table between us. "So, if you aren't here for the food or a job, why did you come?"

I wanted to play the ice queen and brush him off or just act collected, but I had never been that person. "I saw the video," I confessed. "The one where you talked about leaving Rush."

Hudson swallowed hard. "I didn't do it to make myself seem like the good guy or to showboat, or anything...I just..."

"I know," I whispered.

"I need you to know that I heard what you said and I've held myself accountable."

"I do."

Hudson seemed a little stunned by my easy admission. I watched his hands twitch like he wanted to grab my hands from across the table but thought better of it.

"Take a walk with me?" he asked.

I didn't know where we were going to walk on the side of a mountain and I wasn't sure if my fingers were defrosted yet, but I still grabbed my camera and followed him outside.

He said nothing for a long while and we both walked through the crowds completely unnoticed. Quite the contrast from people grabbing at him and screaming his name. It was like he was a rockstar one moment and a grocery clerk the next.

"I was so surprised when I saw you in the crowd earlier, but I didn't want you to get caught on camera if you didn't want to be. Even in the lodge, I caught someone trying to film us," he explained. I didn't miss the way he shivered from the cold, no longer protected by his branded jackets.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wasn't sure if I was ready to see you again."

"But you are now?"

"Seeing you on the hill and watching you walk away from me was almost painful. And I was definitely happy when you sat across from me."

"Does that mean that you might be convinced into having dinner with me tonight?"

I pondered this for a moment. "Actually, I was thinking about something more long term."

Hudson stopped in his tracks. "Really?"

"I think so. I don't want to spring anything on you, but, I'm not confused anymore. I know how it felt not to have you, not to know what we could have been."

Hudson let out a little breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I want to, Penelope, I really do. But I'm still pretty messed up. I wasn't lying about my mom. I've never been good at relationships. I would hate myself if you gave me a second chance and I hurt you again."

"I could hurt you too," I pointed out. "I'm still fresh out of a committed relationship that hurt me badly. We are allowed to make mistakes. I'm not saying things will be perfect. I'm just saying that we can at least try."

Hudson's face broke into a beautiful smile. "So, I guess this means we are dating, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does. But I still have two rules that we need to follow."

"I'm listening."

"One: I'm a sports photographer, one of the best. I will not be your sport's photographer. Business and pleasure will be separate for us."

"Okay, I can do that. Evergreen already had a photographer for me and I like him a lot."

"Good. Two: if you hear of a new poutine flavor I'm the first person you tell and we try it together. Deal?"

Hudson swept me into his arms and kissed me. "Deal, princess."

~~~Distraction Section~~~

Well that's the end of it, y'all. Not my cleanest ending, but I'm most proud of this book, I think. To be honest, I fully intended to stop writing this book and never look at it again, but you inspired me to push on and here we are with Hudson and Penelope finally happy. Hope you enjoyed it, even with the long wait times in between. Those of you who stuck through it all and commented but were also patient and understanding, thank you, I appreciate you!

Question of the Day: How do you commute and what do you do on your commute?

I drive, it's about 20 minutes and I sing my heart out the whole damn way.