“What do you mean?” I asked, my friendly smile waning.
“Have you ever driven in the snow before?”
I shook my head. “No, but I promise I’m an excellent driver.”
She didn’t look convinced. “All of you warm weather folks flock to our small towns for vacation, and you get into accidents on our icy roads. Causes problems for everyone.”
I guess I had to add winning over less-than-friendly locals to my list of things to accomplish.
“I’m actually moving here for a while,” I informed her.
She gave me a bored look before typing something into her computer. “In that case, you better take one of our SUVs. They have four-wheel drive and snow tires.” She eyed me one more time. “You’ll need both.”
“Great,” I said with more cheerfulness than I felt.
After another fifteen minutes, I managed to talk the reluctant woman into handing over the keys to the car that I had paid for and made my way to the lot. As soon as I exited the building, I was pelted with the coldest air I had ever felt.
I wrapped my arms around my body. The windbreaker wasn’t doing anything against these frigid temperatures. Maybe I hadn’t known what I was getting myself into. They never looked cold when they walked through snow-covered, candlelit streets in the movies.
Before I could think of another negative thought, I looked up and witnessed the most stunning views I had ever seen. I was surrounded on all sides by jagged white-capped mountains. They towered over the airport and everything surrounding it.
“Wow,” I breathed.
I forgot for a second how cold I was as I stepped in a small circle, taking in all three-hundred-sixty degrees of gorgeous views.
This was the right decision.
* * *
A short uneventfuldrive led me to The Key Ridge Ski Lodge, where I had told Bev I would meet her. For all the fuss the car rental lady made about driving, I expected a lot worse. The roads were clear, and I felt no less comfortable driving here than I did in Florida.
I parked the car in the front lot and took in my new surroundings. The lodge was a Bavarian building that looked like it was plucked straight out of the Swiss Alps. It was a shade of cream that stood out against the white snow and it had dark brown trim everywhere with a brown pointed roof to match. It was even better than the pictures.
“Mattie.”
I looked up to see a tall woman in a green parka, Bev, waving at me from the lodge’s entrance. To my dismay, an annoyingly attractive man with a permanent scowl etched on his face was next to her. Giles.
Waving, I approached them. “Bev, hi. It’s so good to see you again.”
“Glad you made it okay.” She shook my hand.
I then extended my hand to Giles, who eyed it with distaste. Great, guess his attitude hadn’t changed.
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
“A windbreaker. But don’t worry. I plan to buy some warmer things now that I’m here. Florida didn’t exactly have a lot of options.”
“Clearly,” he replied, looking at my forehead instead of my eyes.
I touched my stitches self-consciously.
“What did you do to your head?” he asked, leaning in closer to inspect. He had his hand up as if he was about to move my fingers out of the way but then recoiled when he realized how close he was to me.
“Oh, you know. Just the standard golf cart accident.”
His eyebrows shot up into his messy dark blonde hair. “I definitely do not know.”
He waited for me to elaborate, but I just snickered awkwardly and cleared my throat, shifting from side to side.
