Page 38 of Stuck on the Slopes

“What was the original name?” Mia asked.

“The Elks,” Juniper said. “Hence The Elk’s Head.”

“Ah, makes sense,” Mia said as she popped a ripped-off piece of bread into her mouth. I could smell it as some steam rose from the torn half in front of her. “Why change it?”

“A rebrand will help revitalize,” Rachel said. “If it wasn’t doing too hot, then a new name will really convey that it’s a whole new place.”

“Ah, gotcha. Hmm.” She pushed her blonde and dyed-orange hair back. “Do we wanna stick with the nature and wildlife theme?”

I said, “I’m open to it.”

“What’s everyone’s favorite animal?” Rachel asked. “I’ll jot a few down. Preferably, a favorite local animal.”

“We get moose this time of year,” Edgar chimed in. “They’re cool.”

“Maybe cougars?” Mia offered.

I shook my head. “Makes me think of older women.”

Edgar snort-laughed. “Probably not what we’re going for.”

“We get bears,” Mia offered.

“Overdone,” I said. “Save that for the ski runs.”

“I’ll write it down anyway,” Rachel said. “Whatever we don’t use can be up for ski run consideration or for something else.Star Warskeeps shit in the vault and then repurposes it years down the road all the time, so I don’t see why we can’t.”

I nodded. “Valid. I like marmots.”

“They’re the little beaver-looking guys, right? They’re so cute,” Rachel said, voice going up in pitch as she gushed. “Don’t we get foxes, too?”

“We do. I think there’s even a fox den near that hiking trail we like.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. “The Fox’s Den? We could even incorporate a fox into the logo.”

“Oh, I like that!” Mia said.

“Me too.” I smiled at Rachel. “At least one of us is smart.”

“I’d call it a group effort,” Rachel said. “I can probably whip a logo up. While I’m not the best at graphic design, I did learn a few pointers from some old coworkers.”

“I’ll look on my end to see if I need to update any paperwork and go through that. Once that’s set, I’ll let you know once we’re clear to update social.”

“Perfect.” She closed her laptop and put it away. “Well, that was easier than I thought. Now we just need to know when we open.”

“I’m working on it,” I said. “Let me crunch some numbers after we eat, and I’ll get back to you.”

After I texted Rachel our opening date last night, she’d whipped up a press release for me to approve this morning. Once I gave her the thumbs up, she’d sent it out—alongside updating the lodge’s website and posting on social media—before going on with her daily tasks.

It was only two o’clock in the afternoon and our first month was already sold out.

“Can you believe it?” I looked to Sasquatch, whose wide eyes were waiting for me to say anything. “Who’d have thought? I’m not sure I’m ready for all these people, but we’ll manage, won’t we, buddy?”

Sasquatch boofed in response.

“I know, I know. You’ve got my back whenever I get too overwhelmed. We’ve got Rachel now, too.” I remembered what Edgar said about leaning on her and sighed. “Come on. Let’s go talk to your favorite person.”

As I rounded the corner to the laundry room, I stopped when I heard two women chatting: Mia and Rachel, no doubt. I heard my name in passing, so I leaned my back against the wall and gave Sasquatch the hand signal we used for his sit command.

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