Page 44 of Snowed In with You

‘Does he definitely have a girlfriend?’

Lucy thought about her answer – technically she didn’t know what the arrangement was with Sasha because Nate hadn’t talked about it, but that aside, she suspected that Nate would appreciate being taken out of the game at this point.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’ve never met her, but I know there is somebody.’

‘Right, fine,’ said Chantal sulkily.

Lucy glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, deciding to be magnanimous. ‘I guess you don’t get much chance to meet cute guys up here.’

‘No,’ said Chantal, folding her arms. ‘Papa and Mutti want to retire soon, and the only way I’m going to take over this place is if I have someone here with me. I don’t want to do it on my own.’ She looked like she might cry, and Lucy actually felt a little sorry for her.

‘I’m not sure Nate is the one, in that case,’ said Lucy kindly. ‘He’s a very talented account manager, but I’m not sure he’s cut out for mountain hospitality.’ Maybe one day Chantal will meet Kristoff, she thought. He’ll buy this place, they’ll fall in love, and she’ll get her handsome millionaire prince.

‘It would just be nice to be noticed,’ muttered Chantal, her lip wobbling. ‘Everybody notices women like you. You have two boyfriends. I can’t even find one.’

‘They’re not my boyfriends,’ said Lucy. ‘Neither is a proper relationship. I’m no more loved up than you are. It’s just sex.’

‘That would be OK too,’ said Chantal. Lucy caught her eye, and they both started to laugh. Maybe she wasn’t such a devious cow, just a bit lonely. Although perhaps to Chantal, Lucy’s life seemed a bit lonely too. The thought made her squirm a little – how had things become so . . . emotionless? And when had she consciously made that choice?

Woomph. The snowball appeared from nowhere, hitting Lucy on the side of her face. She gasped, spitting snow out of her mouth as she turned to see where it had come from. Even through one eye, she could see Nate grinning at the other end of the freshly dug path.

‘Right,’ said Lucy, brushing her eye with a gloved hand and heading for the nearest snowbank, ‘now you’ve done it.’

‘We must keep digging,’ said Gunther, looking mildly panicked that anarchy was about to be unleashed.

‘In a minute,’ said Lucy, throwing a snowball at Nate. It thumped into his shoulder, then another came back and hit her arm as she twisted away. She threw two in quick succession, one of which he dodged, but the other hit him on the side of his head and exploded into his hair. Bullseye.

‘OK, OK,’ laughed Nate, gasping for breath and approaching Lucy with his palms held up. ‘I totally deserved that.’

‘Yes, you did,’ said Lucy, reaching over to brush a lump of snow from his shoulder. For a second he held her gaze and she forgot to breathe, noticing the snow caked into his long eyelashes. In that moment all she wanted to do was gently kiss away every flake, with nobody around to steal the moment from them.

‘It’s your turn, Lucy,’ said Gunther, clearing his throat and breaking the spell. ‘Five minutes of digging, and then it is time for Alex.’

‘I’m totally not down with this idea,’ muttered Alex, appearing in the doorway.

‘Sunshine and pizza,’ said Nate, passing Lucy the shovel, his cheeks bright pink from the cold. ‘Think of all that incredible content.’

‘I guess,’ said Alex, perking up a little. ‘Shame I have to do hard labour first.’

Lucy rolled her eyes and walked to the end of the few metres of path that Gunther and Nate had already dug, her heart still pounding in her chest from the snowball fight. The first few shovelfuls of powdery snow were easy, but it got harder and more packed the further down she dug. Within a few minutes she was panting hard and sweating inside Monica’s ski gear, but determined not to give up before Gunther called time. The sun was already sparkling on the snow just a few metres away, and the prospect of an Aperol Spritz in a deckchair was enough incentive to spur her on.

When Gunther finally told her to stop, Lucy had added another couple of metres to the path that was slowly forming, and her shoulders and arms were now throbbing. Lucy handed the shovel to a mutinous Alex and listened to Gunther briefing the other five about how they could start to dig wider now, with two people at a time to create a big space where they could be outside. He produced another shovel, but Lucy’s work was done for the time being. She headed back into the steamy warmth of the bar, where Nate was throwing more logs into the wood burner.

‘Monica is making glühwein,’ said Nate. ‘I’ve just seen her upending bottles of Merlot into a giant saucepan. Apparently it will keep us warm.’

You could keep me warm, thought Lucy, wondering if Gunther and Monica ever actually fully sobered up until spring. Maybe that’s how you coped with living on top of the world.

‘Chantal, Andrea – come and join us,’ said Lucy, waving them over. She and Nate had pulled two deckchairs over to join Alex and Willem in the patch of early afternoon sun.

Lucy noticed Felix appear from inside the Guntherhütte and make a move to follow Andrea, but Monica put her hand on his arm and held him back. Lucy couldn’t understand the whispered conversation between them, but the sentiment was clearly ‘leave her be, and let her hang out with the young people’. Felix nodded grudgingly, and filled his glass.

‘More pizza,’ said Gunther, appearing with a plate of steaming slices from the wood-fired pizza oven at the edge of the terrace. The toppings were a slightly eclectic mix of leftovers, but the dough and tomato sauce had been retrieved from Monica’s makeshift outdoor freezer, so it tasted fresh and delicious. Monica herself followed with a jug of steaming glühwein and topped up everyone’s glasses, and Lucy tucked into both in a state of bliss. She had sunshine and fresh air, she’d done some exercise, and now she had delicious hot food and wine in a stunning winter wonderland. She’d put on her sunglasses so the glare didn’t hurt her eyes, which also meant she could check out Nate without him knowing. The only thing that would make today better was the news that rescue was on its way and there was a soft bed waiting for her in Geneva, rather than a hard floor in the attic.

‘Everybody, listen,’ said Gunther. ‘It is now two o’clock, I don’t think we will be rescued today.’

‘Why not?’ gasped Alex, looking aghast.

‘Because it will be dark in a couple of hours,’ he said. ‘If the rescue vehicle was coming, they would be here by now. A sunny day after a snowstorm is very dangerous for avalanches, but I’m sure they will try again tomorrow.’