Page 34 of Stuck on the Slopes

“But it’s so much fun too!”

I chuckled. “If you need anything, let me know. I’ll send Sasquatch.”

“Give him a big ol’ kiss for me.”

A part of me wanted to roll my eyes, but I refrained so as to not give her the wrong idea. “I’ll save you the honors for when you’re feeling better.”

Chapter 10

Rachel

Nowthatmycoldwas over, I wanted nothing more than to get out of this room.

While I drank my morning coffee in my usual spot—in the chair closest to the back patio—I heard a knock at the door, the sound identical to Juniper’s typical two-knuckle-knock. When I opened the door, I saw Juniper leaning against the frame. He’d propped his hip and elbow against the side and lifted his other hand to grab the top of the frame as he stretched his right leg.

My mouth went dry.Since when was stretching so sexy?

Maybe I should do yoga. If I asked nicely, maybe Juniper would even let me get a yoga teacher to host lessons in the gym.

“Checking in,” he said. “How are you feeling? You look better.” He winced at himself. “Not to say you looked bad before. Just,” he huffed “you know what I mean.”

“Don’t worry, I got you. I’m back to a hundred percent and itching to get out of here. Are you up for a walk? I’d love to check out one of those trails you mentioned.”

“Oh my God, yes. I’d love nothing more than to stretch my legs.” His eagerness surprised me, but I didn’t mention it. “Let me get my trekking poles and Squatch’s boots.”

“Holy shit, he has snow boots?”

Juniper dropped his hands to his sides. “I hate walking barefoot in the snow, so I imagine he does, too.”

Just when I thought this dog couldn’t get any cuter.

For as closed off as Juniper could be, he sure did care with every fiber of his being. From the way he cared for Sasquatch to the way he worried after me when I was sick, I understood now there was more behind the frown on that perfect face of his than whatever pain his leg might be in at any given moment.

I stepped aside to grab a front pack and shoved my wallet, keys, and phone in it. Juniper came in as I put on a down jacket and my hiking boots. Once I was ready, we crossed the hall where he got some snow boots for Sasquatch before we made our way outside.

“How’s the hiking in Florida?”

As he led us to a trail that was adjacent to the lodge, I looked at him and found him still focusing his gaze ahead. “Lots of long trails at state parks and whatnot, but a lot flatter than this. You don’t get any hills unless you go real north, but I didn’t head up that way too much. If you’re into kayaking, though, then you’re solid. The manatees are cute. That is one good thing Florida has going for it, but that state was not for me.”

“There’s some great kayaking here in the summer, too. I’ll have to take you.”

His words lingered in the air, thick and heavy with a promise:I’ll have to take you.Were we friends now?

“But in the meantime, I can show you some of my favorite trails. All beginner-friendly, of course.” He patted his thigh twice with his glove-covered palm. “Like I was telling you, I can’t do anything too strenuous. Hence these.” He held one of the poles up. “They take a lot of pressure off my back.”

“Were you always into hiking?”

He shrugged a shoulder, finally looking at me now as he spoke. “Yes and no. I liked it, sure, but never did a ton of it. But after my snowboarding accident, once I was cleared from physical therapy, I really wanted to redefine what it meant for me to love this.” He gestured vaguely to the surrounding trees. “The snow, the mountains, the cold air on my face. All of it.” His expression dropped. “My whole life was snowboarding until it wasn’t.”

I wasn’t sure which of us was more surprised that Juniper was opening up. To make matters worse, I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted nothing more than to wrap him in a hug, but that felt inappropriate, regardless of my employment status.

When I lifted a hand, he paused and stared expectantly, like he wasn’t sure why on earth I had a physical response at all. Unsure of what else to do and already certain I’d made myself look like a weirdo, I patted him on the shoulder and said, “Good for you. It's easy to fall into a rut and never crawl out.”

And because today wasn’t surprising enough, when I patted his shoulder, Juniper didn’t brush my hand away. Maybe it was because, now that we were on the trail, it was just us and the pines towering around us. The sun barely peeked through the pine needles, leaving the leaves and snow to create a blue glow down the path we walked. Ahead, where the trees cleared, the mountains awaited, their peaks larger than life. After living in Florida my whole life, it was hard for my brain to comprehend the sheer size of them.

“Sounds like something you went through recently too, no? With your old job?”

“Yeah, I did.” I chuckled nervously, not wanting to talk about it but also needing to. “It’s funny. I wasn’t always like this. Such a workaholic, I mean. But the living situation in Florida is bad. With all the snowbirds coming down, it drove up demand. People were buying houses left and right to rent them out. Condos and apartments, too. And because the demand was so high, they got greedy. And then the next thing I know, I’m fighting for my life to get a raise so I can afford to live. So are my other coworkers, but it was mostly guys at our company, so I had to work twice as hard to not get written off because I’m a woman.”

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