She sounded panicked. “Are you joking?”
I laughed. “Yes. There aren’t really any flares or a whistle. You’ll probably just freeze to death if the bears don’t get you after they’re done with me.” I hopped out of the gondola and ran to shut off the lights.
When I got back to the car, Maddie was at the door, blocking my entrance. Her hands were on her hips, and she did not look very happy. Though I thought her attempt at looking pissed off was sort of sexy. There’s nothing hotter than a fiery redhead. I bet she was gorgeous when she was really angry.
“I shouldn’t even let you back in after what you just pulled.”
I smiled. “That’s fine. But you should know this gondola is going to take off in less than thirty seconds. It’s on a timer after I press start.” I held one hand to my ear and cupped it. “Did you hear that? The gear shaft just cranked into place. Less than ten seconds now. Nine. Eight. Seven…”
Maddie’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward and grabbed my hand, helping me up and into the gondola. “Oh my God, get in here!”
Once I was safely inside with the door shut, and the gondola still hadn’t started moving again, Maddie squinted at me. “You didn’t hear any gears shifting, did you?”
“Nope. Though it really would have taken off without me…in seven or eight minutes. I set it to take off in ten.”
Maddie shoved my chest, but she had a smile on her face. “You are just like a big brother, teasing and scaring the crap out of me.”
Once we were moving, she had her nose pressed to the glass, looking out the window. From the top of the mountain, you could see all the different ski trails, as well as the lights from the city in the distance. The snow had tapered off, but the fresh layer on the ground made everything seem to twinkle. It looked like a magical winter wonderland outside. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful Colorado could be.
“It must’ve been cool growing up here,” she said.
“Yeah, it was. People on the coasts live for summer break and sunshine. Most of us here lived for the first snowstorm. I grew up on these slopes.”
“So I guess you’re a pretty good skier then?”
I nodded. “I was an instructor right here at this resort for six years.”
“Oh, wow. Too bad we don’t have more time. My brother could have taught me how to ski.” She smiled.
I stared out at the slopes. “I haven’t skied in years.”
“Did you get injured or something?”
“Or something.” The shit that had transpired the last time I’d put on a pair of skis wasn’t anything I wanted to talk about, so I quickly changed topics. “Do you think you got some good pictures?”
“I definitely did. I can’t wait to download them to my laptop and take a look. It’s been a long time since I shot anything but grade schoolers. I forgot how invigorating it could be. I feel like I could run up this big mountain right now.”
Maddie’s eyes were wide and sparkling. Her entire face lit up like a little kid’s on Christmas morning. The beauty I’d been appreciating outside couldn’t hold a candle to this woman’s smile. Not even close. Realizing I was staring at her lips, I forced my eyes anywhere else. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I did. In fact, it was the highlight of my honeymoon,” she said with a laugh.
“That’s pretty sad.” I chuckled. Using my teeth to grasp the end of one glove, I yanked my hand out of it so I could dig into my pocket for the keys to the control station at the base of the mountain as we approached.
After we exited at the bottom, I turned off all of the lights, returned my snowshoes to the rental room, and locked everything up. Our driver pulled up within a few minutes.
I opened the SUV door and whispered in Maddie’s ear as she climbed in, “You might not want to touch anything in here.”
“Ugh. I’d almost forgotten about that. Did you have to remind me?”
I winked. “That’s what big brothers are for.”
The ride back to the hotel was luckily uneventful. Vail might get a shit ton of snow, but they definitely knew how to clear the roads. The main thoroughfares had already been plowed once and were much more passable than on our outbound trip. I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet, so I thought maybe I’d ask Maddie to have a drink at the bar with me again when we got back. But it turned out the hotel bar was already closed. I felt deflated, though it was probably for the best. The last thing this woman needed was me having a drink or two and hitting on her.
Once again outside our adjoining-room doors, we both lingered.
“Thank you again for tonight,” she said. “It meant more than you know.”
I smiled. “I’m glad.”
Maddie surprised me when she stepped forward and pushed up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “Goodbye, Milo. I hope you have a safe flight tomorrow.”
“Yeah. You, too, Mads. Take care of yourself.”
She opened the door to her room and turned back to wave one last time. All I could think as I watched her disappear was, I hope like hell this storm sticks around a while longer.
Chapter 4
* * *
Hazel
Normally, I had no problem sleeping in. But this morning I’d been tossing and turning since six am, even though I hadn’t fallen asleep until almost one. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the way I’d felt up on that mountain last night—how exhilarated and alive I’d been. My heart had thumped inside my chest, and it made me realize how long it had been since I’d felt that kind of excitement. It was as if I’d been dead the last few years, only no one had told me to lie down and call it a day.
Oddly enough, it hadn’t even been Hazel Appleton who had awoken. It was Maddie Hooker. The entire evening, starting with the crazy hotel check-in, had been more excitement than I’d experienced in a long time. And that said a lot.
