Laurie’s Wolves(10)

She blew out a long breath. At least they were on a path where they could be found now. She was shaking so badly, it was a wonder she could keep moving.

Zach looked up hill and then down. He smiled. “I think we’re in luck. The first cabin should be inside the tree line below us.”

She hoped so, for both their sakes. When exactly would she agree to go skiing again? She tried to smile at the thought of how perfectly her lesson had gone all morning and how horribly the day had ended. Would she forever be tainted and unwilling to get back on the lift?

The answer to that was obvious. She would be fine. She just needed to pull herself back together and find a way to put mind over matter. Until the storm had come, she’d been doing splendidly. And she would again too. Another day.

Luckily, Zach was right. In just minutes she saw the edge of a cabin to her left. She let her shoulders relax as they made their way toward it. “How are we going to get inside?”

He grinned. “Hidden key.”

More relief. And the cabin looked so quaint and inviting as she approached. When she stepped onto the tiny porch, Zach finally released her hand. He stabbed his skis and poles into the snow next to the front door and bent to fiddle with a rock next to the edge of the porch. A second later, he held up a key triumphantly and then easily opened the door.

Laurie stepped inside. It was dark. The blinding snow made the afternoon seem like late evening. She shivered as she tugged her gloves off.

Zach reached for the light switch on the wall. “Let’s pray the electricity is on, or we’re going to find ourselves very cold.” He flipped the switch, and a smile spread across his face. “Thank God for one small favor.”

“Why isn’t somebody renting this?” she stepped back so he could shut the door, dropping her gloves to the floor. “Isn’t this like peak season?”

“These six cabins have been closed for a few weeks for renovations. We should have done them over the summer, but it wasn’t until last month that several things went wrong at once. They needed new appliances and updated outlets. It takes a while to get that sort of work done in the middle of winter. They’re scheduled to reopen this weekend.”

She looked around. The cabin was rustic and small. One room. But cozy. On the left was a sort of kitchen area with a small half-size refrigerator with a microwave on top. A little table with two chairs sat next to a sink that had about two feet of counter off one side.

The other side of the room had a queen-size bed that made her nearly moan. She was so cold and so tired. A door next to it undoubtedly led to a bathroom. “Please tell me there’s a shower in there.” She twisted her head around to face Zach.

He smiled again. “Yep. And if we’re lucky, there’ll be hot water.”

She scrunched up her face.

“Fortunately for us, the electricity has been restored, which means we should be in business.”

“Who normally stays in these? They aren’t exactly huge.” She loved the little cabin with every piece of her soul at the moment, but she couldn’t imagine arranging a romantic getaway with someone this high up the mountain where anything could go wrong and there were so few accoutrements.

Zach pulled off his own gloves and dropped them to the floor. He reached for her jacket next and tugged the zipper down. As he helped her out of the coat, he spoke. “They’re meant to be rustic. You’d be surprised how many people like the idea. They’re so secluded. The guests wear a backpack with just a few items, take the lift to the top of this slope, and ski down to their cabin. They can come and go from the cabin at their whim every day and stop whenever they want to rest or call it quits.”

She glanced at the kitchen. “They can’t exactly do much cooking?”

“Yeah, but who cares? We keep the fridge and microwave stocked with precise items they already know about before they rent the cabins, and they hardly have to lift a finger. Frozen dinners. Easy meals. No responsibilities. We even haul their clothes and gear up here for them when they arrive.”

“I guess.” She let her coat fall to the floor and worked on the zipper to her ski pants with shaky fingers. “What are the chances that refrigerator is stocked today?”

Zach cringed. “Slim. But cross your fingers. Maybe someone has been up here replenishing since they open again in a few days.” Zach took several heavy steps across the room and opened the small refrigerator. The inside was half full. “Perfect. Good enough. We won’t starve.”

She smiled. “Hopefully we won’t be stuck long enough to starve anyway.”

He made his way back across the hardwood floor and fiddled with the thermostat. Instantly the heat came on, making enough noise for her to know it worked. And a vent over her head blew out cold air.