“I’m so sorry to bother you, but it appears that I’m locked out, and we are absolutely frigid cold right now. I see that your power is on. Do you think that I could perhaps come in and use your phone?” I was so caught off guard by the woman standing on my porch, holding a shivering dog, that I just nodded and let them in. It was the woman staying next door. The womanfrom the gondola ride. The woman who had been creeping into my thoughts ever since I saw her yesterday, and I didn’t even know what to say right now.
“Of course,” I mumbled. Then I remembered my phone was broken. “Except, uh, my phone is broken.” I shut the door behind them to keep the heat in the house, when I saw her eyes look beyond me. I kept it unlocked, as I didn’t want to put off any creepy vibes, and she nodded.
“Oh, okay then. Mine is inside my chalet. What should I do?” My mind was blank as she spoke. Did she say she was locked out?
“I, uh, have a key for the other chalets. Which one is yours?” Her eyes widened as I spoke.
“Why doyouhave a key tomyrental?”
I was digging through my kitchen drawer when I found the keyring. “Long story.”
Her jaw dropped. After a long pause, she mumbled something under her breath. “Okay, then.” She looked at me with her arms crossed, still holding her dog. I could tell she was skeptical. Just waiting to jump down my throat with questions, but there was a hesitation. Finally, she relented, looking around my chalet. Mine, unlike the others, had rustic barnwood floorsand ceilings. What no one ever talks about is how barnwood is the most expensive type of material you can get. I liked it because it reminded me of home on the ranch.
“I’m in chalet ‘2’,” she said.
“Here you go. Do you want me to help you?” Chivalry isn’t dead, but as soon as I said it, I wondered just what I would be helping her with.
“No, that’s okay. I think I can manage.” She smiled a radiant, toothy grin, took the key, and spun around on her heels. “I’m Presley, by the way. Here for the week. Hopefully, the power comes back on.”Presley.
“Ford. Nice to meet you, Presley.” She didn’t turn back around. “If you need anything at all, I’ll be here.” This was entirely out of character for me, as I had been retreated from the entirety of civilization, but it didn’t seem like Presley even knew who I was. And that was fine with me. Then, she stopped in her tracks.
“Wait! I knowyou.” A pit formed in my stomach at her words. Then, she pointed to the tiger gator on the hook near my front door. “You sat across from me in the gondola this morning.” She grinned again, nearly taking me out with relief. “I was wondering who was under that mask. Well, I better go. Thanks, Ford.” And with that, she was back outside, and the doorshut behind her. The snow melting on my floors was the only sign she had been there at all. I caught myself going to the window at lightning speed to see if she made it back into her chalet next to mine, and she did.
“Get a grip, Ford. You have too much riding this weekend to be distracted by a woman. Not to mention, your decision about dating again.” Talking to myself was a sure sign I’d been alone at home for too long. Now, with this neighbor situation? I was in trouble.
Chapter 3:Presley
Locked Out, Let In
Knocking on a random door made me remember all of those true crime specials I watched late at night in college. Sure, the likelihood that someone in one of these chalets was a serial killer was low, but neverzero.So, when the door opened to a little old lady looking in my direction, I was relieved.
“Hello, dear,” she said, with an endearing southern accent.
“Hi, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’ve just been locked out of my chalet. Do you possibly have a phone I could use?” Her eyes widened as she shook her head.
“No, I’m afraid not. I’ve managed to not keep up with technology, much to my children's chagrin. My kids are still out on the slopes. They have one, if you’d like to come inside and wait? I have the fire going. If your little one can wait outside, that is. I’m deathly allergic, I’m afraid.” As she pointed atPriscilla, I didn’t bother with a spiel about her being more hypoallergenic than most dogs. I certainly wasn’t looking to impose, nor was I willing to keep Priscilla outside. I looked down to the rest of the chalets. I thought I’d start with number one, to see if anyone could help me, but I still had eight more.
“That’s okay. I might come back if I can’t find one sooner,” I said, giving her a smile. She reciprocated the gesture and shut the door, and Priscilla and I chugged on.
