“Where is everybody?” asks Ashley.

“Gone,” says David. “Your first lesson in skiing. If you want to beat the crowds, get up early and hit the slopes.”

“But it’s only nine o’clock,” cries Ashley. “Let’s get out there. Maybe we can catch up with the others.”

“What’s early for you is not necessarily what’s early for skiers,” says David. “Lesson number two. There are various skill levels. Your skill level is zilch. I’m not sure you can make it down the bunny slope. How do you expect to catch up with the others? You’ll be crying before we even land on the slopes.”

“That’s not a very flattering thing to say.”

“I’m not here to flatter you.”

“Don’t you want to go chasing after your doctor?”

“I’ll get her, but not by chasing her down a ski slope.”

“What do you plan to do then?”

“I’ll wait for them to come in and join them.”

“And in the meantime?”

“Enjoy myself with the nonskiers.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Close down?” asks Leslie. “But we’ve only been open for a month.”

“I know, sweetheart,” says Carl. “But it’s only going to be temporary.”

“How so?”

“You just put a sign up saying you’re closed until further notice. Then, when the time comes, you’ll have another grand opening.”

“But, Dad, we’ll lose the few customers we already have,” says Carrie.

“You’ll get them back. You might even do better than before. Especially when you tell them that you had to close to make improvements.”

“That’s a good idea,” says Leslie. “But how long will we have to be closed?”

“I think it should only take a couple days. A week at the most.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Freedom!” cries Nicholas, joining Gavin and Belle at Mark’s cafe. “Ashley and others have gone to the mountains for the weekend.”

“Good,” says Gavin. “We’ll need the break.” He turns to Belle. “What if Carl doesn’t live up to his end of the bargain?”

“He can’t afford not to,” says Belle. “At least outwardly, he will have to make a show of it and I’ll have to make a show of believing him.”

“So, you have doubts about his integrity?” asks Gavin.

Belle raises her eyebrows. “Don’t you? I’ll step over there in a little bit and pretend that everything is going well.”

——————————————————————————————–

“I’m sorry your girls have decided to leave us,” says William. “I can’t see how anyone could be doing anything to drive them away. As Mark pointed out, hardly anyone is around anymore.”

“I know, darling,” says Melanie. “I’ll miss them, but this is their decision.”

“What about you? Are you going to be frightened away?”

“I’ll be all right.”

——————————————————————————————–

“As you can see, Miss Silverman,” says Carl. “My girls are closing down.”

“What do they plan to do with all their stock?”

“They will dispose of them quietly. I have taken care of one of the conditions.”

“Good,” says Belle. “Bring me the money tonight and I’ll hand over your gem.”

“Very good.”

——————————————————————————————–

“I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” says Amanda. “I haven’t been skiing in so long, my legs are going to hurt.”

“Turn around,” says Michael. “I’ll give you a rubdown. Tomorrow, we can just lay in.”

“Oh, that feels so good.”

Bending down, Michael kisses her along her spine. Suddenly, the door bursts open and a visibly drunken Ashley and David fall in, laughing. Michael grabs the sheets and covers Amanda.

“What the hell are you doing?” asks Michael, angrily.

“Shorry,” says Ashley, giggling. “Wrong roooom.”

“Yeah. Sho shorry, man,” says David, getting up unsteadily and helping Ashley up. “We’d better leave ‘em alone.” He winks at Michael, then closes the door.

“I could kill him,” says Michael.

“Don’t let him get to you,” says Amanda.

“That was an act. They did that on purpose.”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s trying to get your goat. Don’t let him know he’s succeeding.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Here’s your money,” says Carl.

Belle opens the package and performs a cursory count. “Looks like it’s all here, Mr. Black. And here’s your gem.”

As she hands him the gem, Carl pulls out a gun. Before he can raise it, Belle kicks it out of his hand. “That was very stupid, Mr. Black. I was willing to hand over the gem to you. Now I’m not so sure.”

Startled, Carl sputters, “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I just didn’t want to be bamboozled again.”

“And how was pulling a gun on me going to prevent that?”

“I was just going to check and make sure it was my gem before I left.”

“How?”

“It doesn’t matter now. Just let me have my gem and I’ll leave you alone.”

“I’ll give you the gem, but I’m keeping your gun. As I’ve told you before, I do have this apartment rigged with security. If anything should happen to me, all of this will be presented to the police.”

“I-I-I promise. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Then take it and go. And I expect Les Carr’s to be out of action permanently.”

As he leaves, Gavin emerges. “Is there something you should tell me?”

——————————————————————————————–