Page 1 of Winter Love

Chapter One

Lukas

Wintervale, Montana.

I loved growing up in our town, it’s a smaller town where most people know each other. Some of us have gone to school together since we were little. But we also get a lot of new people that come to our town. It has a lot to offer different types of people. When I was eighteen, I applied to the fire fighter academy and started my training. Within six months I was a firefighter/EMT.

I’m the oldest of four with two younger brothers, Paxton and Rhett, and a younger sister, Felicity. Five years ago, we lost our parents. I was on the trip where they were taken from us. We were with a group of friends skiing at the Wintervale Resort. We had decided as group to ski out of bounds, which we’ve done many times before. But this time the pack leader ignored some of the signs. I remember my dad saying that maybe we should go back. That he felt like something was wrong. And after a while, I started to feel an impending sense of doom. The winds were changing and the mountain was starting to make noises. Noisesyou hear before avalanches happen. Before we could put it to a vote to go back to the safe zone, there was a loud crack. The next thing I remember is tumbling down the mountain. I tried my best to fight to the surface and not get buried. It was so hard. I woke up in the hospital two days later with a broken leg. My brother Paxton, who’s one year younger than me, told me that they couldn’t find five of the eight that were in the group. Our parents were two of them.

We spent a week looking for the five that went missing. On the last day we found them, huddled together in a small cave. If we had found them a couple days earlier, we might have saved them. Telling my siblings that we lost both our parents was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

Our parents were the center of our family, they were high school sweethearts. They taught us that family was the most important thing. And that we had to take care of each other. My mom always said that my dad was her soulmate. My brothers and sister have talked about what it would be like to meet our soulmate. Would it be like our parents? I’m pretty sure I met mine.

Emmanuelle Rousseau is a firefighter that came down from Storyville, Colorado to help with the search. When I first saw her, I felt this connection that I couldn’t explain. We were grid partners, which means we spent a lot of time together while we were searching. We talked and got to know each other, and she kept me calm when we found my parents. And when I had to tell my siblings, she offered to come with me.

I’ve never had a connection with anyone, like I have with Emma. She was supposed to stay only as long as we needed volunteers for the search. After we found my parents, Emma decided to stay with me for another month, but eventually she had to go back home. We talked about me moving to Colorado. But I couldn’t leave my siblings or our store, especially when wejust lost our parents. And she couldn’t leave her family either. We did the long-distance thing for two years. Neither of us wanted to walk away from the other and her family took all of us in. Her parents would come to visit and help us with the store. Whenever I needed help with things, I called them. So when we made the mutual decision to stop seeing each other, it felt like I lost my parents all over again. That day was the second hardest day of my life.

Emmanuelle’s parents told me that they’d still be there for us. But I try not to call them for things, it makes it hard to move on. I still think about Emma every day and we text to say hi and update each other on our lives. I’ve gone on dates, but it never gets past the one-month mark. They’re not Emma. And all I want is her.

Next weekend we’re having the five-year memorial for my parents. We’ve decided to do it at the ski lodge. I was talking to Karen Blake, the owner of the resort, and I asked her if we could do a big celebration this year. Since it’s been five years. She agreed that it would be a nice thing to do. To remember not only my parents, but the other three people that lost their lives that day.

“I can’t believe it’s been five years already. I miss mom and dad so much,” my baby sister, Felicity, sighs.

“Me too, Lissy. But they’d be proud of all of us. We’ve kept the store going and even expanded it.”

“I know, I wish they were here to see it. So I can show them that we’re okay.” She sniffles.

I walk over to my sister and hug her, she was sixteen when our parents died. I always felt like their death affected her more. I’ve tried hard to make sure she’s okay, but sometimes I don’t do the best job of it. There’s been so many times that I didn’t know how to give her what she needs. When I was with Emma, Felicity brightened up and seemed so much happier. She had someonewho understood her more than I could. My breakup not only affected me, it affected her too. And I feel so bad about that.

“I talked to Emma yesterday, she said she got promoted to Driver. Did she tell you?”

I shake my head no. “I haven’t spoken to her in a few weeks. I figured she was busy…or maybe she met someone new…”

I hate the idea that Emmanuelle could be with someone else. Dating is one thing. But for her to find someone to spend the rest of her life with and it’s not me? I fucking hate it. But I don’t know to fix our situation.

“How is she doing?”

“She’s good, but she said she’s lonely. I know she misses you. I still don’t understand why you two broke up. You’re meant for each other and you both know it. It’s been three years of you guys being dumb.” Felicity rolls her eyes.

“We tried to figure out how to keep things going. But there was no way for us to do that, neither of us want to move away from our families. Or our jobs.”

“You know that we’d support you if you wanted to move to Colorado to be with Emma. None of us would stand in your way of being happy.”

“I can’t do that. My life is here, I don’t want to start over at a new station and I won’t leave all of you to take care of the store without me.”

Felicity sighs and hugs me.

“I just want you to be happy. And I know that she makes you happy, you’re not the same since you broke up. I know you’re still friends, but that’s not the same.”

The worst part of all of this is that I miss Emma so damn much. I know she’s my person. My soulmate. The sacrifices that we need to make aren’t fair. But I still hold out hope that we’ll find our way back to each other.

Emmanuelle

Storyville, Colorado.

I love my town. But lately all I can think about is Wintervale, Montana. The love of my life, the man that captured my heart and kept it, lives there. I met Lukas Vandenberg at the worst time in his life. He and his parents were caught in an avalanche. His parents and three others were missing and I was called in to come and help with the search. I’m a firefighter/EMT here in my town. When I got to Wintervale, the first person I met was Lukas. We ended up getting assigned as grid partners and spending those days together, we got to know each other pretty well. I decided to stay an extra month to be with him.

Getting to know Lukas and his siblings was amazing. I’m the middle of five kids and sometimes I feel like I’m invisible. But watching Lukas and his siblings? They always make sure each of them are seen and heard. I wish I had been able to meet their parents. They sound like they were really great people. My parents and siblings came down for a weekend to meet everyone. They fell in love with Lukas and his siblings, just like I did.

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