by Gerri Hill
“No, no. To get the full experience of it, you need to ride in the front.”
Lexie watched as Kyler’s breath frosted around her as she spoke. Yes, it was Twenty-eight degrees and she was outside and about to go sledding, of all things. Kyler met her gaze questioningly and she smiled at her.
“I love it.” She spread her arms out. “Everything. I love it. I feel like I’ve been missing out. I’ve been living my life indoors and didn’t realize how alive your senses get being outside. Everything is brighter, fresher. The air, the sky. The trees.”
“The birds,” Kyler added.
She laughed. “Yes. The birds.” She motioned to the sled. “Okay. Let’s do this. And if I end up in Limpia Creek, I’ll be so pissed,” she warned.
“I’ll dump us before we hit the creek, but it may not be a soft landing. It’s not that much snow, you know.”
“Better than the creek.”
Kyler placed the sled at the top of the hill, but not so far that it was pointed downward. Lexie got on, not knowing where to hold.
“Put your feet against the front and hold on to the sides.”
“You have handles. Why don’t I?”
“Don’t know. Doesn’t matter. I’ll be holding on to you, not the handles.”
“You will?”
“Of course.”
She felt a little safer with Kyler behind her and yes, she was holding on to her. Her breast, that is. She leaned back against Kyler, smiling.
“We could skip sledding,” she offered quietly. “Go to your place.”
Kyler slowly removed her hand. “Have I told you how great it was last night?”
“Not since last night, no.” She turned to look into her eyes. “But it was great, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I like it a lot.”
“Good. Me too.” She turned a little more on the sled, enough to meet Kyler’s lips in a slow, sweet kiss. Oh, yes, she liked this woman. Why did she think Kyler wasn’t her type?
“You ready for me to take you on a ride?”
Lexie grinned. “Well, I’m ready for you to take me somewhere,” she teased.
“Hold on. It’ll be a thrill.”
With that, Kyler pushed them down the trail and Lexie let out a scream as she was flung forward. Kyler’s arms pulled her back against her and she fought against her instinct to squeeze her eyes shut as they flew across the snow-covered hill. She barely registered the cold, biting air as they barreled through it. The white snow was but a blur as they whirled along, Limpia Creek getting closer and closer. She braced herself, fearing that Kyler wouldn’t get them stopped in time. Then she felt Kyler’s weight shift, felt the sled lean to the left. She closed her eyes then as they tumbled into the cold, wet snow.
The landing was softer than she’d imagined—no rocks dug into her shoulder as she skidded across the snow. She finally opened her eyes, seeing the deep blue sky and nothing else.
“Was that great or what?”
She laughed then. “That was so much fun.” She sat up. “Can we go again?”
Kyler stood and pulled her to her feet. “Sure we can.” Then she pointed from where they’d come. “As soon as we climb back up.”
Lexie looked where she pointed. The top of the hill seemed like it was miles away. “Good lord. Did we really go that far?”
She found herself holding hands with Kyler as they trudged back up the hill, pulling the sled behind them. The snow was deeper than they’d thought it would be as they sunk down several inches with each step.
“How much did we get?”
“Probably six inches.”
“I took some pictures this morning. The feeders in Mom’s bird garden were covered with snow and I got one of those…” She paused. “House finches?”
“Little birds with red on them?”
“Yeah. Those. Anyway, I posted it on Facebook.” She stopped. “It’s the first thing I’ve posted since I got here. I was looking through older stuff and it was all mostly things I’d been tagged in—out at bars on Sixth Street or brunch or something. This was such a contrast. Like it didn’t belong.”
Kyler tilted her head. “Like you don’t belong?”
She squeezed her hand. “Like I don’t belong there. The last thing posted was me sitting in a dark corner at a bar, holding a drink in each hand, surrounded by friends. It was my going away party. I looked at that picture this morning and—even though I was smiling—I could see how miserable I was. My eyes were lifeless. Yet, that was normal. It was just another Saturday night out on the town,” she said with a wave of her hand. “It was dark and dreary. So putting the picture of the bright sun shining on the snow, the birds at the feeder—the contrast was too large to ignore.
