Chapter One #3
He was standing outside the restaurant at the top of Lift Six after directing a group of skiers to the easiest way down the mountain when a familiar voice hailed him. “Brian! Wait up!”
Dread hunching his shoulders, he turned to see Sharee—all in black today, which somehow made her look younger and more fragile—skiing toward him.
As soon as she was close enough to hear him, he said, “Sharee, you’ve got to stay away from me. Your sister already warned me off, and my bosses aren’t too happy about me being seen with a teenager.”
She stopped in front of him and shoved up her goggles, eyes bright with an emotion he couldn’t read. “Who cares what they think?” she asked. “I don’t let other people tell me who to love and not love.”
“Sharee, you don’t love me. You don’t even know me.”
“I know I want to get to know you better.”
She smiled, but he steeled himself against his instinct to return the expression. “No. This has to stop. I’m too old for you and I’m not interested. Period.”
The brightness in her gaze sharpened, a knife to cut through him. “Maybe you’ll change your mind when you see this.” She thrust a tissue-paper-wrapped parcel toward him.
He stared at the fist-sized package. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s a present. For you.” She shoved the package at him and let go. He had to catch it to keep it from falling. By the time he looked up, she was already skiing away.
He looked at the package again, the tissue paper secured with adhesive tape, then shoved it in his pocket and turned to take a different route down the mountain.
On the way down a call came requesting assistance for an injured skier on an expert run. “Possible head or spinal injury,” Connor’s voice said on the radio. “Brian, we need supplemental oxygen. Nina is bringing a backboard and we’ve got an ambulance on the way.”
For the next ninety minutes every available patroller was involved in retrieving a skier who had jumped off rocks on a double-black run known as Widow Maker and landed on his head.
A helicopter had been summoned to transport him to a trauma center in Denver, which had required closing a lift and a number of runs.
By the time Brian had helped load the man into a litter he was stable, but the prognosis was unclear.
He had forgotten all about Sharee’s package until he was back at the ski patrol office and gathering his dog, Daisy, and the rest of his belongings for the trip to his trailer outside of town. He pulled the paper-wrapped bundle from his pocket.
“What’s that?” Lily asked.
Brian glanced at her, then at Connor, who was sitting across from them, removing his ski boots. “Sharee came up to me earlier and shoved this at me,” he said. “I’m almost afraid to look at it.”
“Open it.” Lily moved in closer.
“Might as well do it here, with witnesses,” Connor said.
Brian tore at the paper to reveal something soft and silky. He held up the item, then dropped it as if burned.
“What was that?” Connor asked.
Lily bent and retrieved it, holding the item between thumb and forefinger. “It’s a pair of women’s underwear. Very sexy underwear.” She smirked at Brian.
He swallowed hard. “Why would she give me those?” he asked.
“There’s writing on them.” Connor pointed to the front of the white silk garment, where what looked like words were outlined in pink thread.
Lily dropped the garment on the bench between her and Brian and straightened it out. They could all read the words now. For You. Right across the front of the crotch.
“Not exactly subtle,” Lily said.
Brian shook his head. “She’s delusional. I promise you, I haven’t done anything to encourage her. Nothing.”
“Don’t look so panicked,” Lily said. “I believe you.”
“Put those away,” Connor said. “Maybe it’s time to talk to her parents and Sharee herself and explain she could be charged with harassment.”
“She lives with her sister,” Brian said. “I already talked with her, but I can try again.” He thrust the package toward Connor. “You keep this. I don’t want anything to do with them.”
“I’m not touching them,” Connor said.
“Oh, you two.” Lily resecured the tissue around the underwear, then dropped the parcel into Connor’s desk drawer.
“Don’t put those there!” Connor said.
“Just until they can be returned to Sharee or her sister,” Lily said.
She left and Brian turned to Connor. “I don’t know the sister’s name,” he said.
“The ski pass office will have Sharee’s contact information,” Connor said. “I’ll see if I can arrange a meeting. In the meantime, if Sharee approaches you, call one of us. You probably shouldn’t be alone with her.”
“Okay.” He looked toward the drawer where Lily had stashed the underwear. “Why would she do something like this? She’s just a kid.”
“Maybe your mistake has been treating her like one,” Connor said. He clapped Brian on the back. “We’ll get this straightened out. Try not to worry.”
But he would worry. It was another aspect of being too nice. He worried about hurting other people. Except now, he was the one who stood to end up damaged. All because he couldn’t be what one troubled girl wanted.