Trudging through the snow that separated the chalets, I considered my options. If someone wasn’t in the rest of these with a phone ready to use, I could walk to the nearest business and see about using their phone. But, when I got said phone, who was I going to call? I hadn’t thought that one through. I’d have to remember the name of my property management company I booked through. Was itMountain Chalet’sorChalets in the Mountains? Groaning, I realized I’d have to ask them to look up a few sites so I could confirm even which one it was. Once again, my insecurities and trauma of being called “too much” by the last few years of dates—which admittedly were few—came back into play. I had been trying my hardest to tiptoe around people, lest they caught on to my reputation.
The truth? I didn’t think I was too much of anything. I was successful in my career, inquisitive, and creative, but why did that mean I must become a doormat for men to wipe their feet on, so that they didn’t feel less than? I just didn’t believe God created me with my gifts and abilities to be putting them away whenever a man came around. Ugh.
Shaking off my past, I handed it over to God as I stepped onto the cleared driveway of the next chalet. “Lord, I am perfectly content with Your love. I do not need a man to fulfill me.”
As I peered up at chalet three, a glow from inside and a humming of a generator told me this chalet was prepared for an outage. It gave off an amber glow like a lantern in this blizzard. I excitedly knocked on the door. But nothing could prepare me for the handsome jawline that opened the door.
It washim—the cowboy from the billboards. I was certain of it. That stubble, that jawline—the scar on his face. He was drop-dead gorgeous, and there I was, mumbling about needing help. I took in his looks; he had dark brown hair that was long enough to run his fingers through, but short enough that it was manly. Several inches taller than me; I’d guess he was six feet tall. He relented, and I was inside, dripping wet snow overhis beautiful, barnwood floors.Oh, these puppies are heated, too. He has good taste.
Ford, as he introduced himself, told me his phone was broken. There was a real epidemic of phones around these chalets! Was Sage Mountain where smart phones came to die? While contemplating this, I got momentarily lost in his chestnut eyes. It was so warm and toasty in there, I found myself starting to not care when he said he had a key tomyrented chalet. Why, why, why? I had so many questions, but—I stopped myself. That was usually where I got into the danger zone, and people wrote me off before they even knew me. Wait. Why did I care? Was it not just thirty seconds ago I told God I was perfectly content?
His chalet was a little more. . . rustic. Personalized. I realized this chalet wasn’t a rental, but he owned it. Ifmychalet was “alpine chic,” this was “ranchrich,”I decided. I wondered if he lived in it full time? Was he single or married? I didn’t see a ring on his finger, not that I was interested. I reminded myself and God, as I was constantly clueing Him into my every thought, but just for the sake of knowledge. I did work in publishing, after all. Heck, I might write a book of my own one day and this could be prime information, whether or not this handsome—err,the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen up close,was available.
Available or not, he certainly didn’t seem emotionally available. His words were few, but there was a kindness to him. A stillness. Maybea water that ran deep, if you will. Exactly the type of man that I repelled with my every move. My thoughts went back to Parker, a guy I went on two dates with. One more date than usual. He told me I was beautiful and brought me flowers. I thought,this could be it.But by the end of the date, he said being around me was akin to experiencing the Spanish Inquisition. How was I supposed to know that I couldn’t ask questions about the movie he picked out for us to watch on his backyard projector? I just wanted to know the name, who the actors were, and the year it was made. Was this popcorn from a bag? I tried to avoid seed oils. Who did the landscaping? It was nice but needed a strand of twinkle lights. Back to the movie, I may have looked up the filming location when he lost his mind. Turned the movie off. I was hurt, but shocked at his true colors. The man went from sweet and kind to angry and short tempered. I was relieved that I found out when I did rather than months down the road.
Now, as I stood before this hunk of a cowboy, I kept my pain to myself and let our encounter be short lived. No lollygagging. No loitering of any kind.
It was when I turned to leave, with the key to my chalet in hand, that I noticed the tiger mask hanging from a hook, and the words were out of my mouth before I could control it. I could feel the energy in the room change as if he was cringing that I was still here. But he was sitting across from me in the gondola that morning. Now I knew why he was wearing the disguise—he was quite a famous figure. I knew better than to point either of those facts out. He was just trying to have a good time. I smirked at the thought of that woman going on and on about how good looking he was—little did she know he was sitting next to her!
