Page 50 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

AIDEN

“You’re not going to sit here for the rest of the night moping.” Carter stands in the doorway of the search and rescue station, glaring at me with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s the last party of the season. You should be out there partying and having a good time. Maybe you should even think about getting Mia back.”

“I told you I’d rather be working. You’ve always enjoyed those parties more than I have.” I lean back in the chair behind the desk, linking my hands together behind my head and staring at the hiking plans posted on the wall. There are only two groups of hikers out, and once they come back for the night, I can relax and start reading.

Carter nods at the window. “It looks like there’s one of the groups there, so it’s just the second one you’re waiting for.”

I glance and see them trudging through the snow, six people headed back toward the resort. “Well, that makes my job half as hard as it was gonna be tonight.”

“Come on. You should go to the party.” Carter steps back into the station, Honey weaving between his legs the best that a Bernese Mountain Dog can. “One of these days I’m gonna trip over her and fall flat on my face.”

“More likely she’s gonna run into the back of your knees and send you flying down a staircase.” I pat my thigh, calling Honey over. Instead of coming to me, she sits down and glares at me.

I know, girl. I miss her too.

Carter’s eyes roll, and he shakes his head. “This is ridiculous. Both of you should be at that party and talking to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” Carter fixes me with a disappointed look. “I can’t believe that, for the first time in all these years, you finally met somebody who interests you. Somebody you could — I’m assuming — spend the rest of your life with. And instead of trying to fix whatever the hell is going on in your head, you’re sitting here and hiding from her.”

“Are you gonna stay here all night and bother me, or are you going to enjoy the last night you have with the staff?”

“I’m gonna go.” Carter tucks his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “But if you change your mind about the party, just radio down to the mess hall and I’ll come switch out with you.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m going to change my mind.” I kick my heels up on the desk and lean back a little more, watching as the sun starts to sink toward the horizon. It’s only going to be a matter of time before I’m alone and can turn back to my book.

Carter leaves the station, shutting the door behind him, his footsteps echoing on the steps and then crunching against the fresh snow.

After a moment I glance at Honey. “Looks like it’s just going to be two of us. It’s the way it’s been for a long time. I don’t think that’s worth changing right about now, do you?”

Honey turns her back on me and lays her head on her paws with a dramatic sigh.

Traitor.

Time seems to drag by the closer the sun gets to the horizon. I keep glancing around, checking for the hikers, but they haven’t come back yet. The clock slowly ticks toward the twelve, and I start counting down the minutes until I start sending out messages for them. They could be back at the resort by now. If they took a different way, I might not have seen them go by.

A few more minutes tick by. I message down to the resort. A crackling message comes back. They’re not down there.

My breath catches in my throat. This is the part of the job I hate the most. It’s the one that takes me back to all those years ago when my father died.

I grab my bag of rescue equipment, snatching the keys for the snowmobiles off the wall. Honey jogs along behind me as I fly down the stairs and over to the shed, unlocking the door. I head for the snowmobile with a little sidecar and sled behind it. Honey hops into the sidecar like she’s been doing her whole life, sitting down while I get on. The snowmobile revs to life and we head out into the evening.

I take another look at the group’s hiking plan and turn down a path that has old boot marks on it. I don’t know if they’re going to be down here, but it’s the best place to start. It looks like they were gathered for a little while, the remnants of a fire burned down and doused with snow.

I hop off the snowmobile, cupping my hands over my mouth. “Becky! Luke! Tyler!”

I shout their names over and over again, following the footsteps that lead around their little camp until I find a set of all three tracking away from the fire pit. Honey darts ahead of me, her tail wagging.

I follow along behind her, pulling the emergency sled with the first aid kit slung over my back. The trees grow thicker, the trunks closer and closer together, branches scratching and tearing my jacket as I delve deeper into the woods. It’s getting darker out, harder to see. I pull the headlamp from my backpack and set it on my head, turning it on. Bright white light shines in front of me, highlighting Honey as she darts between the trees with her reflective coat on.

I don’t know how long we trudge through the woods, but the cold is starting to seep through my jacket and my pants. My toes are starting to turn to ice, and with the fur-lined boots I wear when I’m out here, it should be nearly impossible. Honey finally stops running, but it looks like it’s at the edge of a cliff. My heart sinks in my chest as I approach the edge slowly, careful not to disturb too much of the snow.

I tilt my head, shining my light down over the side. It’s not a steep cliff, but there are rocks at the bottom and among them are three bodies. “Becky! Luke! Tyler!” I shout down.

There’s a groan from down below before two of the three people stand.

“We’re down here,” Becky calls. She sounds exhausted. “I didn’t think anybody was coming for us. I know that we left the hiking plan with the search and rescue station, but we weren’t back in time.”

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