Two months ago, I’d believed I was perfectly happy. Had Brady not done what he did, I’d likely be on my honeymoon with him at this very moment. That thought didn’t sit well with my stomach for so many reasons now. So many questions ran through my head.
Would I have been happy if Brady hadn’t canceled the wedding and we’d gotten married?
How could one night—a few hours with a random stranger—make me feel more alive than I’d felt over the last few years with a man I supposedly loved?
Did I love Brady?
Or did I love the idea of Brady?
Where did I go from here? Did I move back to Connecticut and slip back into my comfy life, taking pictures of runny-nosed school kids for the next forty years?
A sense of panic came over me at that thought, and I had to sit up in bed and whip the covers off.
God, I felt a little nauseous.
I needed to stop lying in bed and ruminating over my life. I also really needed to figure out what the heck was going on with my canceled flights. The airline had told me to check my confirmation number online, and eventually all passengers would be rescheduled onto new flights. So I reached over to the nightstand to grab my phone. When I signed in, I found they’d put me on a two o’clock flight connecting through Atlanta, instead of the direct one I’d had before. Though it probably wasn’t a good sign that the airline’s website had a bright red flashing weather alert, warning that there could be delays and cancelations again today.
I sighed and dragged my ass out of bed, off in search of some caffeine.
Downstairs, I grabbed two cups of the complimentary lobby coffee. I thought I might listen at Milo’s hotel room door and deliver one to him if I heard any signs that he was awake. It was the least I could do after all the trouble he’d gone to last night.
I didn’t even have to put my ear to the door to hear the television blaring in his room. I knocked lightly. After a minute or two went by, I figured maybe he was out already or slept with the TV on. But just as I turned toward my room, Milo’s door opened.
“H…” I never made it past the first consonant.
Oh.
Oh my.
Milo stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. Droplets of water ran down his chest…his very carved chest.
I swallowed.
“Sorry,” he said, running a hand through his wet hair. “I was in the shower.”
God, he had the most amazing body I’d ever seen. His shoulders were broad, his chest lean and sculpted, and his skin was perfectly smooth and tanned. Not to mention, that towel hugged the most delicious V.
“Uhh. Shower, right.”
I blinked a few times and forced my gaze to meet his before I got caught staring. But the cocky smirk and the glint in his eyes told me that ship had sailed. He’d totally watched me ogle him.
Milo folded his arms across his chest, and his smirk widened to a full-blown smile. “How did you sleep?”
“I…uh…slept.”
Seeming amused, he chuckled. He looked down to the two coffee cups in my hands. “Not much of a talker before you have your morning coffee?”
I nodded. “Ah…yeah. That’s me.”
“Is that why you have two?”
I shook my head and offered him one of the cups. “Oh. No. One is for you. That’s why I knocked.”
He took the coffee. “Thank you.”
At least one of us was completely at ease having a discussion in the hotel hallway with him wearing only a towel. Too bad it wasn’t me.
“Did you already have breakfast?” he asked. “I was going to knock and see if you wanted to grab a bite after my shower.”
“No, I actually didn’t. Just went downstairs for the coffees. I need to take a shower myself.”
“How long will that take you?”
“Umm… I don’t know. Maybe twenty minutes if I don’t wash my hair.”
He nodded. “Okay, sounds good. I’ll knock in fifteen.”
My eyebrows drew together. “Fifteen? Are you telling me to hurry?”
He winked. “I’d like a chance to appreciate you in your towel, too.”
I felt my face warm. Jesus. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d blushed, and now it had happened multiple times in the last twenty-four hours. “Very cute. You couldn’t let that pass, could you?”
Milo rocked back on his heels. “Not a chance, sis.”
“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “How about I knock on your door when I’m all ready?”
He shrugged. “Won’t be half as much fun, but sounds good.”
• • •
“I just want to thank you again for last night,” I told him over breakfast.
Milo finished off his side order of bacon and wiped his mouth. “It was no big deal at all.”
I sipped my second cup of coffee. “That’s the thing. Maybe it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was—for me, at least. I had trouble sleeping last night because I was thinking about all the things missing in my life. I’ve only been going through the motions the last few years. But when I was living the day to day, I didn’t realize anything was missing. And now that I do, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.”
He nodded. “I guess that’s why they say hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
I sighed. “Yeah, it definitely is.”
We were seated in the hotel restaurant next to a big picture window. Outside, the trees drooped with heavy snow, and fresh flakes were coming down again. “It really is beautiful here.”
“It is. I might’ve forgotten that over the last few years.”
We’d talked so much about me, yet I didn’t really know much about Milo other than he grew up here in Colorado. “What made you leave here and move to Seattle?”
Milo’s eyes stayed glued to the outside. “I needed a change.”
Something about his voice told me there was more to the story. I usually wasn’t one to pry, but this time, I did.
“Did you have an epiphany moment like I did last night? That you needed something more out of life and you went in search of it?”
Milo’s eyes slanted from the window to meet mine. He seemed to lose focus for a few seconds as he considered my question, then he shut his eyes and shook his head. “I lost someone close to me, and staying here afterwards was difficult.”
