Snowbound

by MG Braden

  someone behind in a remote resort. And, from what Cassidy said, it was all over nothing. Rick had been

  the one to leave Cassidy alone on the slope earlier; he’d been the one sitting in the warmth of the cafe,

  while Cassidy froze her tushy off out there wondering where he was. If anyone should have left it

  should’ve been that poor girl. She became more steamed by the minute. What is wrong with people

  these days? Do they think love is something so easy to come by?

  She walked back to her office with the Cassidy situation weighing heavy on her mind. She knew she

  should just stay out of it, but she couldn’t stand to see someone hurting. Plus, she was never really very

  good at staying out of things. Truthfully, watching and helping people fall in love was what she did best.

  Some of her friends said that playing cupid was her hobby. Why else would I have sent Daniel up there

  to check on Cassidy when that Rick fellow came back all alone? Although Sandra had a rescue team at

  her disposal, she thought that Daniel would be a good choice. She figured Cassidy might need a friend

  since it looked like hers wasn’t interested. At the time Sandra thought she’d been keeping Daniel busy so

  he didn’t have time to become too entrenched with depressing thoughts about Natasha. She wanted this to

  be a healing time for Daniel. It had been a long time since Natasha had passed away. He’s a young man,

  it’s time he found love again. Now, after further thought, Sandra decided that it was destiny she had

  chosen Daniel to rescue Cassidy. Yes, yes. I think those two both need a little pick me up in their lives.

  As she stared at her list of guests signed up for ski lessons, an idea formulated in her head, and she

  picked up the phone. Cupid, you chubby baby, it’s time to play

  Chapter Three

  Standing at the bottom of the chair lift near to the run signage, Cassidy waited patiently for the rest

  of her group. Earlier in the morning, she’d found a note from Sandra slipped under her door. In it, Sandra

  had let her know that the ski lessons were all set up and gave instructions where to meet with her

  instructor. Cassidy felt much better this morning. After her previous evening’s chat with Debbie, she’d

  decided to stay for the whole week. More and more she realized that Rick had anger management issues

  that had nothing to do with her. She also suspected there was more going on that he wasn’t letting on.

  There were too many inconsistencies in his behavior that she’d always just brushed off. Cassidy didn’t

  know what his problem was and she didn’t want to think about it anymore. I’m ready to have a good time

  and forget about it for a while.

  “Hey everyone, I’m Daniel, your instructor. If you’re not here for a group ski lesson for blue runs,

  then you are in the wrong place.”

  Enmeshed in her thoughts, Cassidy hadn’t noticed Daniel ski up to the group. She hadn’t actually

  noticed anyone else arrive either; she tended to block things out when she concentrated on things.

  “It looks like there are only three of you today so that will give us plenty of room to maneuver. Also

  that will give me time to spend with each of you, one on one,” he said, looking around at the group. His

  gaze stopped when it reached Cassidy’s. “Hey, hi! How are you doing?”

  She smiled shyly and replied, “Fine, thank you. I didn’t realize you were an instructor here.”

  “I’m not usually, but when they need extra help they know they can call on me. I’ve been coming

  here forever, and I don’t mind.” Daniel smiled. Cassidy noticed his eyes seemed even more dazzling

  reflecting the sun that was shining today. “All right everyone, let’s head to the chairlift. When we get to

  the top just stand off to the side and we’ll reconvene.”

  Since the other two students seemed to know each other, Cassidy was paired up with Daniel on the

  chair lift. “So—any bruises from yesterday?” he asked.

  “Mostly to my ego. Sorry, again, about that. I see the weather has cleared up beautifully today

  though. It’s hard to believe it was so bad not even twenty-four hours ago.” She smiled shyly at him,

  feeling nervous, but not quite sure why. Maybe because he’s a cute guy and you keep getting lost in his

  eyes. Come on girl—he’s just another guy—even if he has the most gorgeous eyes you’ve ever seen.

  He laughed. “No worries at all. The weather can change fast around here. I’m just glad I found you,

  and that you were able to make it down safely. Those goggles you were wearing were terrible. I’m sure

  they made the visibility even worse.”

  “They weren’t great,” she agreed. “I only get the rejects. Rick gets the top of the line stuff.”

  Embarrassed to be bad mouthing Rick, she added, “Oh well, he can afford it I guess and it was nice of

  him to buy me goggles in the first place.”

  Daniel seemed like he wanted to say something and then changed his mind. He just nodded, glanced

  around and then back at her. When he looked at her she noticed he blinked more than usual.

  “Is there something in your eye? Do you want me to check for you?” Cassidy leaned toward him.

  “No, my eyes are just very light sensitive so I tend to blink a lot. Unfortunately, I left my sunglasses

  back at the lodge—whoa.”

  The chair lift came to an abrupt stop. They were almost to the top when it stopped. As their chair

  gently swung back and forth, Cassidy took a moment to take in the view. It’s so peaceful up here.

  Especially since no one is yelling at me today.

  “So, where’s Rick today? He off skiing black diamonds?”

  She wasn’t sure what to say, but decided on the truth. Quietly she said, “No. He left.”