“I feel like that, Kyler. My life was dark and dreary and depressing. Now? Now I feel light and cheery and happy. Like a weight has been lifted off. A weight I didn’t know I carried.” She met her gaze. “You’re a big part of that, you know. Not the only part, certainly, but you’ve made me see things differently.” She moved closer, looping her arms across Kyler’s shoulders, matching her smile. “I like being with you.” She kissed her gently. “I think I like everything about you. Your gentleness, your flirty side, your tree-hugger side.”
“Birdwatcher?” Kyler asked hopefully.
Lexie grinned. “Especially that.”
“So you’re saying that I’m practically irresistible?”
Lexie laughed. “Yes. Practically. Now I can say that.”
She leaned closer and kissed her again, letting Kyler pull her close. When they pulled apart, they were both smiling. Who knew having an affair would be so much fun? Without another word, they began the trek back up the hill again. She looked up to see how far they had to go, and she saw someone standing there, watching them. It was Mark. She had a moment of panic. Did he see them kiss? She pushed the panic down. So what if he did see them? It wasn’t like they could keep this a secret forever. She decided she didn’t want to. But when they got to the top, Mark’s expression was no different than normal.
“Hey,” Kyler greeted. “I didn’t think you were going to show.”
“Well, since my kitchen staff couldn’t make it in, I figured no customers would either. I put up a sign, said I’d be back in an hour.”
“Are they sanding the road yet?”
Mark shook his head. “I didn’t hear any trucks. Y’all got the park closed?”
“Not officially, no. Self-pay, but I’m sure we won’t have anyone come out, even after the road is sanded. Only the one RV out here. They’ve got the whole place to themselves. Pretty sweet deal.”
Lexie pointed at the round disk he held. Pink, no less. “That’s your sled?”
“Oh, yeah. This thing flies down the hill. You want to race?”
“You’re on!”
Despite them having a longer, sleeker sled, Mark beat them easily. In fact, he was going so fast, he barely got stopped in time. He ended up on the bank of the creek, only a few feet from the water.
“Damn, you were fast!”
“Now that was fun!” He got up and dusted the snow from his jeans. “You should try it.”
Lexie shook her head. “I think two times walking back up this hill is enough for me.” She turned to Kyler. “What about you?”
Kyler shook her head. “I tried it last year.”
Mark laughed. “She ended up in the creek.”
“Did you really?”
“I did.”
When they got back to the top of the hill, Mark was the only one who wanted another ride. They stood there watching as he sailed back down the hill, his childlike laughter carrying up to them.
“It’s nice to see him being so relaxed,” she said, smiling as he tumbled out at the edge of the creek again.
“You too,” Kyler noted.
Lexie bumped her shoulder. “Yes, I am. I’m cold, but I’m relaxed. What a great way to spend the morning.”
Chapter Forty-one
Mark offered co
ffee and breakfast and they readily agreed. It had been fun, but her teeth were beginning to chatter from the cold and a hot cup of coffee sounded heavenly.
“I will attempt to make Maria’s breakfast tacos. Come on back to the kitchen.”
She and Kyler sat around the table in the back and sipped on coffee while Mark threw a few potatoes into the microwave.
“No way she nukes them,” Kyler said.
“Sure she does. Then she crisps them up with onions in this pan,” he said, holding it up. “I’ve watched her. I didn’t pay much attention to the seasonings though. And she puts something in the eggs.”
“Peppers? I’ve seen little green things in there,” Lexie suggested.
Before long, he had onions and potatoes frying in the pan and he was whisking eggs in a bowl. An entire jalapeno had been seeded and chopped and Mark added that to the eggs.
“Too much,” she said too late.
