Chapter Fifteen

Mia was dressed in her favorite pair of comfy blue jeans, a bright red turtleneck, and a red and black fleece vest. Red had always been her favorite, and she surrounded herself with the cheery color at every opportunity.

Her car was red, and there were red accent chairs in her living room, red comforter on her bed, new red 600 thread count sheets on her bed, and several red bags and pairs of shoes in her closet. She had many red dresses, suits and blouses as well as garnet and ruby jewelry, given to her by her parents and grandmother. Besides being an Aries, the fire sign, Mia’s mother had always told her she would have more fun any time she wore red. So far, her mother had been right on the money.

After a couple of drinks and teasing from her new patrol crowd, Mia was thinking about getting something to eat, and turning in, so she’d be fresh for a full day of new powder snow that was falling as she walked back to the cabin. The light dusting sat on her hair and eyelashes, and the moon shone through the fluffy stuff, making prisms of light.

Mia was entranced with the scene, and all her senses were on overload. She could hear the squeak-squeak of her boots on the dry snow, and feel the frost nipping at her nose and ears. There was music in the distance from the party, and from the lower level bar, and she stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes as she had done since she was little. It was so peaceful with all the noises muffled by the snow.

I wonder what Rob is doing, Mia thought, as she remembered the last time she had walked in the new fallen snow and caught snowflakes on her tongue. She didn’t want to think about him in that hot dirty country, and she almost wished he was here with her tonight. Would she ever find someone who could laugh with her as she caught the light flakes on her tongue, like Rob had? Although she hadn’t admitted it since he left her that morning last month, she missed him. She missed that they could talk about anything, that they could haunt the Farmer’s Market downtown for just the right fish or steaks or produce and top off with a lovely loaf of stone oven baked French bread. She missed sharing a latte or a bubble tea on the terrace of the market, and she missed the fresh strawberry scones they would take home for their breakfast. She remembered she had thrown the ones she had bought for their breakfast in the garbage after he had left that fateful morning. She hadn’t had one since, and doubted she ever would.

Colby had barely gotten his jacket on, after finally spotting the bright red shirt and vest, with the long dark hair, and followed her out into the moonlight, and he gave a shout, “Hey Mia, wait up!” Mia turned, surprised out of her thoughts of Rob.

Colby soon caught up with her, and asked if he could buy her a steak and a glass of wine. She almost said no, but then thought, If I’m going to meet anyone new, I have to start now. And so she agreed, pushing Rob firmly to the farthest reaches of the back of her mind.

The Greek restaurant on the main street was well-known by skiers and non-skiers alike. It was decorated in predictable old Mediterranean style with straw wine bottles dripping with candle wax, and festoons of dusty fake grapes hanging from the ceiling. There were posters of Greek scenes and the speakers were playing bouzouki music. The food couldn’t be beat, and all the ski crowd ended up there sooner or later over the weekend. The owners knew most of their names and Mia wasn’t surprised Colby was greeted with open arms and a dance around the tables by Mama Gregorias.

Colby introduced Mia to Mama and Papa Gregorias, and told her if Papa hadn’t married her first, Colby would have. He teased that one day he might just come and take Mama away with him and marry her anyway.

Both Colby and Mia ordered the house wine, the Greek salad, and shish kebabs, with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, big yellow onions and succulent green peppers. They laughed as they realized their tastes were so alike. Mia fought hard to suppress the memory, that the last time she had any kind of a date was her ill-fated scene with Rob. Shaking off that memory, Mia tried hard to concentrate on Colby. Over their meal, which was scrumptious, they laughed at the toboggan mishaps of the day, and Colby groaned over the myriad of bruises he had all over his body from being bumped around and tossed out of the sled a few times.

As Colby walked Mia back to the cabin, they both caught snowflakes on their tongues and so, it seemed only natural when Colby leaned forward and traded a snowflake from his tongue to hers.

