Grumpy Mrs. Frank-and-Beans was standing up for him.
“Do you know Harrison Conrad?” one reporter asked.
“No, I don’t know him. He just moved in.”
“Could you please ask him to answer his door?”
“I told you I don’t know him. But if he wanted to answer his door, I’m sure he’d do it. Now, stop making a racket, and move on.”
Conrad was going to buy her a box of chocolates.
He finished raking and bagged all but one pile of leaves, leaving that for Gabby to enjoy. He’d brought her back inside and was making himself a quick sandwich before heading to Esri’s, when someone pounded on the front door. “For fuck’s sake.”
He ignored it.
More pounding. “Conrad, it’s Moretti!”
Conrad set his sandwich on a plate and walked to the front door, Gabby at his heels. He scooped her up to keep her from running outside and opened the door.
Moretti stepped inside, closing the door quickly behind him. “How long have they been out there?”
“Since the ass-crack of dawn.”
“Shit. That’s crazy, man.” He held out a piece of paper. “I brought this.”
Conrad took it, saw that it was a job application for Ski Scarlet. “Thanks.”
“Matt, my supervisor, is holding a position for you. It’s yours if you want it. You need to fill this out and come talk to him in the next couple of days, or he’ll give the job to someone else.”
Conrad’s first thought was that the jobshouldgo to someone else, but opportunity had literally come knocking at his literal damned door with a job his teenage self would have loved. “Okay. I need a resume, right? I’ve never made one.”
“Print out that page from your website that tells about all the mountains you’ve climbed and skied. You’re Harrison fucking Conrad, man. You just need to walk into that office and say you want the job.”
“Yeah?”
“Hell, yeah.”
Three hours later, Conrad found himself sitting in the office of Matt Mayes, the resort’s Ski Patrol supervisor, wearing a sports jacket, clean shaven, his hair cut. He’d brought Gabby with him, not knowing how long he’d be gone.
Matt held out his hand, a broad smile on his tanned face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve read about some of your exploits. Who’s this?”
“This is Gabby. Kenzie Morgan is training her for SAR and HRD work. I’m fostering her for a while.”
“Fantastic. Kenzie does amazing work with dogs. She trained Charlie, one of our two avy dogs, along with my Boomer. She and Charlie saved a guy a couple winters back.” Matt petted the puppy then sat and motioned to a chair. “Take a seat.”
“Thanks.” Conrad sat and held out the completed job application and the page he’d printed from his website.
Matt glanced down at the paperwork. “I know you’re quite the alpinist—one of the best in the world. What about your skiing experience?”
“I’ve skied Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, the South Col of Everest…” Conrad stopped because Matt was staring at him.
Matt put the pages down, chuckled. “Okay, you can handle our slopes.”
“Yes, sir, I can.” Had there been any doubt?
“How about your EMT certification?”
“It’s good for another six months. I need to bulk up on continuing-ed hours.”