In another pan, he put four strips of bacon for him and Kyler. Lexie wrinkled up her nose. She hated the smell of bacon.
From the freezer came a package of tortillas. Kyler shook her head. “And no way she uses frozen tortillas. They taste like they’re freshly made.”
“These are hers. When she’s got leftovers, she freezes them. They taste like fresh.”
Lexie shredded some cheese for them, and Kyler found a jar of salsa. Mark topped off their coffee cups again and they sat down to their feast. After one bite, they were all reaching for water.
“Now that’s some kind of spicy,” Kyler said as she cleared her throat. Then she smiled. “But I like spicy.”
“Maybe I put in a few too many peppers,” he conceded.
“It’ll warm you up, that’s for sure. But it’s very good.” She took another bite. “Guess we didn’t need that salsa.”
“Can you stay and go over the food order with me?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m looking forward to it.” She turned to Kyler. “What are you going to do today?”
“I’m going to go fill all the birdfeeders and hang around and see what kind of birds pop over. Later, I’ll probably go out on a trail. I love to be in the woods after a snowfall.”
She met her gaze. “Can I go with you?”
“Of course. Call me when you’re through with your food stuff. We’ll meet up.”
She looked over at Mark, seeing the faintest of smiles on his face, which she ignored. Twenty minutes later, they’d cleaned up the kitchen and Kyler had taken her leave. The smile he’d been suppressing all morning lit up his face now.
“What?” she asked.
“Told ya so.”
“Told me what?”
He moved closer and touched her nose with his index finger. “Are you in love with her yet, sis?”
“Oh my god! We hardly know one another.” She was sure she was blushing, but she gave him a smile. “So no, I’m not in love with her. We’re just having a little fun.”
“Is that all it is?”
“Yes. That’s all it is. Don’t think otherwise because you’ll be disappointed. Besides the fact that we’re both wrong for each other, I don’t even know if I’m going to stay here.”
“Wrong for each other?”
“She’s not my type, you know that. She is so at home up here, it’s ridiculous. Me? I’m at home in a city.”
“I thought you liked it here.”
“Oh, I do. I love it, in fact. It’s given me the chance to relax and slow down and take a breath. But do I want to live here forever? Right now, I’d have to say no. And this is something I told Kyler—if I stay here a year, five years, whatever, I’ll lose my skills. Things change so quickly in technology, if I’m not in the game, it’s going to pass me by.”
“So you’ve made up your mind?”
She heard the disappointment in his voice and she shook her head. “No, Mark. I haven’t. These are just things I’ve been thinking about. And, of course, worrying that Mom and Dad are going to pack up and leave me here.”
“Can you handle things if they do?”
“I can handle the reservations. I can do payroll. It’s when something breaks that’ll be the problem. It’s keeping things stocked. Cleaning supplies, for instance. Toilet paper for the rooms. She’s told me how she does inventory, but she’s not actually walked me through it.” She was starting to panic, picturing them leaving her with a wave as soon as Christmas was over. “I think this is too much for me. Too soon.”
“Sis, from what Mom has told me, they wouldn’t leave until February or March. They’d go to Florida for a couple of months, then come back to check on things. It’s not like they plan to leave you here for six or eight months on your own.”
“Regardless, it’s daunting when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.”
“Lexie, I can help too, you know.”
She met his gaze. “I’m scared, I guess. I don’t want to make the wrong decision. What if I feel stagnant? I’m used to working in a fast-paced, professional environment. This is the complete opposite of that.”
“Are you doing your thing again?”
“What?”
“Where you take everything apart and try to put it back together into a nice little package that fits into your life. Lexie, you worry about the silliest things.”
“They are not silly,” she insisted.
“Of course they are. You can have the best job in the world, but if you’re not happy in your personal life…then you’re not happy. Period. From what you’ve told me, you weren’t happy in either of them in Austin. That’s why coming up here appealed to you.”
