He was now speaking to me, so I looked in his direction and gave an obligatory hello. He was a scruffy, dark-haired guy with thick, black-rimmed glasses. He was also wearing a platinum wedding band on his left ring finger, which solidified his introduction just being one of friendship.Not a moment later, the wife in question came around the corner. A beautiful blonde, she wore a black sweater dress, black hosiery, and furry boots. She took the seat on the opposite side of him.
The bartender returned with my drink. “Here you go: peppermint tea. Our special tonight is the steak, but I’ll let you in on a secret: We use the same tender steak on our sandwich and salad.”
She was speaking my language. I ordered the steak salad with a side of curly fries and turned my head to see what was happening behind me.
Everyone glued their faces to the outside window as fat, round snowflakes fell. It was enchanting, and the excitement was electric. I had to admit that it made me feel a little giddy, too. The new opportunity for me to learn to ski was bringing out a child-like enchantment inside of me, while most importantly, making me look at this powdery ground covering that made it impossible to drive for five months out of the year with a better lens: one of excitement.
After a delicious meal, I paid my check and started towards the door, taking my bright red coat off the rack and sliding into my hat and gloves while using a bench to tightenup the laces on my snow boots. When I looked up, my eyes met those of a very handsome stranger which caught me off guard and caused me to slide right into a wet puddle left from another patron’s snowy shoes. I couldn’t tell you how long I was airborne, or the noise I made while my legs flew up from under me and catapulted me backwards. All I knew was I garnered the attention of the entire bar and stole the show. So much for blending in.
While I lay on the cold, dark tile of the upscale bar, I thought if I my sprawled body just stayed still, it would all go away. They would return to business as usual and just work around me until it was time to close, at which time I could then slip out the back door and no one would think another thought. I quickly learned that couldn’t be possible when a woman screamed. It was a little overdramatic, so I was sure I would be missing a leg or an arm when I got up. The sounds of the clunky boots shuffling around me made my head rattle. I had accidentally caused a slip-n-fall lawsuit.
I sat up as I slowly opened my eyes. A hand was out in front of me, and I accepted it, and when I stood, I was face to face with that handsome man. I let out a gasp as I realized it was the man from the piano bar.
“Miss… Are you okay?” Tina, the hostess, pulled out a flashlight normally used to check IDs and pointed it in my unprepared eyes. I snapped them back shut, almost falling again from the sheer embarrassment of it all. I gave the hostess points for not adding insult to injury by calling mema’am.
“Yes, I’m fine… just a little embarrassed is all.” I made my best effort at laughing it off, realizing only then was I still holding the man’s hand. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation. I gave it a shake and introduced myself before I let it go. “Thank you for helping me. Claire Riley.”
His face lit up like the twinkling lights hanging in a snowflake pattern in the corner of the bar. “Nice to meet you, Claire. I’m Blake.”
I wondered if he remembered me from a few weeks back at the piano bar, but before I could say anything, the bartender suddenly appeared beside us and leaned in and linked arms with Blake. Tina and I both sighed in unison as it was clear that man was taken.
“And I was just leaving,” I replied.
I told Tina goodnight, and she waved at me, giving me a silly face while pointing at the happy couple, who werenow immersed in conversation. But at the last moment, I saw Blake look over his shoulder at me and smile.
The snowy walk home almost made me forget about the bitter chill that made my face numb and my ears hurt, despite wearing a heavy hat. I sighed, thinking about the handsome hunk I had just met for the second time this month. Though I may have been in a rough patch of life, there was something about that taken man that gave me hope for the future. Everything would work out to God’s plan, and in my heart, I felt I would find love… eventually, anyway.Tomorrow is a new day, I thought.You never know what a new day will bring.
Chapter 5
December 27th
It turned out the new day brought destruction to my life. I awoke to a tsunami of notifications on my design software that certain aspects had been “red-flagged” by another user, meaning they would need to be removed from the design. Once I saw just how many there were, I quickly realized that Patricia had personally rejected my design—the one she was happy with the night before. The sound of the fracturing proverbial ice around me was just too much to handle. I knew this was it for my job, and instead of waiting in a torturous state of limbo for Patricia to call, I called her.