Oh God. Now I knew why I never pried. I felt terrible for bringing that to the surface. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“It’s fine. It was four years ago.”
I didn’t know what to say after that, so I just kept quiet. Milo called the waitress over and got another cup of coffee, and then a busboy came to clear our plates. The air still felt awkward a few minutes later. Eventually, Milo broke the silence.
“So I guess we both needed to get out of town to find a way to move on.”
I nodded. “I’m not sure I found my way, but I’ve definitely realized I need to make some changes.” I looked at the time on my phone. We’d been down at breakfast for almost two hours, yet it felt like ten minutes.
Fake Milo looked at his watch, too. “It’s getting late. I should probably go upstairs and pack up to get to the airport for my flight to New York.”
“New York? I thought you lived in Seattle?”
“I do. But I’m going to visit a friend after this, so I’m flying into JFK.”
“Oh. That’s funny. I’m actually flying to New York, too. But LaGuardia airport. It’s easier to get a direct flight there than the airport closest to me in Connecticut. I’d rather drive the hour home from New York than get stuck somewhere on a connection. Though my rescheduled flight has a connection now anyway.”
“What time is your flight?” he asked.
“Two. Yours?”
“Three.”
“Neither of our flights are going to go today,” he said.
“What makes you say that?”
“Round two of this storm is starting soon. The airport hasn’t even recovered from the wallop it took yesterday. I lived here for twenty-five years. The only local people who don’t know all the afternoon flights are going to get canceled are the people who work at the airlines.”
Yesterday morning I’d been dying to get home—so much so that I’d checked out of my luxurious hotel early and forfeited the small fortune we’d prepaid for our trip. Yet only twenty-four hours later, I wasn’t entirely upset at the notion of having to stick around another day. That is, assuming my brother stuck around, too.
“I guess we head to the airport and see what happens then?”
Milo rubbed the stubble on his cheek. “I was actually thinking of pushing off my flight until tomorrow. If we give up our hotel rooms, and our flights do cancel, there’s no chance they’ll still be available when we come crawling back with our luggage between our legs.”
“Oh. Yeah. Crap. I didn’t even think of that.”
“So what do you say? We both cancel, and I’ll take you on another adventure?”
“I don’t know…”
“Do you remember how you felt up there on the top of the mountain taking pictures last night?”
Of course I did. My body had an incredible buzz pulsing through it, and my heart had impersonated a runaway train—not that different from how I felt as I considered spending another day with Milo. Plus, I did have coverage at work for the next two weeks since I was supposed to be off, anyway. I really had nothing to rush back to. Maybe another adventure would bring even more clarity.
“You know what? Let’s do it. I’m in.”
I could see the smile in his eyes. “Excellent.”
“But I do have a request for our adventure today.”
“What’s that?”
“You teach me to ski.”
• • •
Well, what do you know? Apparently you needed appropriate attire to ski in Vail. Based on what I’d brought with me from Connecticut, I’d come prepared for sipping hot cocoa in the lodge, not actually skiing. Clearly, I’d had no intention of skiing when I’d packed to come here. Milo took me to a local shop, and we picked up items I hadn’t
even heard of, like ski underwear and ski socks. We bought special trousers, a ski jacket, and a new hat and gloves. I already had gloves and a hat, but I figured they’d be all wet by the time we finished today, so spares were needed. Milo also insisted on buying me a helmet. When I asked whether everyone wore them, he said it was a requirement for beginners.
After our shopping jaunt, Milo took me to a local ski resort he said he used to frequent. It wasn’t the same one where he taught.
“Is it even possible to learn to ski in a day?” I asked as we sat on the chair lift.
He winked. “With a good instructor, it is.”
Being on a chair lift was scarier than being on the gondola last night. Even though we weren’t going nearly as high, it was just so open and easy to imagine I could slip out. Though I sort of wished I’d had my phone to take some more pictures. The view up here was spectacular. I’d left it back at the lodge—probably one of the first times I’d parted with it in ages. I had a feeling I was about to make a huge fool of myself, so I could only hope Milo had a lot of patience.
Once we got out to the slopes, I began to doubt whether asking him to take me skiing was a good idea since I’d underestimated just how green I’d be.
I had to say, though, I didn’t exactly mind all the close contact as he helped me put on the skis, something I had no clue how to do.
“Listen for the click.”
“Did it click?” I asked.
“Did you hear it click?”
I shrugged. “No.”
“Then it didn’t click.”
Wiseass.
“You think I’m the biggest idiot, don’t you?”
He looked up at me and flashed a smile. “Nah. It’s kind of cute. I used to teach total newbies like you all of the time.”
“That’s right. I forgot you’re probably used to this.”
Once he’d helped me get my skis on, he said, “Okay, so now you’re gonna jump up and down to make sure they’re on right.”
Feeling like a goof, I jumped several times. “They seem good.”
“Congratulations. You’ve passed the first step of skiing, which is getting your damn skis on.”
My Favorite Souvenir Page 4