The Winner Is Love

by Stephanie Payne Hurt

  Chapter 7

  When the interview was over they got into the SUV that was waiting on them. They sat in the back and Andrew sat in the front with the driver. Her bags had been brought down while they were talking to the reporters.

  Stacy watched the scenery go by outside the window, not knowing what to say to any of these men.

  Slade sat watching her curiously. Most women would be talking his head off. Stacy was even prettier in person. He was pleasantly surprised. He could tell she was uncomfortable.

  “Stacy, have you ever been to Denver?” He said, breaking the silence.

  “No, this is my first time. It’s gorgeous. We definitely don’t see much snow in the south.” Stacy turned and smiled at him. Her smile was contagious.

  “I like Atlanta. I was there last spring filming a movie.” He turned back and looked out the window, his mind wondering about how this weekend would go. He was used to women just falling all over him. It was a nice change to have one that seemed to be keeping a distance.

  Andrew turned to look at Stacy. She was smiling so broadly as she watched the snow covered scene rush by. “We are almost to the cabin. I do hope you enjoy it Stacy. It’s a special place and you seem to be a special lady.” He smiled when she gave him a look of surprise. “Even a Hollywood manager can tell when someone is genuine.” He winked at her and turned back to watch the road.

  She smiled and the butterflies started back up. They would soon be totally alone for three days. She just hoped that he was not expecting a hot steamy three night stand. That was not the way she did things. She turned to look at him. He was looking out the window. He looked relaxed which she figured didn’t happen too much.

  They slowed and turned into a drive that went straight up a hill. The drive was tree lined and narrow. It was like out of a mythical novel. She kept expecting to see fairies or unicorns to come out to greet them.

  When the drive ended at an opening in the trees she gasped. The little cabin turned out to be a chalet. The front went up to a peak that was at least two stories high. Windows were from the ground to the roof in the center of the chalet. It was a log exterior and had shutters and gingerbread trim like you would find in Bavaria.

  When they pulled to a stop in front of the door, she opened the door and stepped out into the cool clean fresh air. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and smiled with her face toward the sun that still had a little warmth. She could hear water babbling over rocks somewhere in the back.

  “Do I hear water?”

  Andrew laughed. “You have good ears. That’s the mountain stream that runs through the back of the property.” He laughed again when she left all three of them standing there to go around see the stream.

  “Where is she going?” Slade asked as she walked swiftly past him.

  “Our little southern belle is enjoying the snow. I think we hit the mother lode with this one. She doesn’t look like a serial killer or psycho path.” He patted Slade on the back and walked to the edge of the chalet to watch as Stacy walked over the bridge and stood with her eyes closed.

  The driver grinned and nudged Slade. “Man, I wish I were you. She’s something special.” He grinned as he unloaded their luggage and started taking it inside.

  Slade walked over to the edge of the bridge. “It’s nice here.”

  She snapped her head around and realized she’d totally left them to the luggage. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me to just run off like that. It’s just so mystical here. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful except in pictures. I might actually get some rest and relaxation here.”

  “That will be nice for me too. I don’t normally get very many vacations, especially from the press. I don’t think they can find us up here.”

  She stepped off the bridge and looked at the back of the chalet. “This is not what I expected. They told me a small cabin. I had pictured a one room cabin with no electricity.” She giggled when she saw his look.

  “Oh, please say there is electricity.” He headed toward Andrew. “Andrew, we do have electricity up here don’t we.”

  Andrew grinned. “Yes and running water and the bathroom is actually inside the chalet.” He winked at Stacy. Slade just grunted and walked inside.

  “That was cute. Glad to hear the bathroom is inside.” She laughed and followed Slade inside. She was speechless as she took in the rustic décor. It was simply unique. On one end was a huge stone fireplace and the driver was already starting a fire. She noticed that to the right of the entrance was an open kitchen with a table in the corner. On the other side of the entrance was a mudroom. Then overlooking the open living area was a balcony. She could see three doors. She walked up the stairs and saw that it had two bedrooms and one bath upstairs. The bathroom had a huge garden tub with jets and a window overlooking the outside stream.

  One of the bedrooms was decorated in antique quilts and folk style décor. The other one was decorated in Bavarian style with the huge bed that looked to be cut from huge trees. She walked out and ran into Slade.

  “Well, which one do you want?” She asked him.

  “I don’t care. Just so mine has a bed I’ll be happy. I travel so much that I’ve learned not to be too picky.”

  “I’ll take the one with the quilts on the walls. It reminds me of my grandmother’s house.” Stacy smiled and walked into the room. Slade poked his head in and laughed.

  “Well, it’s rustic.” He walked into the bathroom and growled. “There’s no shower, just great.”

  She came into the bathroom and laughed. “There’s plenty of bubble bath. I guess that is the name of the game this weekend.” She winked and walked back into the hall. Andrew walked up the stairs.

  “Andrew, there’s no shower man. I’m not a bubble bath man.” Slade grinned at Stacy. She blushed from her neck to the top of her head. She had a sudden picture of him ensconced in bubbles with the moonlight shining through the window.

  “Slade, you’ll live. You can always go to the waterfall for a shower.” Slade growled something and walked to his room. Andrew turned and grinned at Stacy. “Good luck. It seems our Slade is ruffled.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Just keep him fed and he shouldn’t bite.”

  “I heard that.” Slade said from the doorway. “I’m just adjusting that’s all. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” He looked at Andrew pointedly.

  “I do as a matter of fact. Ok you two, the pantry and fridge are packed. Also one of the restaurants in town fixed two complete dinners and they are in the fridge. They sent them with us in the SUV. I have my phone if there is an emergency. Have fun and don’t feed the bears.” He turned to go back down the stairs. “Oh and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He wiggled his eyebrows, a devilish grin forming on his face.

