Page 14 of A Bear Ski Instructor Christmas (Holiday Shifters of Frost Mountain)

“Rolls Right off the Tongue”

A series of giggles awakened Rachel. She fleetingly knew the sound came from outside, but it might as well have been in her head. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. It was morning. Soft light streaked into the cabin through the cracks in the wall. Rachel blinked again and sighed as she took proper stock of her surroundings. This was Michael’s bedroom. She was in his cabin.

They’d spent the night here.

No, she had. They’d had wild, orgasmic sex, and then she’d passed out on top of him. But Michael wasn’t here anymore. Frowning, Rachel picked herself up, got into her clothes, and left the room.

“Michael?” she called.

There was no answer. Her voice reverberated through the cabin. Outside, she could hear some of the villagers chattering excitedly. So the giggles hadn’t been just in her head.

Oh, right , she thought. It’s Christmas Day.

She wished she could share the excitement that had no doubt gripped every other soul in Melinor, but she was concerned with other matters right now. Michael was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone?

Rachel had been only half awake when she heard the rustling in the middle of the night. She’d figured he’d just stepped out of the bedroom, but he was gone. Her frown deepened. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks, but something didn’t feel quite right.

“Michael?” she said again, feeling somewhat foolish this time.

Still no response.

Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. She had no reason to jump to conclusions, especially after last night. Things had escalated so fast that she hadn’t even had time to think. In retrospect, the sex had been amazing. She’d expected no less from the man she knew and loved.

It was what had followed that haunted her now.

I love you. Those words had tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. At first, it hadn’t seemed too bad. She did love him, had loved him for a long time. But the silence that ensued had been enough to make her face burn with embarrassment. It wasn’t his fault—after all, it wasn’t like he didn’t love her. He just couldn’t remember.

Still, the silence had hurt. Her exhaustion was the only thing that had kept her from putting on her clothes and leaving the cabin.

Rachel was worried. She was worried because Michael was nowhere to be seen, and she was worried because she couldn’t shake the feeling that his absence had something to do with that I love you she’d blurted out last night. Did he feel like she’d come at him too strongly? Too suddenly?

She almost smacked her forehead. Wasn’t it he who’d kissed her? Besides, this was her lover she was thinking about, not some random guy.

But he didn’t see himself that way because he still couldn’t remember her, which was a huge problem because she needed him to remember how much he loved her. Rachel stood in the center of the living room, hugging her arms to herself as she stared into the fireplace.

You need to calm down, she told herself. He’s probably just at the workshop.

That made sense. Michael was almost always at the workshop with his friend. Who was to say he wasn’t there now? She really needed to take a breather. It was Christmas Day. The least she could do was try not to soil her mood with worrisome thoughts.

Just then, her gaze drifted to a corner of the room.

Wait a minute .

She could’ve sworn she’d seen Michael’s skis there last night. Now, the skis were gone.

Suddenly, the bits of information clicked together in her mind like pieces of a puzzle. Realizing where he must have gone, she exited the cabin in a heartbeat.

The streets of Melinor were crowded, villagers milling about celebrating Christmas. It was nothing like what Rachel was used to. They might as well have been celebrating New Year’s. But the joy and laughter that rippled through the crowds simply swept past her. She had only one concern right now: to find Michael.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, and her hand shot up to touch the silver ice skater pressed coolly against her throat. Something felt wrong, very wrong.

Rachel thought she caught sight of Reba somewhere in the crowd as she pushed her way through. Before she could turn and head for the chief, someone bumped into her.

“Ow!” she said, wincing. Blinking, she realized who it was. “Elena.”

“Merry Christmas.” The woman flashed her a smile that was too wide to be genuine and started to move on, but Rachel took her by the arm, earning herself a withering glare.

“Have you seen Michael anywhere?” Rachel asked desperately. “He’s gone. I think—”

“I don’t know where your boyfriend is,” Elena spat, wrenching her arm from Rachel’s grip. “It’s Christmas Day. I’ve got other things to worry about.”

Stifling a groan of irritation, Rachel continued to push her way through the crowd, ignoring the cheering, singing villagers as she tunneled a path toward the village’s entrance. The gate was shut, but the fence was low enough for her to climb over with no difficulty. Sucking in a deep, rattling breath, Rachel stared down the snowy slope. There was no sign of Michael except…

Footprints! Not far from her own feet, a short trail of large, fresh footprints extended from the fence, giving way to twin tracks going all the way down the hill.

Ski tracks, she realized.

They had to be Michael’s. The tracks were too fresh not to be his. He’d definitely gone skiing.

But he’d been gone since the early hours of the morning. Where was he now? He obviously hadn’t returned to Melinor. No fresh tracks or footprints were leading back into the village. A chill traveled to the base of her spine. Had something happened to him? Was he hurt?

The rational part of her knew it was absurd, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d disappeared, just like he’d disappeared three years ago. As far as she knew, there was no escaping Frost Mountain, so why did the thought that she might never see him again keep entering her mind?

