My Favorite Souvenir(10)

The sound of a shutter clicking away responded before Maddie. “What kind of bears are they? They’re so adorable.”

“They’re black bears.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“I don’t think there’s such thing as a safe bear, except maybe Yogi. But the mountains at these ski resorts are filled with black bears. They pretty much learn to cohabitate with the humans. They’ll keep out of your way, if you keep out of theirs.”

Maddie adjusted her lens and shot more pictures. “I thought bears hibernated for the winter.”

“They do. But hibernation doesn’t mean going to sleep in November and waking up in June. They just sleep a lot to conserve energy in the months they can’t forage food. But they still get up every few days.”

“They’re awake now. Bears are nocturnal?”

“Not usually, but in ski resort areas like this, many of them adjust to avoid people.”

“That’s incredible. How did you know they were here?”

“My aunt and uncle own the ski resort. I stopped by the other night, and one of my cousins brought me up to check them out. They had to close this run to skiers, probably for the season, because of how close the bears set up their den.”

We stayed at the top of the mountain, watching the family of bears and taking pictures, until Maddie’s teeth started to chatter. It was warmer and dryer in the gondola than outside, but not by much with the window open. “You’re freezing. We should probably get going.”

She nodded. “Okay.” Her nose and cheeks were bright red, so I slid the window shut and started to put on my snowshoes again.

“Wait. You’re going back out there?”

“If we want to get back down, I am. There’s no control in here to start the lift. Plus, I need to shut off the lights.”

Maddie’s eyes bulged. “But there are bears out there.”

“There were bears out there when I went to turn the lights on, too.”

“I know. But I didn’t know about them then!”

I chuckled and finished strapping my foot into the second snowshoe. “Relax. I’ll be right back.” I started to open the door, but turned back with my best solemn face. “Just in case I get mauled, there’s storage under the seat cushion where you can find a whistle and some flares for an emergency.”

She sounded panicked. “Are you joking?”

I laughed. “Yes. There aren’t really any flares or a whistle. You’ll probably just freeze to death if the bears don’t get you after they’re done with me.” I hopped out of the gondola and ran to shut off the lights.

When I got back to the car, Maddie was at the door, blocking my entrance. Her hands were on her hips, and she did not look very happy. Though I thought her attempt at looking pissed off was sort of sexy. There’s nothing hotter than a fiery redhead. I bet she was gorgeous when she was really angry.

“I shouldn’t even let you back in after what you just pulled.”

I smiled. “That’s fine. But you should know this gondola is going to take off in less than thirty seconds. It’s on a timer after I press start.” I held one hand to my ear and cupped it. “Did you hear that? The gear shaft just cranked into place. Less than ten seconds now. Nine. Eight. Seven…”

Maddie’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward and grabbed my hand, helping me up and into the gondola. “Oh my God, get in here!”

Once I was safely inside with the door shut, and the gondola still hadn’t started moving again, Maddie squinted at me. “You didn’t hear any gears shifting, did you?”

“Nope. Though it really would have taken off without me…in seven or eight minutes. I set it to take off in ten.”

Maddie shoved my chest, but she had a smile on her face. “You are just like a big brother, teasing and scaring the crap out of me.”

Once we were moving, she had her nose pressed to the glass, looking out the window. From the top of the mountain, you could see all the different ski trails, as well as the lights from the city in the distance. The snow had tapered off, but the fresh layer on the ground made everything seem to twinkle. It looked like a magical winter wonderland outside. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful Colorado could be.

“It must’ve been cool growing up here,” she said.

“Yeah, it was. People on the coasts live for summer break and sunshine. Most of us here lived for the first snowstorm. I grew up on these slopes.”

“So I guess you’re a pretty good skier then?”

I nodded. “I was an instructor right here at this resort for six years.”

“Oh, wow. Too bad we don’t have more time. My brother could have taught me how to ski.” She smiled.

I stared out at the slopes. “I haven’t skied in years.”

“Did you get injured or something?”

“Or something.” The shit that had transpired the last time I’d put on a pair of skis wasn’t anything I wanted to talk about, so I quickly changed topics. “Do you think you got some good pictures?”

“I definitely did. I can’t wait to download them to my laptop and take a look. It’s been a long time since I shot anything but grade schoolers. I forgot how invigorating it could be. I feel like I could run up this big mountain right now.”