Page 20 of A Bear Ski Instructor Christmas

No,he told himself, dismissing the thought from his mind.

Nothing was going to happen to them, not if he could do something about it.

He rushed past the fence, hurriedly putting on his skis like there was a pack of hungry wolves hot on his tail and tore downhill after the two children. It took him a moment to spot them—twin dots in the distance, growing larger in his field of vision as he neared them. He couldn’t see their faces, but he knew enough to guess just how terrified Katie and Sadie must be right now. They’d taken the skis to have some fun without anyone’s permission and had realized too late what a terrible idea that was.

It’s not too late.

In a heartbeat, he caught up to both girls, who had begun screaming their heads off, their arms flailing as they hurtled toward the foot of the hill. Thinking quickly, Michael grabbed them around the waist, pulling them close, and dug his skis into the ground.

The result was a sudden jerk. Michael went sailing through the air, Katie and Sadie clutched against his chest. He hit the ground, rolling several feet through the snow before coming to a halt. A ringing filled his ears, fading gradually as he rolled over onto his back and let go of the children.

Katie and Sadie burst into tears. Fearing the worst, Michael jerked into a sitting position and examined both girls as thoroughly as he could, with his heart pounding against his eardrums. They seemed fine, though frightened half to death and bawling their eyes out.

“It’s okay,” he said soothingly, brushing a tear from Katie’s cheek. “You’re okay.”

“We’re sorry!” Sadie cried, her nose already running. “We just wanted to try out the skis.”

“I know,” Michael told her. “It’s okay. What matters is that you two are safe now.”

At the top of the hill, villagers had gathered, pointing at the scene below and talking among themselves. A few men had already begun their careful descent, making their way toward Michael and the children.

Katie nodded, sniffling. “Is Santa still going to come this Christmas?”

He frowned. What on earth was she talking about? “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, sweetie.”

“We…we’ve been naughty.” She sniffled again. “Santa knows when we’ve been naughty.”

Michael fought the urge to let out a belly laugh that might have set off an avalanche. She settled for a light chuckle. “Katie,I don’t think Santa is mad at you. He’ll come to visit this Christmas, I promise.

I should know—I’m him.

“Now, there’s no need to cry anymore. Come on, let’s get back to the village.”

They all got up, and he picked up the skis just as a couple of villagers reached them. Nodding thankfully in his direction, they took hold of the sobbing girls and led them back uphill, Michael following closely behind. He reached the top of the hill just in time to see Katie and Sadie rush, still sobbing, toward a squat, blonde woman who looked just as agitated. A few of the villagers clapped him on the back, thanking him for being quick to the rescue.

“That was amazing,” said a familiar voice to his right as he headed back into the village. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do anything like that before.”

He turned slowly. Sure enough, standing barely three feet away, gazing at him in awe, was Rachel. His eyes rose from her silver necklace to her face. As always, she was a sight to behold, drawing every last breath from his lungs with a bat of her eyelashes.

Wait, no. That wasn’t quite it. He did feel out of breath for a brief moment, as though he could drop, unconscious, onto the snow. And in that moment, an image flashed through his mind like a lightning bolt. A slender woman in a black sequined dress sitting across a table from him. Delicate hands clutching a fork and knife. Before he could fixate on the thought, it was gone, hovering just on the tip of his consciousness, out of his reach.

What in the world just happened?

“Are you okay?” Rachel blinked at him, those beautiful eyes of hers filled with concern. “You seemed a little…gone for a second there.”

“I’m fine,” he told her, forcing himself to meet her gaze. “Just needed to catch my breath.”

She smiled, causing his heartbeat to speed up. “You did a good job down there. Those kids are lucky you were around to save them.”

Michael’s mouth went dry. He stared at her, unsure how to respond, but soon managed a thank you and excused himself, heading into the village and straight for his workshop. His mind struggled to make sense of everything that had just happened, from the girls nearly hurting themselves on the skis to the image that had just appeared to him.

Had that been…a memory?

Whatever it was, he would figure it out.

But there would be no more skiing today.

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