Page 52 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

Carter repels down the side of the cliff, landing in the snow beside me with the rescue basket. “James and Morgan are at the top. We’re going to load Luke into it, then James and Morgan are going to take him down the hill and get him to the paramedics who are waiting on standby at the search and rescue station.”

We tend to Luke, careful not to jostle his head too much as we fit the neck brace around him before lifting him into the basket.

We stand below, holding onto the basket, helping make sure that Luke is pulled up lightly without banging the side of the cliff. Once he’s brought over the edge, snowmobiles rev up. Carter and I hook ourselves into the ropes and climb up the side.

We ride down the mountain, Tyler and Becky on the backs of our snowmobiles, Honey sitting in her sidecar.

After dropping them off at the waiting paramedics, Carter turns to me. “You look like you’ve done some thinking during the time we’ve been apart.”

“Sorry to ruin your night.” I pat him on the shoulder. “But I have something I need to do.”

CHAPTER 21

MIA

Usually, a shot of tequila and some good music is enough to fix my mood, but not tonight.

I dance with Rosie, my hips moving to the beat, my hands high above my head. But even as I try to throw myself into the thought of having a good time and enjoying myself, at least for my last night here, I can’t. Each time I look around the room, I keep hoping to see Aiden. I keep thinking that maybe he’s going to be in a corner waiting for me to talk to him. Maybe he’s going to come over and tell me that he can’t live without me. Although that sounds a bit melodramatic.

Maybe I’m just hoping that he’s going to come over and tell me it was all a mistake.

Rosie looks at me, her eyebrows pulling together and her mouth dipping into a frown. “You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”

“That’s because I’m not.” I take a sip from my beer and stop dancing, heading over to the side of the room while she trails behind me. “I thought you were going to be right. That thiswould be a good way to get my mind off everything, but the longer I spend here, the more I wish I was on the road back home.”

Rosie pulls me in for a tight hug. “Look. I know this isn’t how you wanted to spend your last night here, but I appreciate the fact that you can do it for me. If you want to go, I’ll walk you back to the cabin and we can call you a car.”

June hustles over, her eyebrows pulling together. “What do you mean, call her a car? You’re not going to stay for the rest of the night?”

“No.” I give her an apologetic smile and shrug, doing my best to try and seem like I’m not being torn apart on the inside. “I loved being here this season, and I think I might try and come back next year over Christmas break. I don’t know if I’ll be able to work here, but I’d like to at least come visit all of you.”

June scoffs, pulling me into another hug. “If you don’t come and visit me, I’m gonna be mad. Your mother would be proud of you and all that you’ve done here this year.”

Tears gather in my eyes, a couple of them spilling over. “Thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that from somebody who knew her.”

“I know it’s hard, but if you ever need to talk, you have my number. And I’ll be more than happy to offer you a position again. I mean, I am leaving, but I think I can pull some strings for you.”

I laugh and hug her tighter before stepping away. “Thank you. I’ll let you know when I know.”

June stares at me for a moment longer, like she’s trying to figure out what’s going on in my head. Then she steps away with a little wave and a smile, but it feels like it’s the last time we’re going to speak to each other. I’ve made a lot of good friends here, but I don’t know if I can talk to somebody who was close to my mother. Not after everything I’ve learned while here. As much as it would be nice to hold on to those memories, I think I just need a clean break from Aspen.

Rosie’s smile drops as she looks past my shoulder at something. “Oh,” she says. “I don’t know if you want to talk to Aiden tonight, but it looks like he’s here to talk to you.”

I turn around, and sure enough, there’s Aiden storming across the mess hall toward me, his hands curled into tight fists at his sides, a look of determination in his eyes.

“Not even a little bit,” I say, exhausted with this entire situation. “I don’t think there’s anything left for us to say.”

“No,” he says, “there’s plenty for us to say. Mainly me.” He sighs, his hands uncurling. He runs a hand through his hair, knocking off his hat in the process. “A lot that I should tell you.”

“You think now is the time to tell me when I’m about to be leaving?”

“Well, I had to do a little bit of thinking first.”

I scoff. “Oh yeah, what thinking?”

“The kind of thinking that leads me to the conclusion that I’m an idiot.”

“You could have figured that out sooner and spared us both a lot of trouble.” I hear the bitterness in my voice, but I don’t care. This is what weeks of hurting has done to us. There’s a tightnessin my chest that I haven’t been able to shake since the day he started acting cold.

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