"Winter Rental", by Gratiana Lovelace (Done 2022) (copyrighted 2022)

Ch. 7: Post rescue--more couples time this week

"Winter Rental", Ch. 7: Post rescue—more couples time this week, by Gratiana Lovelace, February 13, 2022 (Post #1447) 

["Winter Rental" is an original contemporary romance story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2022; All rights reserved.];
[(1) the "Winter Rental" story cover (left); other image credits are at the end of each chapter(s) post] 

[Author's notes: I cast my characters as I write my stories—to help myself and my readers visualize the main characters. So my main characters for "Winter Rental" are: Richard Armitage as Greg Halliday; Cameron Diaz as his younger sister Connie Halliday; Anne Hathaway as Diana Langley; Liam Hemsworth as Eddie Hughes; Rege-Jean Page as Mike Porter, Octavia Spencer as Octavia Porter, and others as noted.

This is also a gentle romance (with chapters being rated as PG-13 or so, unless otherwise noted), with some heartfelt romantic moments—and some mature romantic discussions put to humorous effect. So if you cannot or will not attend a movie with my maturity ratings, then don't read that chapter. And though I set my story in the lovely city and area of Galena, IL—which I have enjoyed visiting many times—for the purposes of my storytelling here, I use dramatic license of the facts, individuals, locations, etc. These are my disclaimers. And I will post new story chapters weekly on both my SAL blog, as also on my Wattpad site.]

"Winter Rental", Ch. 7: Post rescue—more couples time this week

When Greg Halliday had previously booked their Galena vacation rental reservation—of what turned out to be Diana Langley's home, the newly christened Lakeside Cottage--for himself, his sister Connie, and their friends Ron & Sylvia, what Greg had hoped would be a week full of invigorating skiing interspersed with relaxation down times doesn't happen.

With the rescue of the endangered cross country skiing tour group that included Greg's sister Connie—and two severely injured skiers, including their tour guide Eddie Hughes, son of the current Ski Resort owner—Connie has detached herself from their vacation group to devote herself to tending to Eddie. Though Eddie will be hospitalized for several days and nights due to his wolf claw and bite marks needing to be monitored by the medical staff for infections, Connie plans to keep him company to keep his spirits up and tend to his simple needs of water and cold compresses to keep a fever down that he developed. And then, she plans to continue to tend to him, when he is released from the hospital. It seems that Connie and Eddie are reconnecting with each other after a 12 years absence as girlfriend and boyfriend. So they are shyly getting to know one another again.

And Greg tables his discussion, for now, with the ski resort owner Mr. Brent Hughes, regarding Greg's wish to purchase back from the ski resort his old vacation home Halliday House and property—out of respect for the Hughes family needing to concentrate on their son Eddie's medical emergency. Though Greg still asks his dad to scan and email him a copy of the contract for deed so that he can review it from a legal standpoint. And he also informed his Resorts International CEO boss Philip Townes who plans to visit with his family next week, that the Hughes family Pineridge Mountain Ski Resort owners will likely not be available for any merger discussions next week, due to the family health emergency.

But on the positive side, Greg Halliday and Diana Langley are getting along great! After their nerves had settled Sunday-- from the anxiety of the mountain rescue crisis on Saturday--Greg and Diana stay within the confines of her Ski Resort Hotel suite, their still avoiding being overwhelmed by other grateful guests families of the rescued skiers and the press on Sunday. But they do long to get out of her suite and do some things around town.

So at breakfast the following Monday morning, Greg and Diana chat in her ski resort hotel suite about her plans to upgrade her home's kitchen as a way of distracting themselves from thinking about their harrowing Saturday--by talking about everyday life.