Page 9 of The Last Resort
You could take the girl out of the city, but the bustling streets of Atlanta were in her blood. She couldn’t imagine working miles from civilization, far from the joy of a good coffee shop.
Dan and Kellie exchanged happy smiles.
“It’s about three miles out of town, on a fully sealed road. When you are feeling well enough to venture out and take a look, I can drive you,” said Dan.
Her face hurt and there would certainly be bruises all over her legs and hip tomorrow, but the promise of a new job was too much to resist. Three miles wasn’t that far.
“How about now? I can continue watching reruns ofThe Real Housewivesof Orange Countyon my laptop when we get back.”
Rachel shifted the ice pack from her leg and moved to the edge of the bed. She winced as her foot touched the floor. “Ooh, that smarts.” She waved their hurried offers of assistance away. “No. I need to be able to stand on my own two feet. I’m going to have to get used to walking on ice and snow, or if that fails, then learn to fall more gracefully.”
Though if a hot guy in cute glasses comes to my rescue each time …
Getting gingerly to her feet, Rachel reached for her purse, then paused. “Is there any chance that we could stop at a store on the way and get some grip thingies for the bottom of my boots? I’m sure I’ve seen those things online.”
Dan frowned. “How about we pay a visit to the mountain rescue service instead? I’m sure we could rustle you up a spare pair of proper winter boots, ones which have both grip and insulation. We’ve boxes and boxes of them in the store room. Those other elastic grip things don’t last.”
Kellie pointed at Rachel’s boots. “Dan’s right. You should keep your Atlanta boots for the summer when you want to go hiking in the mountains. If you continue to wear them, the rock salt on the roads and sidewalks here will destroy them in no time. I lost count of the pairs of good shoes I ruined when I first moved here.”
Hiking could be fun, but only in the warmer weather. “Let me get my coat and we can go.” Doing her best to ignore thehigh five, which the grinning Kellie and Dan shared, Rachel headed for the closet.
Who knew, she might have settled in and want to stay on by then. Or at least have got her money situation a bit more sorted.
Scrap that … come the summer, I’ll have my life and career back on track. Then I’ll decide where I want to live, and with whom.
CHAPTER FOUR
The gray metal hanger which housed the mountain rescue service resembled a giant toy box, one which had been specifically built for the team members and their dream machines. Every vehicle appeared oversized, even the red and white Sikorsky helicopter which Dan casually noted he regularly flew, seemed larger than life.
Inside the huge airplane hangar, Dan was greeted with cheers. Rachel quietly resented him for being hailed as a hero.
Why does the asshole get all the applause? Oh, of course, it’s because he rescues people. My sister’s heart clearly doesn’t count.
She caught Kellie’s eye, but to her annoyance Kellie just whispered, “Please, just roll with it.”
Until she got back on her feet and found somewhere else to live, she was going to have to do just that. But once she had a viable alternative place for her sister to come and stay, Kellie might come to see things in a different light.
They followed Dan into the main work room. A nearby steel door, which was padlocked, had a big sign on the front which read “Avionics. Do Not Enter”.
Inside the work room, there were boxes and cratesstacked neatly from floor to ceiling. There was no chaos here, every container was marked clearly as to what was inside. Rachel’s inner architect appreciated the calm order. She was the queen of well-set-out folders and carefully named document files.
“In an emergency, people can’t waste time trying to remember where they last put something. And other people on the rotating shifts need to be able to find stuff,” explained Dan. He moved ahead of them, toward a nearby shelf full of boxes.
“Everything in its place,” she muttered.
By the time they reached Dan, he’d already pulled a large plastic box down from a high shelf and was rummaging through it. “What shoe size are you, Rach?”
“I’m a nine, which I think makes me a seven in men’s,” she replied.
A pair of black snow boots were tossed her way. “Try those on, let’s see how they fit.”
A helpful Kellie dragged a chair over, and Rachel lowered herself down into it, before carefully removing her hiking boots.
“Ohhhh”, she groaned. “I am going to be so sore tomorrow morning. I think I might have to announce my official retirement from theParkourworld championship circuit.”
“Yeah well, if you can’t get out of an airport in one piece, you really should give up trying to leap between tall buildings,” replied Kellie.
Rachel caught a glimpse of Dan out the corner of her eye. His gaze flittered from Kellie to her, then back to his wife. She sensed he wanted to join in the banter but was unsure as to what to say.
