God sure has a sense of humor. At first, I felt dread looming over me or the schematics of how I could make it happen. I marveled at the miraculous situation He had placed me in. The question was not whether I wanted to go, but how could I make it happen? To be honest, I wasn’t sure what Patricia would do if I asked for my remaining day. I bowed my head and said a prayer over it. No matter what, I would be there with the group in the off hours. I considered a scenario where I took my computer with me and set up an office. And then to heck with it; I’d take that Friday off so at least I had an extra day on the slopes. That thought triggered the onset of real panic. Taking my last vacation day to take part in something out of my comfort zone was not exactly what I had in mind, but there I was, letting God lead me.
The revelation of my prayers coming into fruition made me tear up. God was giving me an opportunity, steering me towards a goal of mine that I could either meet or miss, but either way, I was going to take the chance.Thank you, Lord.
I couldn’t focus on the rest of the night because of the realization that I would not only be on skis in a week’stime, but that my lessons and hotel stay would be covered. God had blessed me tenfold. After a successful float night and an impactful sermon from Mickey, the kids filtered out, and I stayed behind to pepper Mickey with questions.
“What in the world, Mickey?” My eyes were as wide as my smile.
“It would be great if you could join us however long you’re able to. I know your schedule is busy with work, but you can just come and go as you please. It’s all covered. We won’t be doing much in the evenings together, thanks to the multitude of parents attending. That’s off our plate. Think of it as a brief vacation before it gets too busy around here that we won’t even be able to see straight.” He gave me a partial hug as his phone buzzed.
A brief vacation? That was two suggestions in one week. God sure had a way of surprising me.
“Okay, the ‘Mrs.’ needs me back home. Her feet hurt, and she has a late-night craving for beignets.” Mickey put his hands in a prayer position. “Lord, please let something still be open for my pregnant wife, or she will make me sleep on the couch again.”
I laughed at Mickey and told him where he could find the beignets. “And don’t worry, I’ll be skiing. I was planning on taking lessons this season anyway… It’s something I’ve been thinking about. This is all an answer to my prayers, really, especially as a distraction from everything else going on.”
Mickey knew about Theo breaking up with me, but he didn’t seem too bothered. He never liked Theo, and he made that fact known.
“So, I just wanted to say thank you for inviting me along. The only thing is my work schedule. I will be there with bells on, but I’ll be tied up from 9 to 5…”
Mickey put his hand to his chest, and at first, I assumed it was sarcastically. We had a very playful relationship, since I’d known him for most of my life after meeting him in kindergarten. He was like a brother to me and the reason I found out about the needs of the youth group.
“I’m touched by that, Claire. And I want to hear all about it and your work schedule once the dragon is fed—Tamara, I mean. I love that woman to the ends of the earth, but boy does she have a fragile temper right now. I better get going… Pray for me that her third trimester is easier on all of us, okay?”
He waved and shut the door behind him. Once I finished bagging up the last of the trash, I grabbed what remained of my peppermint pint of ice cream out of the freezer, hit the lights, and locked up behind me.
When I got home, I scoured my closet and dresser for skiing attire. I had white snow pants, a red jacket, and a thick white turtleneck—sure, a little 80s maybe, but it would work. I put the outfit on to see how it fit and was pleased it all felt great on and even looked flattering. I stood in my closet in front of the mirror. The red jacket brought out a warm hue in my strawberry blonde hair and made my blue eyes look a little brighter. I liked the jacket, and when I bought it at the end of last season on sale, I had pictured Theo proposing to me in it. I knew that sounded pathetic, but it was my dream to be married to him and have the picture-perfect husband. All I could do in that relationship was try to show him I could be his picture-perfect wife, except for the skiing part. That just seemed so far out of reach.
I silently thanked the Lord for not answering that prayer for me since I had realized there wasn’t much to that relationship. It still didn’t help the disappointment of starting over.
As I went to change into some comfortable pajamas, I hung my ski clothes up on a hanger together and placed them on the doorknob of my closet. I wanted to see that outfit for the rest of the week as I prepared myself for my second chance at skiing.
December 26th
The rest of my work week involved much back and forth with Patricia. She didn’t like my design at first, but then again, she wasn’t the one who needed to. It all came down to the team of James Walker. Polishing things as much as possible was crucial, so I made some adjustments. We spent time on the phone and several hours on a video call where we both made suggestions to the base of the design. I felt like our relationship was strengthening, and I appreciated it.
Thursday afternoon, Patricia sent the finished design off to her bosses. It included a champagne and cigar bar, custom ski furniture and two large faux-antler chandeliers because no animal in nature could have produced something to the scale we needed. The plan was fresh and unique, and Patricia’s voice exuded excitement as she bid me a goodnight. I closed the applications on my computer and powered it off.
“Lord, thank you for turning this week around. I didn’t know that it could be turned around, but you are the God of miracles, after all.”
After scouring my drawer of takeout menus, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to mix things up that night and go out to eat instead of ordering in. The confidence in Patricia’s voice had been contagious, and my crushed feelings for Theo were fading. I applied mascara, some rosy blush, and a pink lip gloss. My strawberry blonde hair hung straight, so I zapped my roots with a little hairspray to give it some lift. Slipping into dark jeans and a black mock neck top that hugged my figure, I pulled my red ski jacket off its hanger. That night, I wanted to at least look the part of a Sage Mountain skiing woman, and once I put on my warm and fuzzy snow boots, I felt like one, too.
The Barn Door Bar & Grill was three blocks from my condo and about all I could muster in that cold. I’d forgotten just how frigid the day’s forecast was. It had been a brutal winter that far, having only just begun, and the forecast was calling for record snowfall. I pulled the black hat out of myjacket pocket and pulled it tight around my ears. The faux fur pom on top of my hat bounced as I walked, making me feel self-conscious, but as I looked around, I seamlessly blended in with the mix of people who were out.
“How many?” the host Tina asked as she looked behind me, expecting to see the gorgeous Theo, no doubt. I shook my head.
“Just me tonight. I’ll take a seat at the bar.” I couldn’t handle taking up an entire booth for myself, or worse, getting a round table in the middle of the place like I had at the piano bar on my birthday.No, better not risk that again.However, as far as I knew, they didn’t play any musical instruments at that bar. As I fluidly walked to the row of bar stools, the one I had been walking toward was between two that were empty. Suddenly, a group came from the left and took them. I stopped in my tracks. Reversing my course, I went to the left of two empty stools when a woman absentmindedly placed her purse on one, not seeing me behind her. It was down to one bar stool, so I grabbed it with both hands and slid onto it.
“What can I get you to drink?” The woman behind the bar had jet black hair with thick bangs that looked like they tickled her long eyelashes.
I mumbled for a moment like I’d never consumed liquids in my entire life before stammering out something about hot tea.
“Coming right up. I’ll bring you a menu, too.”
I let out a sigh of relief that the food was near as I scoped out my surroundings. The place was packed for a Thursday night, but the couple next to me was mumbling about a big snow that night and creating excitement for a Friday powder day, which they claimed was better than Christmas.
I felt the man on the other side of me rotate his bar stool back and face forward. “Can I get a Pepsi?” he asked the bartender. His voice was deep and raspy. I didn’t want to look over, since doing so would almost guarantee an awkward greeting with us sitting so closely together, but suddenly I didn’t have a choice.
“Hey.”
