The weather had turned bad by the time we started up the mountain. Trish and I had been planning this week for almost a year, and nothing was going to stop us, not snow, not sleet and not a pandemic.
We were going to fall in love again.
The rental jeep easily climbed the hill toward the chalet. Trish read off the mailbox numbers as we went up
"144, 146, 148..."
I kept my eyes on the road, trying not to look out across the mountain with its little cabins dotted along the road and the ski slopes beyond.
"Almost there," she said. "It's up here on the right."
We were here to get away from things, my job at the paper, her job at the law firm, the lockdown. We'd been assured that everything would be taken care of, from fumigating the cabin, wiping down everything to making sure all the guests were taken care of individually.
Meals would be delivered. Bars in the chalets would be stocked according to our tastes. Skiing right out the back of our cabin would take us down an easy slope to the lifts. A perfect day would end with us skiing downhill, back to our chalet.
All that could wait. We were pulling into the drive, and our hostess was waiting on the porch. Her name was Wendy, a college student from Colorado State who was there to help us with anything we needed.
She was wearing ski pants and boots, her bib overalls over a gray and white wool sweater with white ski gloves, goggles up on her blonde, snow-flecked hair, and a mask, which she pulled down to reveal a gorgeous face, smiling with full red lips, blue eyes and a perky little nose.
"My God," Trish said. "She's beautiful."
I stepped out of the jeep and walked a few steps toward our hostess. She opened the front door and sort of stepped aside to assure social distance. I fist-bumped her as I held out my hand to help Trish up the steps.
"We're the Gordons," I said. "Bill and Trish up from Salt Lake. Thanks for being here Wendy."
Trish smiled and cocked her head. She was smitten.
"It's so lovely here," she said, staring into the young woman's deep blue eyes. "You are so lovely."
Wendy seemed to blush as I winked at my wife and walked back to the jeep to get the bags.
"Is there anything I can do?" Wendy called to me as I walked to the jeep. She glanced at Trish. "This is my first day."
Trish held her arm out toward the front door.
"Show me around," she said, slipping out of her ski jacket and kicking the snow off her boots.
As I set the bags on the porch, I peered into the front of the lodge, watching Wendy unbuckling her overalls and sliding out of them. She was wearing tight jeans underneath, and when she took off her wool sweater, I almost gasped.
She wore a tight, low-cut top, no bra, and her nipples were hard from the cold outside. She bent over to stoke the fire in the huge fireplace, and I looked at Trish, who was looking at Wendy's ass and, I swear, licking her lips.
I chuckled as I went back to unload the skis and poles from the top of the jeep. There were more suitcases, too. Trish had packed for a month.
When I returned, the two of them were sitting at a counter, spaced apart and drinking red wine.
"I don't really think I'm supposed to be drinking with the guests," Wendy said, sounding like a little girl.
"Don't you worry about a thing," Trish said. "Your secrets are safe with us. Let's just have fun this week. Consider yourself part of the family."
They motioned as if they were clinking glasses as I walked in kicking snow and making a racket. It was mid-afternoon, and we'd talked about making a short ski run before the sun went down.
I checked the refrigerator to find it fully stocked with everything we ordered - steaks and vegetables, fruits and breakfast food, milk and three bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream.
I pulled out one of the bottles.
"Where's the coffee pot, Wendy?" I asked.
"I have no idea, Mr. Gordon," she said, aghast as both Trish and I laughed.
"I'll find it," I said, scurrying about in the cupboard and pantry. "And call me Bill."
"Ok, Bill," she said hesitantly, glancing at Trish sheepishly.
"My God," Trish said. "You're as cute as a button."
She was 21, roughly half our age. She was tall and slender, with what appeared to be perfect tits, about 35c if I had to guess. Without a bra, it was hard to tell. She also had a cute little butt, athletic but not masculine. She looked like a lifeguard more than a ski instructor, which is what we arranged for.
Within minutes, we let her know that she had no job this week other than teaching Trish how to ski in powder, something she'd never done before. We would take care of the rest.
Not one of us knew what that would entail, this being Wendy's first day on the job and our first time at the ski resort.
It wasn't like most resorts, especially with a pandemic raging. Yes, there was a big lodge at the bottom of the mountain, but other than a repair shop and a kitchen inside, little else was being used. The instructors and the safety skiers, the hosts, the managers and the owners and the hired help, all stayed in separate rooms in the lodge. No guests were allowed in, no fireplace, no bar or restaurant or ski school.
Everything was done on the slope and in the chalets.
As we made small talk and drank while walking around in our socks and checking out the place, Wendy suddenly realized she hadn't checked in with her bosses. She grabbed her phone from her bibs thrown over a chair and shrieked. She had four messages, all from the lodge.