  Daniel seemed to misunderstand. “Done skiing already? Ah well, I know there’s a game being

  shown on the big screen in the lounge this afternoon.”

  “He left the resort. He left me.” The words came a little louder, a little more defensively, as if

  daring Daniel to make something of it. At that moment, the chairlift jerked to life again, and they both fell

  silent.

  * * *

  Wow! Daniel tried to conceal his reaction from Cassidy. I can’t believe that guy just left her here

  all by herself. First he leaves her on the run, and now this. What a world class jerk!

  From what little Daniel knew of her, she seemed like a nice girl. But, even if she wasn’t, that didn’t

  entitle someone to abandon her like this. He’d been surprised to see Cassidy in his ski group as she

  seemed to be a decent enough skier. However, he thoroughly enjoyed talking with her, so he was happy to

  have her as part of the group. As they reached the top of the lift, Daniel noticed Cassidy stiffen and

  become tense. She had a death grip on the two poles in one hand, ready to push off with the other. “It’s ok,

  it slows down—there is plenty of time, just push off and go to the side.”

  Cassidy smiled at him and pushed away from the chair. Tension still lined her face, even as she

  sidestepped out of the way to avoid skiers behind from running in to her.

  “We’re over here.” He indicated the other two students and led the way over to them.

  “Sorry, I always get freaked out that I’ll get stuck on the chair and have to go all the way around

  again.”

  Daniel watched the red flush up Cassidy’s face and witnessed the shame in her eyes. He wondered

  if Rick was the one who put that look there and decided that no one ought to feel that
way—ever. “Hey,

  I’m sure it’s happened to everyone once, but I can show you some tips that might make it easier for you,

  ok?”

  Cassidy nodded. He wanted to give her confidence, to tell her there was nothing wrong with being

  scared sometimes. Mostly he just wanted to tell her that all guys weren’t like Rick. Instead, he said

  nothing. It wasn’t his place.

  They were now standing with the other two students, who were women he guesstimated to be in

  their mid-forties. He pulled the list from his pocket and read that their names were Diane and Nancy.

  Each of them were dressed in one piece ski suits in very bright colours, one in hot pink, the other in lime

  green, and they seemed to have the latest in ski gear. He realized the women were looking at him

  expectantly, so he shoved the list back in his pocket and cleared his throat.

  “We’re going to start over on Paradise so I can assess where each of you are in your abilities.

  Follow me, please, ladies.”

  * * *

  They were half way down their third run on Paradise. Cassidy stood off to one side watching the

  debacle in front of her. The other women, calling each other “D” and “N”, constantly had trouble doing

  any move Daniel asked them to make.

  Right now, the one in hot pink, “D”, was saying she didn’t understand how she was to bend her

  knees and asked him to help “move her into position.” She’d actually said that. Cassidy couldn’t believe

  it. It had taken her all of five minutes to realize these women couldn’t care less about learning to ski and

  were likely here to pick up a man. Any man by the looks of it, as “N” had accidentally run into one of the

  other ski instructors whose group was on the other side of the hill. Daniel seemed oblivious to it and kept

  trying to encourage the other two by telling them they almost had it.

  Cassidy rolled her eyes, but just did whatever they were supposed to do next. At least it was

  amusing and, if nothing else, it kept her mind occupied. She also enjoyed being around Daniel. He was so

  easygoing. She didn’t feel threatened by him. It was nice to see someone who was so relaxed and honestly

  giving. Rick never relaxed, he was always uptight about something. But then again, she knew Rick was

  passionate in all things, it was in his nature. That passion is what drew her to him in the first place, and

  what now separated them. So far Daniel had made time for everyone, although the other two women

  seemed to need more of it. It was obvious he tried to be fair. He always called Cassidy over and made

  her feel like she was part of the lesson. Truthfully, she could already ski, she just didn’t like the harder

  runs. She preferred to stick to the green and blues. It was more relaxing that way. She’d never intended to

  take lessons and if Sandra hadn’t signed her up she still wouldn’t have. Seeing that Daniel and the other

  two had moved quite a ways down the slope while she stood there daydreaming, Cassidy skied down to

  them.

  “It’s about time,” said Nancy.

  “Yeah, we have been waiting forever, and I’m famished,” added Diane. “Didn’t you notice us

  waving up at you?”

  “No, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Nancy and Diane appeared affronted that someone wouldn’t pay attention to them. “Well pay

  attention now, because it’s lunch time and we’re done. Daniel wanted the group together so he could give

  us some information about tomorrow.” Nancy had a snarky tone in her voice as she talked and she tapped

  the top of her ski poles impatiently.

  Well excuse me! Thought Cassidy.

  Daniel appeared not to notice the animosity between the women and said, “Ladies, we did pretty

  well today but we should have made it a bit further. Maybe tomorrow we can each try more on our own

  before asking for help. I don’t think you are giving yourself enough credit—you can handle these simple

  moves, no problem. We’re going to start on Brazen tomorrow; we’ll just meet up at the top of that run,

  ok?”

