Rocky Mountain Holiday (To Love Again Book 4) (2 page)

Small groups were getting ready to leave and she decided it was time to do the same.

Turning to Will, she said, “Time to head out, I think.” He’d turned out to be an entertaining dinner companion, even offering some insights that would help with her next chapter tomorrow. He specialized in counseling trauma victims, but professionally, they were on a similar wave length.

“I’m not sure I can move yet. That was quite a meal.” Will patted his stomach.

Isabel laughed and stood. “I may never eat again.”

“Let me grab your coat.” He disappeared down the hall, returning with her coat, a scarf trailing from the sleeve.

As he helped her into it, Jenny made eye contact. She looked a little desperate and tugged her ear - a signal they’d long employed that meant “help”.

She waved across the room to her. “Jenny, we need to leave now.”

Jenny threw her a grateful smile, said her goodbyes and made her way to the front foyer. “Ooof, thanks. You already let the girls know we’re going?”

Isabel nodded. “They’ll be over tomorrow night to hang in the hot tub.”

Josh and Jean were saying good night to the group in front of them, so they hung back for a minute. Turning to Will, Isabel extended her hand. “It was lovely meeting you, Will.”

“And you, Isabel. Maybe Jean does know what she’s doing?” He grinned and raised his right brow.

Isabel’s heart sank. Ach, this was awkward. Before she could reply, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“Could we have dinner together while you’re here?” he asked.

“Oh, Will,” she started. “I’d love to, but -”

He shook his head and rushed in. “I shouldn’t have asked…”

“I’m really busy with the book, is all. And the girls.” She touched his arm. “Thank you for asking, I’m flattered.”

He smiled sadly and she turned toward the door, Jenny at her side. They thanked their hosts, and found themselves out in the still winter night.

“Will seems nice,” Jenny said. “Why didn’t you just tell him you’re seeing someone?”

Isabel shrugged her shoulders. “Cause he seems nice. It was already awkward enough.”

DECEMBER 26 ~ DAY

On Sunday morning, Isabel sat at the desk in front of her window and shuffled through a file, looking for the place she’d left off two days ago. She had an excellent view of the main drag. The window was frosted and the smoke from the chimneys across the street was drifting straight up. A steady stream of cars rolled by but there was only a handful of people on the sidewalks - breathing little bursts of steam - bundled up and not wasting time.

Snow drifted down in small dry flakes and she was happy to be inside. Today she needed to make good progress on the book. Her publisher was expecting the first draft right after New Year’s. If she stayed on track, she could meet her deadline. Jenny was skiing and the girls weren’t coming over until later. She had the day to herself.

She waited for her laptop to boot up. She should gift herself a new Mac.

Her thoughts, as they’d done so many times through the night, drifted to Tray. They’d managed a few dates since he crashed her office that night, but she’d kept to her plan and spent every spare minute over the past month writing. She wrote evenings, and weekends, too. Now she only had a couple of chapters to finish and she could start on the edits. Then, she could spend the rest of the holiday with Tray.

She. Could. Not. Wait. To see him again. Thinking of him made her as giddy as a school girl with a crush. It had only been ten days, but their last date had been off the charts.

They started at the university theater where a friend of Tray’s was directing a student play. It was well-written and well-acted - something she hadn’t expected. After, he took her to a small Turkish restaurant over near Mission. Jenny always raved about Turkish food, but Isabel had never tried it. He ordered appetizers of artichoke in heavy olive oil and spices, followed by a dish of shaved lamb in tomato sauce, rice and salad. For dessert, they indulged in baklava and sutlac, a delicious, creamy version of rice pudding.

She smiled remembering him leaning across the table, spooning pudding into her waiting mouth. He never took his eyes off her as she closed her mouth around the laden spoon and he pulled it slowly out. The restaurant was crowded. The belly dancer kept swirling near their table, trying to engage Tray. They may as well have been on the moon or a desert island - the whole world fell away and they existed only in their bubble of two.

A shiver ran down her spine and it wasn’t from the cold. The room was almost too warm and she got up to adjust the thermostat. Shaking her arms, she tried to get her head back in the game. She would see him in two days. He would arrive late on the 28th and they’d have six days together, including New Year’s Eve. If - and this, she knew, was the clincher - if she could actually concentrate on something productive and get her work done before he arrived.