  “Goodbye Andrew.” Slade said it in a final tone.

  “Thanks for everything.” Stacy called down from the balcony. She had a sudden feeling of nervousness now that they were officially alone.

  “Well, now what? Do you have any idea what we do now?” Slade looked at her questioningly.

  “I am going to unpack, then sit in front of the fire for nostalgia with a cup of hot chocolate.” She giggled and walked into her room leaving him open mouthed and shocked. She really was different than he had expected.

  He leaned in the doorway to her room watching her unzip the suitcase. As soon as she opened the top she screamed and shut it quickly. He laughed and walked into the room. “What’s in there a snake?”

  She was blushing again. She held the lid down and laughed. “Not a snake, but a surprise none the less.” She couldn’t believe Randi had done this to her. Sometime during their packing party last night she had put a very sexy nightie in her suitcase.

  Slade was standing beside her staring at the suitcase. She was not letting him see that thing. He would get the wrong idea. He reached out and before she could comprehend what he was doing he had the lid of her suitcase open and there on the top of all her clothes was the
red and black lacy nighty.

  He pulled it out and held it up. You could see everything on the other side of the room through it. Oh, she was going to kill Randi. He grinned and handed it to her.

  “Nice choice in sleep wear, but you might get cold in that thing. Good thing you picked the quilt room.” He laughed at the mortified look on her face.

  “My friend did this as a joke. I’m going to strangle her when I get home.” She snatched the garment out of his hand and poked it in the pocket of her suitcase.

  “I’ll just go unpack my suitcase. Wonder if I have a surprise in mine.” He laughed as he walked out of the room.

  She sat down and groaned. How embarrassing. She finished unpacking and picked up her cell to call Randi and of course, no signal.

  As she walked down the stairs she noticed Slade standing in front of the window watching the snow falling. This was like a dream come true in a lot of ways. He turned to look up at her.

  “It’s snowing. I guess the walk in the snow I was going to offer is out for a little while.”

  “Well, it was a nice thought. Do you want some hot chocolate?” She walked into the kitchen looking in the pantry. She couldn’t believe how well stocked the pantry was.

  “Sounds good, but we don’t by any chance have some of those little marshmallows do we?” She jumped when he spoke from right behind her inside the pantry.

  “I don’t know. We have a lot of food here. You look on that side and I’ll look on this side. How many people are they expecting to feed in here?” She located the hot chocolate and he came up with little marshmallows.

  “Looks like we won’t get hungry.” He followed her out to the kitchen counter. She filled two mugs with water and put them in the microwave. In just a few minutes they were sitting in front of the fire with hot chocolate.

  “The fire feels wonderful.” She said as she sipped her chocolate.

  He got up and headed back to the pantry. “I thought I saw some sugar cookies somewhere in the pantry.” He went into the pantry and came back with a bag of cookies. “Now it’s perfect.”

  Stacy laughed as he sat down beside her and offered her a cookie. “Thanks, I love sugar cookies, especially this time of year.”

  “So, do you like the holidays?” He took a bite of his cookie and sighed. “These are great.”

  “I love the holidays. I decorate everything at my house that doesn’t move.”

  He laughed. “I don’t decorate much, but I do have a tree in the den. My housekeeper makes sure I have something to come home to.” He looked into the fire as if suddenly lost in thought.

  “Don’t you like the holidays?”

  Slade grinned. “I do, but most of the time I’m out of town during the holidays.”

  “You travel a lot don’t you?” She turned and put her feet up under her.

  “A hazard of my career, I’m usually out of town over half the year.” He leaned his head back on the couch.

  “I bet you’ve seen some really exotic places.” She was suddenly curious about his life.

  “I can say I’ve seen a lot of places. I’ve been to several countries and learned different cultures. Sometimes though it’s exhausting waking up in different cities weekly and the jet lag is murder.” He looked tired just talking about it.

  “That would be horrible, especially the flying. I hate to fly.” Stacy shivered just thinking about it.

  He grinned. “It helps having a private plane. That was the first big purchase I made when I hit it big. That way I can come home when I get ready.”

  “Private or not private, flying still is not my thing.” She groaned and leaned back.

  Slade got up and put another log on the fire. He looked out the window. “Boy, it’s really snowing hard now.”

  “I didn’t check the weather before I left civilization. I wonder if we’re in for a blizzard.” She watched the snow start falling harder. It was beautiful.

  “Well, we ought to have enough food.” He laughed.

  “True, we shouldn’t starve.” She took another cookie and settled in to get warm. Just watching the snow falling outside made her shiver.

  He grabbed the quilt that was folded on the chair arm and draped it across her lap. “You’re shivering. I’ll check the thermostat. It’s getting chilly in here.”

  She smiled and snuggled into the quilt. “Thanks a lot Slade.” It felt funny calling him by his name.

  When he walked back into the den he had a funny look on his face. “I found out why it’s getting chilly. The heating unit is not working. I’ll go outside and see if something is blocking the sides of the unit.” He started to go upstairs. “I’ll get my jacket.”

  She got up and headed up behind him. “I’ll go with you.”

  They put on their jackets and headed outside. The temperature had dropped since they arrived. They walked around to the side of the chalet. Slade checked the unit and saw nothing from the outside. “I guess it just has something internally wrong. Sorry I don’t know anything else to look for.” He shrugged and turned to look at her.

  “That’s fine. We will just have to keep the fire going.” She knew it would get cold not having any other heating source.

  “I will try to turn it on a little later or maybe it’s on a timer.” They walked back inside and went to stand in front of the fire.

  “At least from the looks of the stacks of wood on the back porch we can keep a good fire going.” He turned to warm his hands.

  They sat down and got comfortable, both drifting off to sleep.