His lips were warm and soft, and Mia responded to the light kiss. She drew back with a laugh, saying she hadn’t meant to kiss away all his bruises and bumps, since she hardly knew him.

Colby smiled wickedly. “I didn’t mean for you to do that either, but the idea certainly has a lot of merit.

“However, since we don’t know each other very well, and I’d certainly like to change that, why don’t we meet down at the spa in a few minutes?

With the wine to fortify her, Mia decided to go wild and take a chance that maybe, just maybe, Colby was the one who could make her heart race, and even forget about Rob. She hurried back to her cabin, grabbed a swimsuit, and towel, added a fluffy terry robe, and went back down the path to the hot spring, clomping along in heavy snow boots over bare feet.

In the barely heated changing room, she shivered her way into the swim suit, a tank affair specially designed to hold up her breasts, and not allow her to fall out of the suit at an inopportune time. She waded into the warm water inside the building, and then through the hanging plastic curtain that kept a minimal amount of warmth inside the changing rooms, outside to where the now hot water was bubbling and churning.

It was a surreal experience, being so warm from the neck down, yet being outside in zero degree weather. The snow was still softly falling, and snowflakes stayed on Mia’s hair and eyelashes, and melted as they hit the warm water. There was a faint odor of sulfur in the air, as the original hot springs, deep within the mountain, gave up their warm water to the surface. People were shrouded in clouds of steam and Mia thought everyone looked like ghosts in the moonlight. There were benches around the spring, and also around the huge fountain in the middle, where the underground stream fed upward into the pool. Colors were muted, and a half moon reflected off the surrounding snow, and made the snowflakes and steam sparkle magically, rivaling the millions of pinpoints of light from the stars overhead.

* * * *

Mia knew that the underground hot springs came to the surface in many areas of the mountains. Indians had first discovered the healing hot mists hundreds of years ago, and had worshipped the gods that gave such welcome warmth to them in the dead cold of winter.

Recalling her early history lessons, Mia had learned that when the white men came to the land, they also quickly found a way to stay warm through the winters. With the coming of the railroad, developers discovered that by enlarging and enclosing at least part of the springs, and blasting out larger pools, they could advertise to the eastern travelers, that the healing baths of the mountains could help arthritis sufferers, people with asthma or other breathing problems such as tuberculosis.

Like Mia and the other local skiers, over the last 150 years, people made the long train journey to “take the waters”, much as the Romans had done when they founded the baths at Bath, England. The mountain towns had grown up around the railroads and the baths, and now skiers came from all over the world, and hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, wildlife spotters and all kinds of scenery seekers came to these mountains every year.

Mia loved shopping in the mountain town because the tourist economy had spawned high end furriers, weavers, potters, artists in oils and watercolors and the shops and stores that catered to the wealthy who came to buy these hand crafted items. Other shops catered to candy and fudge lovers, and those who only wanted a cheap T-shirt or a postcard to remind them of the lovely little mountain town. Mia always went home with a bag of fudge, and often found lovely hand knit sweaters and hats to ward off the cold winter winds.

There was even an arts center that drew the most famous artists, musicians, dramatists, writers and poets worldwide to meet, hone their skills, and teach young people who were wealthy enough or good enough to obtain scholarships in the various disciplines. It was a much coveted prize to say you had learned or taught at the center, and to be chosen as a Summer Artist in Residence was a coveted prize indeed. Several of Mia’s friends had attended art school, and she had been at many plays and concerts over the years.

Those lucky enough to live close by could buy inexpensive concert and play tickets almost any time throughout the summer, and be treated to world class entertainment and juried art shows. Mia and her friends often made the trek to take in the entertainment, which often included world famous performers.

The center even catered to business people wanting to take an executive MBA, and Mia had toyed with the idea of spending one long weekend a month at the facility to do just that. The MBA would allow her to climb the governmental ladder and become a supervisor or even an assistant deputy minister to the Cabinet Minister. She certainly didn’t want to spend the rest of her life counseling abused wives and searching out deadbeat dads to pay child support.