Chapter 9

Cameron

It was Friday and the start of another very busy weekend. My first class was one of the more extensive ones. It was a beginners’ class, but we took more time with them, really getting them acquainted with the equipment, how to wear it, and what to do while on the slopes. Most of the class was actually held outside, since they would be putting on and taking off their skis the whole time. It was a cold class, but nothing I wasn’t used to since at most of the resorts, we did the entire thing outside. The class had filled up after two people canceled the day before, so I didn’t have to make any adjustments, which was a good thing since I was a bit sore from heading out to the slopes the whole day Thursday. It had been a while since I had been out like that, and my body definitely let me know how it felt about it. I had come back and taken a hot bath, but I still woke up with sore muscles.

“So,” Glen said, pulling the box of equipment across the snow. “Did you find that mystery girl from yesterday?”

“Yes and no,” I said. “When I went upstairs, I looked down in the courtyard, and there she was. I threw on my shoes and coat and ran out there, freezing my ass off. However, by the time I got there, she was gone, and I didn’t see her anywhere inside. I ended up going back to the bar and having a drink before heading out when the wind died down and spending the evening skiing.”

“Is that why you look like you are about a hundred years old today?”

“I guess I should have stretched beforehand,” I said, laughing. “But it didn’t help, anyway. I pretty much thought about that girl the entire time I was out there.”

“Uh oh,” Glen said, smirking. “A girl that has finally gotten to you enough for you to think about her more than just the typical time.”

“I don’t need your hell.” I laughed. “It doesn’t mean anything, besides the fact that she was pretty, and I am attracted to her.”

“Sure,” Glen said. “I mean, I chase down girls and think about them for hours because I’m just attracted to them.”

“Shut up,” I groaned. “She is not the typical girl. You didn’t see her. I can promise you, if you had seen her, you would have been bounding out into the snow after her, too.”

“No, probably not.” He laughed. “But I do wish I had been able to see you out there freezing your ass off, chasing a ghost of a woman through the snow. I have to admit, it warms my heart a little to know that maybe, just maybe, you aren’t a complete and total douche bag from hell.”

“Don’t count on it,” I said with a smirk.

We finished setting up everything just as the group of beginners made their way up from the bottom of the hill. One by one, we helped them off the lift, instructing them on where to go and how to set up for the class. Everyone had bright and shiny new gear, and most of them had bright and shiny new snowsuits. I was assuming neon was in fashion these days because the class looked a bit like a group of highlighters in the snow. The only exception were two girls, and I could only tell they were girls from the shape of their bodies, standing in the back row. They were completely bundled up from head to toe, including shaded goggles for the sun. At least their outfits were neutral colors. Otherwise, the brightness of it all might have blinded me. I looked over at Glen as he looked over the troops, shaking his head and lifting his shoulders. As usual, he started the class out, and I stood by, lifting up gear as we explained each piece and the purpose of those pieces.

“So, this is the latch that you will slip your boot into,” Glen said, holding up the boot. “Don’t do it yet. Just watch. We will get to all of it very shortly.”

The girls in the back were struggling to bend over or grasp anything because they were dressed like the little boy from A Christmas Story. I tried my best to hide my smirk and chuckle as the shorter one almost fell over, reaching for the taller one and nearly taking them both down. They looked so ridiculous bundled up like that, but I assumed they were probably from somewhere warm and had been bamboozled by the local shops into buying everything in the store for their probably one trip down the bunny slope. It must be nice being that rich that you can spend that much money on completely unimportant items of clothing, just to never wear them again. At least they didn’t have their cellphones out, not that they could press the buttons with the thickness of the gloves that they were wearing.

The wind had died down a lot since the day before, and I felt like if I had been bundled up like they were, I would be sweating to death by now. However, I guessed that I was used to the frigid temperatures, and some even worse. I can vividly remember a time where we were hired by the National Park service to come out for a week straight and give safety lessons to skiers who trekked to Denali to brave the natural slopes. It was definitely the most gorgeous place I had ever skied, but damn if it wasn’t bite through your jacket cold out there. After the first day, I had them take me to the closest town to get a temperature-rated coat and snow pants. That was what these girls looked like, except their movements were going to be very restricted because of all the layers. At least if they took a fall, they would just roll down the hill and not get injured.