“You’re right. I had grown stagnant in a job I used to love. And my personal life sucked.” She sighed. “It’s just such a big decision and I’m starting to feel pressured.”
“By whom?”
“By me.”
He smiled at her. “I know how you are. I know how you worry over things. I know how you like to have everything analyzed before you make a decision. That’s what you do. You drive yourself crazy in the meantime, but that’s what you do.”
“Yeah, you know me—I’m all about pros and cons.”
“Maybe you should listen to your heart and not your head. Hmm?”
“That would be the fanciful thing, but it’s not practical.” She held her hand up. “And not a word to Mom about this. I’m nowhere near making a decision yet.”
“And things with Kyler?”
“I told you, we’re just…having some fun.”
“An affair?”
She smiled and nodded. “We can call it that.”
“Are you worried that if you get close to her, it’ll have a bearing on your decision?”
He’d hit on the truth, hadn’t he? “Yes. And I’ve told her as much.” She waved her hand in the air. “I can’t see that it will, anyway. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”
“Just having a little fun,” he said, echoing her words.
“Yeah. A little holiday affair is all.”
Chapter Forty-two
Kyler found herself whistling a Christmas tune as she sanded the end of the hiking stick she was making for Lexie. She was sitting in the sunshine, having pulled a chair out from the maintenance shed. The temperature was near sixty and the snow from last week was nothing but a memory. It had lasted a good three days before it melted away as if it had never been. It was a fun three days though. She’d taken Lexie out on the trails and they’d enjoyed a hike. The deer were moving around more than usual, and they saw several groups of five to ten. There were lots of birds about and Lexie seemed to enjoy learning their names. The prize of the day was seeing a golden eagle soaring overhead. It was only her second time to see one and she’d been nearly as excited as the first time.
One night, Lexie had cooked dinner for them, and they’d eaten by the fire. They’d shared stories of high school and college, of first jobs and first loves. They’d talked and kissed and touched and talked some more.
Yesterday, she’d gone over
to the bar for lunch, hoping to meet Lexie there. But their Christmas crowd was starting to trickle in at the lodge, and Lexie hadn’t been able to get away. She’d enjoyed her time with Mark, though, in spite of him teasing her mercilessly.
And tonight, she had a dinner date. At the bar. For grilled fish. She’d been practically salivating all day thinking about it. Mark had the new grill installed, and they’d added a couple of things to the menu. He had warned her, however, that this would most likely be the very first fish that either Maria or Joseph had ever grilled, and she should lower her expectations.
She held up the stick, inspecting it as she ran a hand across the smooth surface. She’d hiked three trails before she found the limb she wanted to use. She’d cut it from the tree and brought it to the shed, letting it sit a day or two before starting on the sanding. It was sufficiently dry to stain and varnish, and she’d get that done in the next day or two. It was to be Lexie’s Christmas gift. Nothing quite says romance like a hiking stick.
She froze. Romance? No, that didn’t fit here, did it? They weren’t dating. Well, they were, sure, but not officially. They’d talked about it the other night, in fact. An affair. A fling. No strings attached. They were both in agreement. Lexie wasn’t even sure she was going to stay or not
She looked away from the hiking stick, her glance going out to the woods beyond the shed. A small boulder field was there and only a few hardy junipers had taken hold among the rocks. Farther up the hill, groups of piñon pine grew mixed with oaks. She heard the chatter of a squirrel and finally saw a bushy tail wagging on a limb. Other than that, it was quiet and still, with barely a breeze to be felt.
She sighed with contentment, noting that it felt a bit different. She loved her job, loved it up here in the Davis Mountains. She’d been content all along. But it was different now, wasn’t it? Who knew having a lover would bring happiness when she didn’t even know it was lacking? Not only a lover. A friend too. They were certainly both and they mingled the two aspects of their relationship easily. Even in bed, cuddling after making love, they could talk and tease—and flirt—like they did at any other time. It had been a seamless transition, going from friends to lovers.