She needed to look for him. The tracks were still fresh. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him. It hadn’t even occurred to her until now that her heart was jackhammering inside her chest. She should probably take a moment to steady her mind. But she didn’t have the luxury of time. She needed to find Michael.

It occurred to her that she should probably alert Reba, who would most likely organize a search party for him, but Rachel didn’t have that kind of patience. She hurried onto the snowy path, wishing she was great at skiing so she could follow the tracks more quickly. Too bad she’d given it up all those years ago.

The hill was somewhat steep, and the downward journey somewhat precarious, but she managed to head down the path without losing her balance. Cold seeped through her sweater, causing her to shiver, and the wind whistled in her ears as if warning her to turn back, but that wasn’t enough to stop her.

She soon lost track of how long she’d been moving, aware only of the fact that she was headed down the mountain, following the tracks Michael had left. It wasn’t until she came across a bend in the road that she ground to a halt. The tracks ended abruptly here.

Where was he?

“Michael?” she called, her voice tight with panic. Just what had happened here? “Michael, where are you?”

“Right here,” replied a weak voice, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. It had come from the trees.

“Michael!” She rushed forward, her heart slamming hard in her ribcage as she spotted him.

He sat leaning against a tree, one hand clutching the side of his head. Next to him were his skis. Rachel’s felt her stomach plummet. The wooden skis had been snapped in halves. Some blood covered trickled down the side of Michael’s face.

“You’re injured!” she exclaimed.

He looked like he might pass out, but he flashed her a smirk. “I’ll live, princess. Nothing a bath and some rest can’t fix. Too bad they don’t have painkillers in Melinor, though…”

“What were you thinking ?” Rachel was torn between giving him a well-deserved slap across the face and crying into his shoulder. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed. You could’ve—”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” His eyes twinkled. “This isn’t like Lee Canyon. I didn’t even wear the Santa suit.”

Something about him was different. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

He winced as he straightened. “I couldn’t sleep, so I hopped on my skis and…well, I was out for a while. Opened my eyes only minutes ago. Help me up, will you?”

Rachel had a good mind to tell him to stay put while she went to get help, but she doubted he would listen to her anyway, so she obliged, grunting as she pulled him to his feet. She staggered but quickly regained her balance. His hair was covered with snow on one side and blood on the other. The bleeding didn’t look too serious, but a concussion was no laughing matter.

“You’ll need attending to once we get back to Melinor,” she told him.

He grinned. “Let’s hope Elena agrees to tend to my injury after I turned her down.” When her eyes widened, he explained. “She came to me some nights ago.”

“Oh.” A question that she hadn’t realized had been burning inside her suddenly burst out. “Is that why you didn’t say—?”

“No, that was different,” he assured her. “I do love you, Rachel.”

She blinked at him. “You…you do?” Was he being serious?

“Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that last night.” He chuckled, then winced again. “I’m sure it must have been weird for you.”

“Oh, it was super awkward.” Her cheeks burned. “Just thinking about it makes me wish the ground would swallow me up.”

“Well…” He took a step toward her, sticking out a hand. “Maybe we could start over. I’m Michael. Michael Malone.”

What was he getting at? She shook his hand. “Rachel Reeves.”

His grin widened. “Rolls right off the tongue.”

He shot her a wink, and alarm bells went off in her head.

Wait, what?

Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I could…I could say the same about yours.”

He pulled her close, and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him for all she was worth. She felt his arms slide around her waist. It wasn’t until she heard him grunt in pain that she returned to her senses. By the time they pulled apart, tears were streaming down her face.

“H-how?” she stammered.

He shrugged. “I guess taking a hit to the head was all I needed to get my memory back. I blacked out, and by the time I opened my eyes, it was all back.” He tapped his head, then winced again. “I remember everything.”

She allowed a smidgen of doubt to creep in. “Are you sure?”

In response, he simply reached for her, his fingers touching her neckpiece. “That was supposed to be a skiing woman,” he said. “I gave it to you years ago.”

Rachel wanted to melt into the snow. He was back. He really was back! More tears streamed down the sides of her face. Michael cupped her cheeks in his hands, brushing the tears away with his thumbs.

“I’m really sorry,” he said, his voice solemn. “For disappearing all those years ago and leaving you to deal with my absence. For forgetting you. For…everything. I honestly can’t imagine what it must have been like for you.”

It was hell, that’s for sure. But it’s all over now.

She sniffled, smiling at him, wanting to kiss him again. “None of that was your fault, Michael. It’s this stupid mountain. You didn’t ask to be brought here or to lose your memory.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded slowly. “Still, I’d like to make up for lost time.”

She laughed. “Well, neither of us is leaving this mountain anytime soon. I’d say we have all the time we want. What do you have in mind?”

“I could give you more of those skiing lessons I promised.”

She glanced at the broken skis behind him. “I’ll pass. Why don’t we get back to the village first? It’s Christmas.” The fact seemed to register in her mind as if for the very first time today.

“It is,” he said.

Rachel beamed at him. Then he stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again on the lips. “Merry Christmas, Michael.”