Page 5 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty (Delectable Protectors #5)
MIA
“ W e’re late!” Rosie rushes into the living room, hopping around and pulling her ski pants up. “If you don’t get your butt in gear right now, we’re going to be super late!”
I jolt upright from the couch, reaching up and wiping some of the drool from the corner of my mouth. “You’re kidding.”
“No!” Rosie grabs my hand and hauls me up from the couch. “Come on. Skip the shower, you’re just going to get sweaty. Brush your teeth and then let’s roll!”
Scowling, I hurry into the bathroom and strip down, finding a couple minutes for a quick body shower, though my hair is going to have to go untouched until I have time to deal with it later.
I hurry into my room and pull on some fleece-lined leggings and a black quarter-zip before hauling on my ski pants and coat.
“You two are in a hurry.” Ryder leans against the counter, eating a bowl of cereal while Rosie and I stuff our pockets with a couple protein bars.
Rosie glowers at him. “Why didn’t you wake us?”
“Aiden told me not to. Ran into him while he was on his way to the watchtower. Said you two were sleeping and needed your rest.”
I’m going to kill him.
Right now, though, I don’t have time for that. I need to get myself up the mountain and to the first class. When I do find Aiden later, there’s going to be hell to pay. I know it’s not his job to wake us up, but he would’ve seen me on the couch.
He would’ve seen my drool.
Horror fills me as I rip open one of the protein bars and take a large bite. Rosie scowls at Ryder before joining me, hauling on her snow boots and letting out a loud sigh.
After shoving my feet into my boots, I follow Rosie out the door and we run down the trail. She takes the steps two at a time, landing in the fresh snow and stepping to the side as one of the landscapers shovels the path.
I follow her, my heart hammering in my chest. The last thing I want to do on my first day of work is to make a bad impression. The people here knew my mom. They’re going to expect me to live up to her memory.
And I don’t know how I’m ever going to be able to do that.
My breath comes out in white little puffs as we hurry to the gondolas and cram inside. Rosie slumps back against the seat while I sit across from her, looking out over the mountain.
Snow coats the tops of the hills and the trees. The pines are a striking green beneath their dusting, and there are people flying down the hill. I take a deep breath and blow it out, wondering how many times Mom looked out at this same view.
Rosie reaches over and takes my hand. “She’d be happy you’re here.”
I wipe some tears from my eyes and smile. “I wish I could have come with her the last couple years, but I was never able to take the time off school. There was just so much going on. I didn’t realize how much I would miss it while sitting here now.”
“I’m sure she was happy that you were off and living your life instead of following her around mountains.
” Rosie gets off the gondola first, waiting for me.
“She used to talk about you all the time. Sometimes, I felt like I knew you even though we’d never met.
She was so proud of everything you did.”
“You’re going to make me sob, and we have to be at our first class in like two minutes,” I say, voice breaking. I force a smile and look up to the sky, pulling my sunglasses from my pocket and slipping them on to hide what I know have to be red eyes.
Rosie laughs and puts her own sunglasses on, leading the way over to a post marked Lesson A . She stands beside the post and takes a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
I nod, butterflies erupting in my stomach.
We’re on a tiny bunny hill at the top of the mountain, one that flattens out for several yards at the bottom of a small slope.
The gondolas open again, and several children pour out with skis and snowboards clasped tightly, a couple parents trailing behind them.
“Good morning!” I force a level of cheer into my voice that I definitely don’t feel, clapping my hands together and smiling at the people gathering around. “I’m Mia, and this is Rosie. We’re going to be your instructors for the day. Now, anyone with skis, come with me.”
I step to the side, and the horde of children carrying fluorescent skis follows me. I show them how to step into the skis and make sure their boots are locked in and the buckles tight.
“Okay.” I look around at the little group in a semi-circle in front of me. “Who knows what a pizza is?”
We’re in the middle of discussing how to move and stop when there’s a bark and several excited shouts about the puppy.
Honey comes bounding through the snow, her blue goggles shining and her fluorescent vest bright against the snow. Her fluffy tail whips back and forth as she drops down in front of the children, begging for belly rubs.