  One of Diane’s eyebrows rose and she put a gloved hand on Daniel’s arm, “Brazen? Hey, I like the

  sounds of that. What can I do to get a private lesson?”

  Cassidy rolled her eyes again, while Daniel just laughed along with Nancy and Diane. “See you

  tomorrow, ladies.”

  Cassidy skied away, trying to decide whether to get some food or just keep skiing. She certainly

  wasn’t tired since all they had done was stop and start all morning. Thinking about Diane and Nancy,

  Cassidy laughed softly. “Talk about coyotes...”

  “You mean cougars,” came Daniel’s voice from her left side.

  As he skied up alongside her she replied, “What?”

  “You said coyotes but I think you meant cougars... I mean I assume you were talking about Nancy and

  Diane.”

  Cassidy was embarrassed. “Yes, but I didn’t realize I said it aloud. How rude of me.” She didn’t

  feel too bad because those women were truly awful. However, she was sorry she’d spoken the words out

  loud and that Daniel had caught her being catty.

  Daniel’s blue eyes twinkled in amusement. “You weren’t being rude, no one else heard, and even if

  they did they probably wouldn’t know what you were talking about. I just assumed it was them because,

  well...”

  “Yeah.” Cassidy nodded, feeling totally in sync with him at that moment. “You wanna grab some

  lunch?”

  “Sure. That’d be great.”

  “Great, I’ll meet you at the bottom, I want to take this side run and hit a few moguls. I’m feeling a

  need for speed.” Daniel took off.

  Watching him ski away, Cassidy definitely liked the way his ski suit molded perfectly to his athletic

  build and the way his powerful legs made his skis cut across the mountain. Just as he reached the entrance

  to the side run he turned and waved. She waved back, feeling a bit giddy. Oh for goodness sake Cass,

  you’re acting like those other two now, all giggly! Oh well, it was nice to feel happy and free for a

  change. She didn’t feel like she was walking on glass. As she made her way down the rest of the run

  Cassidy thought that maybe staying here on her own wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  Chapter Four

  Cassidy got off the chairlift, a lot more easily thanks to some advice Daniel had given her. “Hey!

  Lady—watch out!” a voice yelled, and a snowboarder jumped out of the way.

  Distracted by Diane and Nancy, she’d almost skied over a teenager who was clicking his boot into

  a snowboard. Holy smokes! What are those two up to now?

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you ok?” she asked the snowboarder. “Jeez, Cass, could you knock any more

  people over on this mountain?” she muttered to herself.

  The snowboarder didn’t respond, just mumbled some stuff that sounded like expletives and took off.

  Cassidy stopped moving, but her gaze never left Diane and Nancy. I don’t believe it . The weather

  today was fantastic and warm, so Cassidy had worn a light sweater over her ski pants. She also had a

  windbreaker tied around her waist in case she needed it later. Apparently Diane and Nancy had decided

  that they were on a beach. They were each wearing bikini tops with some kind of stretchy-type tight ski

  pants. Spring skiing conditions were nice and it did get quite warm, but that was ridiculous as far as

  Cassidy was concerned. What if you fell wearing som
ething like that? Talk about snow burn! The

  women were certainly garnering a lot of attention. She noticed a group of guys gathered around talking to

  them, Daniel included.

  Cassidy was slightly disappointed that Daniel had joined the fray. He seemed to be just as

  enamoured of the older women’s assets as the others. She shouldn’t really be surprised that he was just as

  interested in half naked women as any other guy, but the more she got to know him the more she thought he

  was different than most of them. Cassidy had spent a lot of time with Daniel since they started the lessons

  a couple of days before. This was the third, and last, day of their group lesson. I’m really going to miss

  this… well, maybe not this. More like, I’m going to miss seeing Daniel every day. She rather liked

  skiing with the group in the morning and then having lunch with Daniel. Yesterday they even went skiing

  in the afternoon, just the two of them. He was a very relaxed guy who seemed at ease wherever they went.

  He obviously made friends easily. He was constantly being hailed by other skiers around the resort.

  He had told her about his love of volleyball, softball, and a variety of other sports. She was fairly

  intimidated since she wasn’t that athletic, although she tried. Obviously very fit, she noticed his very

  muscular arms while he was stripped down to his t-shirt. Cassidy assumed this was from all the lifting he

  did at work. However he got that way, it was definitely good. Daniel appeared to be single. She hadn’t

  actually asked him yet, though she desperately wanted to. It seemed whenever she tried to turn their

  conversation in that direction, somehow they always got sidetracked. Unfortunately, they had spent most

  of the time talking about her and how she felt about being abandoned here at the resort. Truthfully, she

  was becoming more and more aware of how much she didn’t miss Rick.

  “Cassidy—hey, Cassidy, we’re over here.” Daniel waved her over.

  Sighing, she made her way over to where the group stood. The other men were reluctantly

  dispersing. “C’mon now, everyone, let’s get going. This is our last day and while we did pretty well on

  Brazen...” Daniel was interrupted by a fit of giggling from Nancy and Diane. Sheesh, what are they?