She springs to her feet like she isn’t tired at all, and Honey comes with her. As Mia gets ready to head out, I get Honey into her harness before shrugging on my own coat.
The stars are shining over the trees as we step outside. Mia stuffs her hands in her pockets and looks up at me. “So, I have a few extra days off next week.”
“Well, I have the week off. So, if you want to leave the resort and head into town or something, I can see about borrowing a car from one of the other staffers.”
“I wasn’t thinking about going into town, but I definitely want to spend some time with you. It feels like I’ve barely seen you in the last week or so since our work schedules have been so all over the place.”
“Well, then, leave it to me and I’ll come up with something for us to do.” I already have a plan in place, but I needed to gauge what she was thinking of doing first.
Mia takes my hand in hers, lacing our fingers together as we walk. “The kids were wild today.”
“Yeah, we saw that kid nearly take a header down the hill.”
She laughs and shrugs. “I’m starting to think that sooner or later, I’m going to have to let him. Not enough to hurt himself, of course, but maybe enough that he might listen to me when I tell him how to point his skis.”
“Some people have to learn the hard way.” I squeeze her hand a little tighter. “Although, if you do let him go down, be prepared for some annoyed parents. They don’t like to hear that their child will only learn one way.”
“I know.” Mia gives me a flat look. “One of the girls in the class wanted to switch to snowboarding, so I put her in one the other day. You should’ve seen the fit her mother threw.”
“How bad was it?”
“I think she was going to try and get me fired, but it didn’t go very far. Don’t know what else is going to happen, but I hardly think it’s my business to discourage a child from trying something new as long as it’s safe.”
“I’m sure nothing more is going to come of it. It’s not the first time that a fit’s been thrown by the parents here, and I know it’s not going to be the last.”
She grins and leans into me as we stop in an open field. “I doubt it too.”
I drop her hand and let Honey off her leash, pulling out a ball and throwing it far. Honey takes off bounding through the snow, her tail whipping back and forth.
And for a moment, everything feels right in the world.
We’re not talking about the future.
We’re enjoying what’s happening here and now. The rest can come later.
Though, I still don’t know what the rest is going to entail.
CHAPTER 15
MIA
“Where are we going?” I ask as I button up my jeans and reach for the quarter-zip on the bed.
Aiden shrugs. “Secret.”
“Yeah, okay, but I think I should know if we’re going to be gone somewhere for a while, don’t you?” I nod to the overnight bag on the bed. “I mean, you didn’t tell me what that was for. You just started rummaging through my underwear drawer and throwing stuff in.”
He smirks like he’s proud of himself for that one. “If I told you what we were doing or what to pack, then you would know what we’re doing, and it wouldn’t be a surprise. That doesn’t sound like nearly as much fun as actually surprising you.”
“It doesn’t, but?—”
“Nope.” He grabs the bag and slings it over his shoulder before picking up another bag of Honey’s supplies. “We’re not going to sit here and bicker about whether I’m going to tell you what the surprise is or not.”
“Then what are we going to do?” I ask, the corner of my mouth twitching as I pull on my hat and sherpa jacket, following him out of the room.
He leads the way to the door, and we put on our boots. “We’re going to go get in the car I borrowed, and we’re going to go somewhere.”
“Overnight?”