Fraser Mountain - Living the snow life

Chapter Twenty One

I gaze out of the back door of the cafe and shiver, drawing my arms across my chest and hugging them together for extra warmth. The wind is howling, whipping up the snow on the deck outside. As blizzards go, I’m glad I’m not out riding in it. Watching the true power of what weather can do makes me feel very small and insignificant, particularly if I’m standing on the top of a mountain and can’t see my hand three feet in front of my face.

‘Jeez… look at this snow!’ Terry whistles, standing next to me. ‘You wouldn’t know there were mountains out there. No wonder they’ve closed the top bowls.’

‘Yeah,’ I nod. ‘I guess the avalanche risk is just too high. But I would have thought this was pretty normal weather for the average hardy Canadian?’

Terry laughs and shakes his head. ‘You make us sound like a kind of plant! This is something that doesn’t happen every season. Some might say you’re pretty lucky with the snow this year, compared to last. It rained so much.’

‘There are going to be some sweet powder days once this stops.’ I grin.

‘When they open the mountain again.’ He reminds me. ‘The patrol team will want to make sure everything is safe before they let anyone ride near places like Snake Glades anytime soon. That mountain might look like a playground, but it can be dangerous as hell sometimes.’

We move away from the door and I go back to the menus. The café is finally beginning to bring in some money, so Terry’s installed a beautiful old oven in the corner, next to the wood burner, to put the coffee pots on top. Now customers can help themselves to four different blends and pay at the counter, which is proving to be really popular and cuts down on the waiting time. We had a meeting last night after closing time and decided to improve the menus as well as the interior, so Jenn suggested I draw the new menus out because she likes my handwriting, so I’m carefully laying out the master version. I did offer to make a professional version using my PhotoShop skills but she’s decided she prefers the home-spun look. I sit down at one of the empty tables and carry on writing out the menu, checking that I’m not making any mistakes. A cold blast of icy air shoots through me as the cowbells on the door jangle furiously. I hear muted voices while Jenn talks to whoever has just walked in but I don’t look up to see who it is, too engrossed in my work.

I hear an awkward cough, and look up to see Rick standing next to the table, his perfectly symmetrical face looking down at me with an expression that can only described as awkward.

‘Hey.’ he says.

I stand up, wondering why he’s here. ‘Hi…’

‘Um… I’ve come to say sorry... about the party.’ He tries for a weak smile.

‘You don’t have to apologise to me.’ I shrug.

‘Think I do...’ he replies, rocking on his heels. ‘It would be great if we could, you know, wipe the slate clean, as it were?’

‘Really, it’s fine. No big deal. I’m really glad you and Emily got together. She’s liked you for ages.’

‘Lexie…’ He puts his hands down on the table in front of me ‘… I don’t even like Emily. She kind of jumped me when I had a few too many beers, so…’

‘I’m sure she’d be thrilled to hear that. And you don’t have to explain anything.’ I reply curtly. I’m not exactly enamoured with Emily right now either, but Rick’s really proving to be a snake in the grass.

‘Aw, c’mon. I’ve seen you checking me out!’ he says, opening his arms and gesturing with his hands. ‘Maybe we could try again – go on a proper date this time? I really like you. Emily’s just… well, she’s kinda young.’