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Here, perhaps, was the way out. “Sir, my duty is to stay beside Mrs. Sutton for the duration of her trip to Helsinki. And I am required to remain in uniform. If I cannot enter the sauna, I’m afraid that I cannot allow Mrs. Sutton to enter the sauna.”
Mrs. Sutton sent a look of profound gratitude his way.
“Well, it won’t be very comfortable for you,” Koskinen said as the elevator doors slid open, “but I can’t imagine anyone objecting to your requirements.” He blocked the door from shutting prematurely with an extended arm and gestured for them to enter, sending Halo a smile. “Of course, you can remain dressed in the sauna as you provide security for Mrs. Sutton.”
Chapter Five
September Third
Haute Nendaz, Switzerland
Tapping on her blinker, Deidre turned into the ski chalet’s parking area. “What are you thinking about?”
“Deer.” Mary looked into the tree line, where the slope was covered with snow. It was hard to fathom the change from two days ago when she’d gone shopping in shorts and flip-flops.
“Okay. Random.” Deidre slowed to maneuver into a parking spot.
“These two juvenile deer were eating grass by the electrical lines the other day. On a whim, I called out to them in that kind of high-pitched voice I use for coaxing dogs.”
“Yeah?” Deidre threw the gear into park and turned in Mary’s direction.
“They took a few steps toward me, then looked at each other and stopped. So I kept doing it.” Mary pitched her voice higher. “Hi, babies. Aren’t you beautiful? Are you such sweet deer?”
“Yeah?”
Mary was back to her normal speaking voice. “And they kept coming toward me. Tentative. Unsure about what was going on, I thought, Mary, what the heck are you doing? You can’t teach deer that humans are safe. So then I told them to go on about their day.”
“Interesting. Why were you thinking about that?”
“Just that they acted like stray dogs. I want a dog in my life.” Mary looked down to unbuckle. “I need a dog in my life.” Mary looked up to catch Deidre’s gaze. “Instead, I’m out there calling wild deer to my side. Ridiculous.”
“What’s stopping you? The shelters are full of needy pups. You’re already fostering that terrible cat.”
“My job.” Mary sighed. “I can’t figure out how to have a dog in my life since I’ll be doing twenty-four-hour shifts when I start my job as a flight nurse.”
“Maybe you could find someone who wanted to co-parent with you? You could share custody.” Deidre put her hand to her chest. “Not me. I’m a goldfish person. That’s about all the care I want to give outside of work. But someone. Maybe even a nice single guy kind of someone?”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Mary opened her door and climbed out. The air was brisk. And while Mary had layered on the warmest clothes she’d packed. When she put her things in her suitcase, she hadn’t contemplated being on a ski slope in summer.
Walking toward the cute little ski lodge on the other side of the lot, Mary thought wistfully that what she’d like to do this morning was sit in the window and quietly sip on a cup of hot cocoa. But she had already convinced herself that this ski trip would be different from her other attempts. And that if she wanted to break down the barriers that made her afraid to build new competencies, she would have to get used to that space of discomfort that came with trying new things.
She’d spent most of the drive up the mountain encouraging herself.
Deidre reached out, swatted Mary’s arm, and pointed at a guy parachuting directly over the mountain's peak. As he descended, the women could make out the skis strapped to his feet.
“Wow,” Deidre said. “Talk about extreme sports. Can you imagine jumping out of a plane in order to find a patch of virgin snow to ski?”
“Hardcore.” Mary shielded her eyes with the blade of her hand.
“What happens if you crash and burn on the landing?” Deidre asked. “Who would go up there to save you? How long would it take?”
“Not the rescue crew I’ll be working with. That’s some high-tech, specialized shit. You’d have to be equally ready to just risk it all to effect a rescue like that.” Crashing and burning wasn’t really what Mary wanted to talk about right now.
Mary had been on skis twice in her life. Once, she’d gone cross-country skiing as a teen in West Virginia and, within view of the lodge, had moved over a patch of snow that hid a pit. She went straight down so the skis didn’t release. The snow had filled over her, and she was effectively buried up to her neck. A group of scouts came over, laid on the ground, and used their mess kit skillets to dig her out. So that was a treat, Mary thought sarcastically. The second time she went skiing was a Christmas gift from Deidre. Deidre loved to ski and wanted Mary to be able to join her. So there she was, taking private lessons from a very patient ski instructor.
Mary hadn’t been able to get her legs to cooperate even as the instructor called out instructions and encouragement. She hadn’t mastered even the basics required to get on the ski lift—the uphill sidestep and pizza-wedge stop. Finally, Mary had told the guy there was something physically wrong with her, and she needed to head in from the “Potato Patch.” The instructor seemed relieved.
Mary went to the clinic and discovered she had double pneumonia.
