Page 43 of Stuck on the Slopes

“Yeah, but it’s no big deal. It’s just me and Juniper.”

“Oh, how lovely! Is he there?”

Before she could respond, I wiped my face with my napkin and stood, rounding the table to stand behind her. I tried to ignore the familiar scent of raspberry and vanilla wafting from her hair. “You must be Mrs. Friedman. Nice to meet you.”

I wasn’t sure what alternate reality I woke up in today where my hermit ass was voluntarily introducing myself to people’s mothers, but here we were.

“Juniper! You’re even more handsome than in your pictures!”

I laughed. “You’re too kind. I’m not half as good-looking as you, ma’am.”

Both Rachel and her mother blushed. Her mom replied, “What a charmer!”

“Just being honest, Mrs. Friedman.”

“Oh, please. Call me Miriam.” The sound of two people singing out of tune in the background interrupted her. She shook her head and said, “Ignore them. Your father and sister got wine drunk and keep singing that new Taylor Swift song, except they only know the chorus, so it’s the same four lines over and over again.”

Rachel snorted. “Again?”

“You know how they get. But hey, we’ve got everyone here!” Miriam flipped the camera around so we could see Rachel’s sister, her father in a yarmulke that matched his blue sweater, and who must have been her cousins. A few dogs scurried by, yapping playfully, which almost caught Sasquatch’s attention; he lifted his head but lowered it again once he realized it was through the phone. Her family looked up from the television to wave where the two cousins were playing a video game, but her father and sister both leaped from the couch to join her mom.

As Miriam flipped the camera back to selfie mode, Rachel’s dad asked, “Is that Rachel?” A few gray hairs peppered his brown beard. As much as Rachel looked like her mother, she had her dad’s eyes.

Miriam replied, “It is, Asher! And her boss, Juniper!”

They both stood behind her mom. Her sister—Sarah, if I remembered correctly—said, “AndJuniper? Ah, no way!”

“Happy to see you too, Sarah,” Rachel said with a roll of her eyes.

I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d told her sister about me or if she actuallydidknow who I was when she took the job. Logically, I knew it was most likely my name came up before. But between that and her mother’s comments about photos of me, my brain went to its usual dark place, assuming betrayal.

Her father said, “Well, I don’t know who he is, so I’m excited to see you, honey. No offense, Juniper.”

I shrugged a shoulder in dismissal. “None taken.”

Through a giggle, Rachel said, “I’ve missed you guys.”

“Well, we booked our reservation, so we will see you on opening day! You both must be so proud.”

“Rachel deserves most of the credit,” I said. “She’s the brains behind the operation.”

“Yeah, she gets that from me,” Miriam said. “We got one of those fancy cabins. Figured it was worth the splurge.”

As she caught up with her parents, I made a mental note to comp their stay later. It was the least I could do to say thank you after all the leg work Rachel had put in.

“Well, we’ll let you finish your dinner. If there’s anything either of you need, call us, okay? I’ll get something airlifted if I gotta.”

“Thanks, Ima.” They passed around the Hebrew words for “I love you” before she hung up. Rachel set her phone down and turned to me. “Thanks. I’ve told them a lot about it here, so they were stoked to see you. You didn’t have to get up.”

I felt my shoulders relax as I sat across from her once more. “It’s cool. They seemed sweet.”

“And so were you, flirting with my mom!”

“She’s a beautiful woman.” I took a bite of the potatoes. “You and her look a lot alike.”

As pink dusted Rachel’s cheeks, she smiled and kept her eyes on her plate. She stabbed at some of the macaroni and cheese and then nearly gagged it out but forced herself to swallow with a grimace. My thoughts wandered, but I forced myself out of it.

Damn my hormonal, touch-starved mind.

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