11
Brent wandered around the Wintervale Resort, attempting to get some steps in. He considered taking the gondola up to the top of the mountain and do a few runs skiing, but going alone didn’t appeal to him. Especially when he knew Candace couldn’t do much of anything.
He wandered over to the front desk where a woman stood leaning against the back table, scrolling on her phone. When she saw him, she immediately set it down and stepped closer to the desk.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
“Hi. I was just wondering if there are any events going on around town that would be easy to get to? I’m here with family, and a person in our group was injured on the mountain and is on crutches.”
She nodded. “Actually, the Wintervale Christmas Market is going on. It’s right across the street. The snow has been cleared from here to there, so she should be able to get there easily enough. Just be aware of ice.”
He glanced out the front doors and furrowed his eyebrows. The parking lot stretched in front of the building and along theside. It would be a decent distance to crutch, and he wasn’t sure Candace would be up for that.
“You guys wouldn’t have a wheelchair we could borrow, do you?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, we don’t.”
A man stepped out of a room behind the desk and smiled at the woman before meeting Brent’s eyes.
“We don’t what?” he asked her.
She gestured toward Brent. “Someone in their party was injured on the mountain and is on crutches. I recommended the market to them, and he was asking if we had a wheelchair they could borrow.”
The man furrowed his eyebrows. “That is a long way to crutch, and pretty dangerous with the ice.” He stepped closer to the desk and held a hand out to Brent. “I’m Jackson, by the way.”
“Brent.” They shook hands.
“I work on the resort grounds. We just finished clearing a path over there, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend crutching over that until the ice melt has had a chance to work.”
Brent sighed. “I knew it was a long-shot with the snow. We’re just feeling a little cooped up, and I was hoping to get her out of the hotel for a bit.”
“Give me just a minute. Let me see what I can do.”
Brent nodded as Jackson disappeared back through the doorway he had come from. The unmistakable sound of crutches clicking on the floor had Brent turning around to find Candace. She had just come off the elevator and was moving through the lobby.
He waved. She smiled and crutched over to him.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked.
He tipped his head toward the front doors. “Seeing how I can get you out there.”
“What?”
“There’s a Christmas Market going on that I think would be fun to go to.”
She looked wistfully toward the door. “That sounds fun. But crutching through the snow doesn’t, so I think I’ll pass.”
He reached out and brushed her arm. “Just wait.”
Candace’s eyes bounced between his, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Jackson walked back into the lobby.
“Good news,” he said. He smiled brightly at Candace and held out his hand. “Hello, I’m Jackson.”
She propped a crutch under her arm and shook his hand. “Candace.”
Jackson held up a set of keys. “I have a golf cart that we typically don’t use in the winter, but I’m going to fire it up and get you both over to the market.”
Excitement flickered in Candace’s eyes as she looked over at Brent, and a smile spread across her face.