When it came time to help everyone with their movements, Glen sent me over to the overstuffed girls, laughing at me as I tried to help them through their clothing. The short girl was hopeless, and had gone into full out laughing mode, sitting down in the snow and telling me to just help her friend. I shook my head and laughed, trying not to make them feel silly.

“What are your names?” I asked.

“I’m Hailey,” the one on the ground said.

“I’m Bea,” the tall one replied with a giggle.

“Are you girls from California?”

“No.” Bea laughed. “Believe it or not, we are from Colorado. You would think with the way we are dressed that we had never felt cold weather before.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything.” I chuckled.

“At least I won’t be cold when I go inside,” she said, a smile in her voice, though I couldn’t see her lips at all.

“All right, show me how to put on your skis,” I said, standing back.

She slipped her feet right into the latches, but grunted and giggled as she strenuously bent at the waist and clicked the straps in place. She then stood up and grasped onto the poles to keep her balance. We went through several different motions, her arms going in all the right places. She was actually pretty good at this, and I was a little surprised they were taking a beginners’ course.

“So, have you girls skied before?”

“Maybe when I was a kid,” Bea said. “Believe it or not, we live in a ski town, but work is so crazy, and until now, I didn’t have skis.”

“Oh, well, what do you do?”

“I’m a writer, a ghostwriter actually,” she said.

“What is a ghostwriter?”

“I write books for a publishing company, for authors that aren’t actually authors but want to publish a series of books,” she explained. “I sign my rights away to the material, and then the client purchases it.”

“That’s interesting,” I said. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

“Apparently,” Bea said, laughing.

“All right, Hailey,” I said, reaching down and helping her to her feet. “Your turn.”

Hailey was a bit more challenged by bending over, and her movements were a little jumbled, but they were good enough to make it down the mountain without breaking her neck. At least, I hoped they were. Part of me was curious what Bea looked like, since she sounded really sweet and probably around my age. However, her full-on mummy suit kept me from seeing more than her cheekbones, which was unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on the way that you looked at it.

“All right,” I said, looking back at the rest of the class. “Are we ready to make a run down the bunny slope?”

“Yeah,” the class said enthusiastically.

“You ladies want to go first?”

“Sure,” Hailey said.

“Why not? If we fall, we will just lay there as cushion for the rest of them.” Bea laughed.

Hailey situated herself at the edge of the hill and pushed off, letting out a little squeal as she went down. Not long after, Bea let loose, showing me really great form as she pushed through the white fluff, moving her skis back and forth. I was impressed at how quickly she seemed to catch onto everything. The ski down the bunny slope was the last thing they did with us for the day, so I liked to make sure every one of them made it down the hill safely. I felt that it was a testament to my teaching skills if they didn’t fall or lose a piece of equipment on the way down. My first two were a success, and I smiled as they reached the bottom and celebrated, ramming into each other with their cushioned suits and falling backward.

Everyone laughed as they went down, and I stood there waiting for them to clear the bottom before sending the next skier down. Bea threw her head back and pulled off her beanie and goggles, laughing wildly as she tried to climb to her feet. I stood there, slightly taken back, squinting my eyes down at the flashes of red glimmering in her hair. Her smile was bright and big, and she looked absolutely gorgeous surrounded by all the snow. I stopped the next skier for just a minute and moved to the edge of the hill, taking a closer look. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Bea was the girl that I had seen in the hotel the day before. I had spent the entire morning with her and didn’t even know who I was talking to. God, I was such an idiot. I had totally missed my chance, though I did get to talk to her for a little bit.

I looked back over at Glen, and he looked at me confused, walking over and putting his hand on my shoulder. He looked down at the girls as they dragged themselves off the bottom of the slopes and to the sidelines. He turned back to me and cleared his throat.

“You all right, buddy?”

“That was her,” I said, shocked. “That was the girl from the courtyard yesterday.”

“The ones stuffed like sausages?”

“Yeah.” I chuckled.

Glen laughed and moved down the line, double checking everyone’s skis and poles. One by one, the rest of the class went down the mountain without one incident of failure. My mind, though, was somewhere else at that point, and I was anxious to get down to the bottom myself and find this girl. By the time the last of the skiers had reached the bottom, Bea and Hailey were gone. I pulled my goggles down and clipped into my skis, taking off down the slope before Glen could stop me. I was going to find this girl.