NovelConcepts: November 13, 2017 - HOLIDAY BLOG

Please take the time to vote in the “comments” section! Also, mark your calendars for a new interactive story starting January 8^th, 2018.

Part 1 of our short and sweet HOLIDAY BLOG by DeeDee Lane

Cold air whizzed past her ears, whipped down her throat as she shouted with glee. The inner tube cushioned her hips and stomach bouncing down the hilly terrain. Sidewalls built of snow kept her on the path and hurtling straight down.

“Wahoo.”

A second shout echoed hers, deeper, a distinctly masculine sound. Cammie frowned beneath her rose tinted ski goggles. She always had the tubing hill to herself this early in the morning. She glimpsed over her shoulder. Not today, another tuber hurtled down the side of the mountain two lanes over. His tube was a large green one meant for a four person family. What an amateur, he’d never gain speed with such a big boat.

Shrugging beneath her bright blue parka and matching snow pants, she faced downward. She wasn’t going to waste her last run of the morning fretting about some lumbering fool. In twenty minutes the hill would be open for the public. By that time she’d have shed her outer layers to reveal one of her five business suits. Her long black hair would be tucked neatly in a bun and she’d be crunching numbers at her desk. Her boss and owner of the family run winter activity center explained it was business casual every day on the mountain but after a year on the job she still deferred to traditional work wear.

With the holidays approaching there were lots of reservations to confirm, payroll for the seasonal part-timers, and an employee party to organize. As the accountant/event planner/ reservation specialist she wore lots of hats in the small town business. Her favorite hat happened to be the Seattle Seahawks beanie she wore at the moment. Put this hat on and she became something other than the smart Chinese girl, who organized things. With this hat she was a speed demon…whizzing down the hill, untouchable. To streamline she pulled her arms and legs tight to her sides, a zipping machine.

The Cascade Mountains were revealed in glorious splendor this morning. Glittering sun brightened six inches of white powder into a beautiful glare. The nearby town of Leavenworth, Washington would be chock full of tourists checking out the Bavarian village themed downtown, Nutcracker Museum, and annual light show. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of the green tube. Pulling in tighter she leaned her body left and right veering to find the fastest lines. She’d beat him down the hill.

Eyes watering she pressed forward with every inch of her five foot two inch frame. Frost coated the inside of her nose. With a last whoop from the occupant her opponent and his huge tube passed over the finishing line a full length ahead.

Cammie rolled off her tube, shook snow out of her hood, fought the urge to stomp her foot. She wasn’t twelve anymore but ohhh she wanted to yell. Thoughts buzzing, she fought to rein in her temper. He’d interrupted her “me time.”

Snow muffled her footsteps as she marched toward the interloper.

The man was doubled over gasping to catch his breath, not helped by belly laughs coughing out of him in flurries of glee. “So much fun…you’re fast.”

She whipped off her goggles and shook them under his nose until he straightened to his full height. “You’re on my hill.” Cammie gaze tracked him up and up, maybe she should have detected he was a foot taller and built like a rock before she pursued the yelling-at-him route.

He brushed snow out of his short buzz cut with hands encased in leather gloves. They looked to be about the same age, twenty five. A crease appeared between perfectly shaped black eyebrows.

“You’re hill?”

He unzipped a ratty parka to reveal a gorgeous suit, most definitely not off the rack. A tailored white shirt covered his wide expanse of chest; purple tie with blue flecks completed the ensemble. Frustration gnawed at her, this dress shoe wearing trespasser, shouldn’t have beaten her on home turf. She couldn’t hold back the question rocketing in her head.

“How did you go so fast?”

“You serious?” At her curt nod he responded. “I waxed the bottom of the tube.”

“Ah-ha, you won by cheating.”

“When I spotted you flying down the hill, I guessed you were a kid.” A grin lurked beneath the teasing quality of his observation.

“My age has nothing to do with you interrupting my ride.” She kept herself from pushing him in the nearby snowbank by imagining him headfirst in the snowbank. “I’m short, not a kid…which is not important considering you’re a…” Not her strong suit, words failed. “…Gigantic giant…guy.”

“Oh, nice, fiery.”

“No, cranky.”

“Listen, I didn’t know you could ‘reserve’ the hill, I came for a meeting, found the tube, gave it a turbo boost, and grabbed a parka out of the shed over there.” He removed a glove to wave manicured fingernails toward the slope patrol shed. “I caught the tow rope up.” A glint sparked in his brown eyes. “Oh, and on the way down left you in the dust.”

She jammed fisted hands into the puffy waistline of her parka. “A meeting?”

She arranged all her bosses’ appointments his only meeting today was with some corporate hot shot who wanted to buy out the fun center and turn it into an exclusive mountain lodge. More fun for rich people and one less affordable place a family could come for winter tubing, skating, sledding, and snow shoeing.

Corporate hot shot…meeting…she’d resented the guy in theory. Paul Auckley…not the red faced, middle aged, white guy she’d pictured. A tremor of nerves shook her entire body…the reality standing before her was complicated and way more threatening.

**************************************************************

What happens next? Make sure and vote by Tuesday at Midnight EST

(A) Paul offers to buy Cammie breakfast in the Fun Center’s café.

(B) Paul covers his attraction to Cammie by revealing his plans to turn the Fun Center into a corporate retreat.