Settling back into her chair, she set the timer on her computer for 60 minutes and started to write.

~~~

Normally, Boxing Day on the hills was really busy, but when Jenny found a spot in the upper lot, she knew the cold was keeping a lot of people home. Either that or turkey hangovers. The snow squeaked under her boots as she trudged her way over to the ticket booth. No line-up. Yep, too cold for sane people to ski.

Dropping her gear against a rack, she paid her ticket and headed inside to get ready. A handful of people milled about the large lodge, chatting and drinking coffee. Nobody was in a hurry to get out on the hill.

She chose a spot and changed her boots. Pulling on an extra fleece, she zipped up her ski pants, her jacket and made sure she had her hat, goggles and mitts before stuffing her backpack and boots under the bench. She’d been hoping to run into someone she knew on the hill, but bundled up everybody looked the same. Stepping back into the brittle sunlight, she returned to her gear. She clicked into her skis, grabbed her poles, and pushed off towards the lift. The snow squeaked with each glide. In the singles line, there was almost no one in front of her and she was on a chair almost immediately. Hard to believe it was almost ten o’clock. Usually, it would be packed by now.

As the lift carried her higher up the hill, the view panned out around her. Sun glinted off the lake below and bounced off the sides of snow-bound mountains that surrounded her. Small bursts of snow puffed off the peaks indicating a slight west wind. She put her mitts to her face, feeling sorry for the couple beside her. Clearly tourists, they were huddled into each other and obviously freezing. She could ski another day, but for people coming to the Rockies on short vacations, the weather could be cruel.

Her first run was spectacular. With so few people out, there was lots of untouched, natural powder to glide through. She took her time, making wide lazy turns, and enjoying the view. By the time she was could see the lodge, her feet were starting to tingle. Maybe she should go in?

One more, she decided last minute, swerving to the lift line. Again, she was in a chair almost immediately. Rubbing her hands together, she glanced over at the other single riding with her.

“Barry?”

He turned toward her and pushed his hat back. “Jenny, I was hoping I’d see you. I never would have recognized you this morning.”

She laughed and took off her goggles. “Nor me you. You skiing alone?”

“My friend Kip is with me, but he was ahead of me last run.” Barry rubbed his thighs. “Ohmygawd, this is a cold one.”

“Cold? I didn’t notice.” She grinned while she fumbled with her goggles, trying to clean them without taking her mitts off. “No wonder it’s so quiet out here today.”

“I love having the lifts to myself, but holy mother of Hannah, this is too cold even for me. And I’m a big macho.”

“You never struck me as overly macho,” she teased. “By the way, thanks for having your guy come over and do my walks the other day.”

“No problem, what are neighbors for? He’ll shovel mine all week, and I asked him to make sure yours are done, too. Better if people think we’re home than away over the holidays.”

“Thanks, you didn’t have to do that. My tenant usually takes care of that, but she’s also away this week. I didn’t even think of it.”

“Guess it’s the cop in me,” he shrugged. “Isabel’s not with you today?”

“She’s working for the next couple of days - in the hotel, that is. Her daughters are here, too, but they’re staying with friends.”

The lift reached the top and they allowed themselves to be pushed down the ramp by the chair. Skiing over to the crest, they stomped their skis up and down to get feeling back in their feet.

“Where you headed?” he asked.

“I’ll stick with this green,” Jenny said. “You?”

“Gonna do the double black diamond.”

“Good luck with that, I’ll head into the lodge for a break after this.”

“I’ll do a few more runs, but come join us for lunch around noon. We’ll be up in the bar at the main lodge.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you then. You’re sure about the double?”

“Absolutely.” Tucking his arms in, he launched himself down the hill. “No guts, no glory….” Jenny heard him yell over his shoulder.

Smiling, she pushed away and started down the front run.

~~~

Jenny sighed with relief as she swung the door open and entered the lodge. Her goggles fogged instantly and she pushed them back on her head. Shaking all over, she could barely remove her mitts. She lurched over to an open spot in front of the fire and huddled on a bench, willing the warmth to seep into her. It was just past noon, but the lodge was quiet. Most days, by lunchtime, you’d barely find a place to sit - today you could swing a cat, or several cats. Only a handful of small groups clustered around lunches and hot drinks, the absence of small children racing through the tables made it feel like a ghost town.

Once her teeth stopped chattering, she unbuckled her boots. Holding the front of the boot forward and guiding her leg with her other hand, she pulled her feet - one by one - out of the boots and tried to wiggle her toes. She extended her legs closer to the fire as waves of thawing tingles raced through her toes. Sheesh, no wonder people stayed home today.

She glanced around - not a single person she knew. Stuffing her boots into the bag and sliding gratefully into her comfy snow boots, she gathered her things and headed upstairs to meet Barry.

The bar was a little busier than downstairs, but still crazy quiet. Barry had a table at the far end, near the patio doors that led onto the outside deck. In spring, when those doors were left open, it was next to impossible to get a table on the deck. Today the windows were so frosted over, they looked permanently glazed.

Making her way across the room, she had a moment to study Barry in profile. From this angle, the burn scars were barely noticeable. He never talked about how he got them, and she wasn’t about to ask. He was one of the kindest people she’d ever met and smart as a whip, but most women never gave him a chance.

He joked that even the cop uniform didn’t help him in the dating pool, but Jenny knew he’d like to meet someone special. He was a good friend and always looked out for her, but there’d never been a spark between them. Not for the first time, she wished she knew someone for him.

When she neared the table, Barry spied her and rose. His companion also rose and turned toward her. Jenny wondered where her words were, standing there feeling foolish with her mouth in a little “o”.

“You made it,” Barry said, his smile turning mid-way to concern. “You all right?”

Jenny shook it off, grateful the cold had already burned her cheeks bright red. “Sure, oh yes, hi.” She leaned in and brushed Barry’s cheek with her lips.

“Jenny, this is my friend Kip - he’s Valerie’s brother.”

She extended her hand as a wide smile spread across Kip’s face, lighting his deep brown eyes. He raised heavy brows and tilted his head slightly to the right, questioning. “A pleasure, Jenny. Your husband is not skiing with you today?”

Barry glanced from one to the other. “You’ve already met?”

“No, no,” Kip said, glancing at Barry before turning his gaze back on her. “We didn’t have the pleasure of meeting, but I saw you at Christmas dinner, right?”

“Yes, I remember,” she nodded, smiling shyly.
You’re the hunky football player I was drooling over.
This was completely not like her, where was her tongue? She was stunned by both his good looks - even more shocking up close - and his lilting speech, each word tripping off his tongue like a note.

Assessing Jenny carefully, Barry intervened. “You’re married now?”

Trust Barry to have her back. “No,” she laughed. She motioned them to sit again and slid into a chair.

“But you guys did have Christmas dinner together?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Isabel invited me to have Christmas with her daughter’s friends’ parents. That’s a mouthful,” she laughed. “They curl - you might know them - Josh and Jean.”

Barry shook his head. “Don’t think so. Tell me about this new mysterious husband.”