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“No, I can’t say that I have—but then again, we’ve never skied anywhere quite so small before.”
“That’s true.” I adjust my goggles over my eyes and put my wrists through the straps of my poles before shouting to Nigel over my shoulder. “See you at the bottom!” I glide easily through the powdery snow, quickly reaching the bottom of the hill a few minutes later.
When I come to a stop and turn to look around for Nigel, I hear a loud shriek before someone hits me hard, and we both fall to the ground in a heap of tangled skis and poles. As I try to remove my skis, I notice who it is that ran into me—the beautiful woman in the neon green ski jacket. “I’m so sorry!” she gasps. “I’m not sure what happened. One minute I was fine, and the next I was losing control and barreling into you.”
“It’s okay—I’m fine. Are you alright?” I ask as I help to untangle our skis.
She nods her head and blushes. “I think so. Just embarrassed, that’s all.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Accidents happen.”
“I know. I’m so clumsy that they happen to me often,” she says with a small laugh.
I smile as I help her to her feet. “We all have those days.”
“Thanks. I’m Sarah Duncan, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Sarah. I’m Jeff Hastings.” We both reattach our skis before skiing over towards the chairlift where Nigel is anxiously waiting. I give him a subtle nod to reassure him that everything is okay before introducing the two of them to each other. Once introductions are finished, I turn to Sarah and ask, “If you don’t mind me asking—where are your friends? I thought I saw you inside earlier with a larger group.”
“Yeah, I was. My friends wanted to ski down one of the more difficult runs, but I need more practice before those. We’re going to meet up again later.”
“Ah, I see. Well, since you’re on your own, you’re welcome to join Nigel and I until you need to meet up with them.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Don’t worry—you wouldn’t be imposing. You don’t mind if she joins us, do you Nigel?”
“Not at all,” he says with a smile.
“Okay, then. Thank you—I’d really like that.”
“Ride with me?” I ask as I motion towards the chairlift.
“Okay.”
“You go on ahead, Nigel. I’ll ride up with Sarah.”
Nigel obliges and takes the next available chair. Sarah blushes as she catches the next chair beside me. “You didn’t have to ditch your friend to ride with me, you know. I would have been fine on my own. At least I think I could have managed to get on and off the chair without falling again,” she adds with a grin.
“Yes, I believe you would be fine on your own, but I enjoy talking with you.”
“Me too.”
We’re both quiet for a minute before Sarah asks, “Where are you from? I haven’t heard your accent before.”
“I’m from a small country in Europe that nobody has ever heard of. It’s called Rohemia.”
“You’re right, I haven’t heard of Rohemia before,” she says with a laugh. “So, what brings you all the way to the Upper Peninsula?”
“Honestly, I just needed to take a break from my duties for a while. I wanted to get away from everything and go somewhere that would allow me to truly experience the Christmas holiday for a change, instead of being burdened with obligations throughout the holiday.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place for experiencing Christmas. Everyone here decorates their homes for the big holiday lighting contest so there are a lot of awesome displays to look at, plus there are horse-drawn sleigh rides with caroling and hot chocolate.”
“That sounds wonderful! I think I saw something about a parade as well?”
“Yeah, Ironwood—the next town over—has a Jack Frost parade every year. It’s a lot of fun to watch as long as you don’t mind freezing to death,” she says with a grin.
“You mean it gets colder than it is right now?”
