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Show All the Variables & Other Love Stories 60 her collusion than for the miracle of her flesh, some false or unnatural movement that would betray her to him. Many times he thought he saw it and then was not so sure. Eventually he toppled cheerleaders as well as tailbacks but the vision of Cara's newly clean skin haunted him more than these. Though they'd never shared anything he felt an intimacy with Cara he could not recapture. She'd been the first girl his eyes beheld in all her glory and was somehow rendered special in his imagination. He ached for her some nights and wanted very much for her to love him. The fall after graduating Cara left Afton for the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The year apart made him brave. In Taos that winter on their annual ski trip he'd mentioned to Cara he used to have a crash on her but she'd been dismissive. Afton was a small town and Zach Hutson had a reputation for loving girls intensely for a short season, their hearts all used up he moved on without looking back, not even for pity. He went to the University of Wyoming the following year on a football scholarship that ended with his knee injury. He stayed to study American History and bemoaned a future most likely in primary education. He'd decided not to join the family in Taos last year since he couldn't ski but heard from his mother that Cara had come and this year planned his winter break around their first meeting in two years. They were on the slopes half a day before Zach couldn't stand it anymore. His knee inflamed and lost mobility. At the last crest before the lodge he confessed his pain to Cara. He told her not to feel bad about ditching him at the hotel but she hesitated. There wasn't much for Zach to do by himself in the middle of the day. He told her he |