I laugh, reaching out to catch one of the toddlers on skis as she goes slipping to the side while trying to get at the dog. After I set the toddler back on her skis, she takes off sliding and drops to her knees beside Honey.
Aiden storms over, his hands curled into fists, the reflective sunglasses he has on hiding what I know has to be furrowed brows.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” he hisses under his breath as he stops in front of me, keeping his body turned to watch the children while also lecturing me.
“Wow. Okay, so you’re really set on being rude today, aren’t you?” I put my hands on my hips, glaring up at him. “I don’t know what your problem is right now, but I have other things I should be doing.”
“Well, the sole thing that you should be doing is watching the children.” Aiden motions to them, but he keeps his voice low.
I could shove him down the side of the mountain and be perfectly fine with that right now.
I don’t think anyone else would be happy about it, but it would make me feel better. Maybe I’d get lucky and he’d turn into one of those characters from a TV show, rolling into a giant ball with only his eyes and his feet sticking out.
“I am watching the children,” I say. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’ve got this, and you don’t need to worry about it.”
“That one,” he says as he points to the toddler in skis, “nearly took a header down the mountain because you were too busy looking at Honey to care about the kids.”
With a scoff, I drop my hands. “Have you ever seen a toddler on skis? They barely know which way they’re going.
They’re marshmallows. She has a safety strap on so I can grab her, and I did.
As soon as she started to slip away. So don’t think that you can come over here and tell me that I don’t know what I’m doing. ”
Aiden makes a rough noise in the back of his throat and turns to the children. “Hey, everybody. Time to talk about mountain safety!”
That’s it. First chance I get, he’s getting shoved down the mountain.
“He took over my lesson!” I jab my fork in Rosie’s direction before stabbing a piece of chicken on my plate. “I was supposed to be teaching them how to ski, and instead he taught a bunch of kids under five how to tie knots!”
Rosie’s lips press together as she struggles to smother a smile. “I don’t know, but I thought the two of you looked pretty good working together. It was like you were waiting for your chance to strangle him.”
“They don’t even know how to tie their shoes.” I brandish the fork like a wand, wishing I could poof away everything that’s stressing me out. “They don’t know how to do bunny ears, and he was teaching them how to secure a temporary shelter in case they get lost in the woods.”
Rosie laughs and shakes her head. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you and Aiden are going to end up sleeping together before the end of the season.”
“I’ll put money on that.” Ryder drops down onto the bench beside Rosie and slaps down his tray.
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. Scratch that; my entire body feels like it’s on fire. I’m going to burn into a little crisp, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Nothing is going to happen between us because I can’t stand him. He’s horrible. He’s controlling and arrogant, and he’s sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“Look, maybe he just wants to get to know you, and that’s why he’s being such a pain.” Rosie grabs her apple and takes a large bite. “I mean, you’re one of the new staff members?—”
“And he never bothers with them.” Ryder gives me a pointed look that makes me wish I was an ostrich so I could bury my head in the sand and pretend this isn’t happening right now.
“Okay, great, so he’s decided that I’m enemy number one.” I stab into more of my chicken, popping it in my mouth. “I have other things to do. Things that don’t involve me sitting and arguing with him all the time.”
Rosie takes another bite of the apple, licking her lips. “He’s got an intense schedule with all the rescue work. I doubt that you’re going to end up spending that much time with him. Definitely less than you think you will.”
“I hope so. I don’t know how I’m going to survive the season if I have to put up with that every time I turn around.”
Sighing, I lean back in my chair and glance around the mess hall, taking it all in. Mom used to sit here, near the window on the left side of the room in one of the worn leather chairs. She would spend her nights hanging out with the staff and reading by the fire.
I remember when I used to come with her when I was really young. There were endless nights spent sitting at her feet and playing with my toys or coloring. We would spend long days on the slopes together.
My chest aches as I finish my lunch, thinking about all the memories of her that Aspen holds.
Aiden can try to scare me off, but I’m not going to leave.
At least, I’m going to do everything I can to stay.