“Claire,” her breathy tone sounded like she was half asleep, or upset. I suspected it wasn’t the latter but couldn’timagine the former either. “It’s a no on the Après cigar bar. I can’t see how it would work… It’s just toocliché. Anyway, my tail was really on the line here. Claire, I’m going to have to let you go. You just don’t have the vision to pull this off.”
Her words stung, but another strange phenomenon happened similar to the emotions I was working through after Theo dumped me: I felt relief. Yes, I was scared out of my mind for my food, healthcare, and financial security. Yet, all I could think about was that I could now take part in the ski retreat that started the next day.
I thanked Patricia for the opportunities she lent to me, the experience I gained, and I stated all of those lovely platitudes that people say when they’ve just gotten fired, but I couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. She had some offers about Human Resources being in touch with my severance package, which was a little bonus I wasn’t expecting. It might have even helped float my property tax bill for another month. When I finally got off the call, I took a long, hot shower and robotically packed my suitcase for the retreat.
December 28th
The next morning came, and I sent my parents a message telling them that I would be away at a church retreat for the rest of the week, purposely omitting the part about it being a ski retreat right there in Sage Mountain. Though there was cell phone service at the lodge, I wasn’t ready to face the music with my double whammy of getting dumped and fired in the same period. I cringed when I remembered that my father would have the airport dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony to hold when it opened in a few short months. He would know either way that I no longer worked for the firm, but I decided to cross that bridge when I got there. A moment later, my mother sent me a thumbs-up emoji and asked me to tell her everything when I got home.
After I dressed, I wasn’t sure I felt as good in the outfit as I did when I tried it on a few days before. Between the ice cream and my emotional snacking, it was apparent I’d packed on a few extra pounds overnight, making my waistline a little uncomfortable. After some scientific testing, though, I realized the button on my pants was secure and held no risk of popping. The back seam was strong and most likely wouldn’t split. The only thing I had to worry about was the loudswishingsound as my thighs boldly announced to theworld I was in motion. Sighing, I checked the minor mascara I added to my otherwise invisible lashes. It was a little too cold and dry out to wear eye makeup, but flaking off was a risk I would take.
The drive to the new lodge was gorgeous. I had been all over Sage Mountain on the ground level, and while it was safe to say that I’d seen every nook and cranny of that place without skiing, I hadn’t explored the mountains very much. The new resort was built into a rolling hillside, and according to its brochure, was ski-in/ski-out with its own chair lift systems. Given the rapid growth there, it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t know this. It was easy to lose track of every new hotel. I was eager to see it.
I arrived at the Superstition Peak Lodge half an hour before the rest of the group, so I could get my bearings for the lodging situation. I assumed that I would bunk with half of the girls, but it turned out the resort had separate rooms set aside for the adults, and I would share a room with Joy, Katrina’s mom. At the very last minute while I was walking up to the concierge counter, Joy texted me that she bunked in the same room with her daughter, so I was completely off the hook for any chaperone duties. She had invited me to theirroom to watch movies, as they were bringing a pre-loaded HDMI stick with several chick flicks on it, but I wasn’t ready to commit to anything yet.
The concierge was an outgoing, thirty-something man. He had a brisk accent that sounded east coast. “I’m Zeek. Let’s give you a quick run-down of where everything is, shall we?”
I agreed and appreciated it since the layout was confusing to navigate, even as he took me on the tour. The lodge was much bigger than I realized with over 300 rooms, which blew me away. He eagerly chatted to me about the expectations they had for the upcoming season. Once I set my bags in my room, he showed me to the ski room.
“The lodge is three buildings, and they connect via a sky bridge. Here, we will take an elevator to the bridge level where we can enter Building 2 where our ski outfitter is.”
We finally made it to the ski gear area.
“Here we are. We have your group scheduled to meet the instructors each morning at 9:30, except for today where we have you down for a half day starting at noon. You’ll want to come in here and get fitted for boots as soon as everyonegets here, so we can get those assigned with gear. And from here, we will just go down this walkway.”
