Chapter 4
Years earlier…
They met on the high school ski teams. At sixteen, they really got to know each other because they rose at dawn to train before school, then until dark after school. The boys and girls teams traveled together to meets via school buses the next two years.
Soon, she and Jean sat together on the bus, and started placing in events. She was outstanding, but there was no doubt that Jean, eight months older, was just enough better to be considered superb. He was also patient and eager to help Riley when she struggled with some technique Coach Minuchin wanted her to change or groove in. In return, she’d pointed out a few things for him, especially about girls.
One afternoon, when they were juniors, as they sat lacing up their boots, she said out of the corner of her mo
