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Christmas Love at Lake Tahoe

By Lena Nelson Dooley, Jeanie Smith Cash, Jean Kincaid, Jeri Odell

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Chapter 1
“What was I thinking?”
Scarlett McKay’s first job in resort management, and she had to get one so far away. A thousand miles away in Nevada, to be exact.
“Did you say something to me?” Her mother must have heard from downstairs.
“No, Mom.” She raised her voice to be sure the words were understood. “I’m just trying to decide how much to pack.” Five months was a long time.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and then her mother appeared in the doorway. “We can always ship a trunk to you.”
Scarlett placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the mess sprawled across her room. It was the only way. “Good idea. I really wanted to take some of my books.”
Her mother shook her head. “Scarlett Ann, you’re going to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Why would you want to waste your time reading?”
She and her mother would never agree on this. Scarlett loved to read and didn’t consider it a waste of time. Besides, other people spend most of their time on the slopes. Planning activities wouldn’t take all day, and she’d have time off.
After surveying her bookshelves, she started pulling volumes and plopping them on the overcrowded bed. “How long do you think it will take for the trunk to get there?”
Mother crossed her arms. “Probably not long.” She studied Scarlett a moment. “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing in going so far away?”
Did she sense Scarlett’s ambiguous thoughts?
“Of course I’m sure.” She gave herself a mental shake to firm up her resolve. “It’ll be an adventure, and five months isn’t all that long.”
Working at a ski resort would be a good place to start her career. Besides, she loved snow—to look at and maybe to play in. But not skiing. A person had to be crazy to zip down steep slopes, weaving between trees on thin, slick boards. That was asking to be injured.
~~~
The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport buzzed with activity. Scarlett attached the connecting straps to each of her three bags, then pulled them behind her like a train. She made her way to the end of the long line, wondering where everyone was headed. Wishing she’d bought her ticket online so she could check in at a kiosk, she inched slower than a turtle toward the ticket counter.
“How many bags to check?” The America Airlines agent didn’t even glance up.
“Two.”
The soft answer caused the distracted woman to look at her. “What did you say?”
Scarlett gave her brightest smile. “I’m checking two bags.”
“You do realize there are charges for checked bags.” Still no smile from the agent. “Please place them on the scale.”
Scarlett wrestled the bags one at a time onto the flat metal surface and held her breath. Please don’t let them be overweight. Thankfully, they weren’t.
“That’ll be one hundred and twenty-five dollars.” The agent’s fingers did the cha-cha over the keyboard.
“Wow!” She didn’t realize the bag fees would be so high. Her first paycheck needed to come soon to cover this. She should have sent more of her things in the trunk. Scarlett handed her the brand-new credit card. Her first charge.
While waiting near the departure gate, she tapped her fingers on the arm of the gray chair. She didn’t like flying. She’d have driven her Malibu to Nevada, but her father had convinced her not to drive that far alone. He was an old worrywart, but Scarlett was glad he cared. Some of her friends’ parents didn’t.
Thoughts flitted through her mind at a dizzying pace. What if. . . ? What if. . . ? What if. . . ?
She had to stop thinking about serious possibilities and dwell on what she knew. She enumerated them using her fingers. She had graduated with honors. A degree in hotel management made her capable of filling this position. After she left Lake Tahoe, the job would look good on her résumé. Five months wasn’t all that long. Once again that phrase raced through her mind. Who was she trying to convince? Herself?
The long flight and waiting for her luggage on the other end took an eternity, but finally she was on her way to Snowbird Lodge on the outskirts of Incline Village. Trying not to look too much like a tourist, she studied the landscape, marveling at God’s creative wonders. Steep mountains, deep valleys, and acres of snow punctuated with evergreens. Buildings that looked like Swiss chalets. Every scene looked like a picture on a Christmas card. Being here would be a blessing and her new job a gift from God. Wasn’t it? Of course it was.
When the shuttle stopped, Scarlett climbed off and went to the back to retrieve her luggage. While she walked, she dug into her jumbled shoulder bag, trying to find enough change to make three dollars to tip the driver.
“Did you lose something?” Husky masculine tones penetrated her concentration.
She looked up at the smiling face of the driver. Sean, from his name tag. “I’m digging for your tip.” Her nervous giggle followed.
He held up one hand, palm out. “Not from you. You’re an employee.”
“How do you know that?”
He nodded toward the two young women right inside the door of the lodge. “They’ve been waiting for you—Scarlett, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The front door burst open. Bethany and Stephanie ran toward her, screaming her name. They joined in a dancing group hug.
Sean was halfway to the entrance before Scarlett realized he had taken her luggage. She pulled away and hurried after him, with her two friends following right behind. She didn’t catch him until he stopped by the reception desk.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“My pleasure.” He tipped his hat and returned to the shuttle van.
She whirled around to face Bethany and Stephanie. “Do we get treated like this all the time?”
Bethany shook her head. “No, just this weekend. Monday is a workday, and we’ll become staff. Come on.” She headed toward the elevator. “We’ll help you unpack.”
When Bethany opened the door to the suite, Scarlett almost whistled. But she remembered Grammy’s admonition that ladies didn’t whistle. This wasn’t a tiny room in the attic, as Scarlett had imagined. The spacious area would quickly become a home to them. That great bookcase had room for her books and already contained some she hadn’t read.
“This is beautiful.” Scarlett twirled around in the middle of the large room. “Just like home.”
Bethany smiled. “I told Gram we’d all really love it.”
Scarlett went down the hallway and poked her head into the bedrooms. “These are great, too. Can I have the one with the purple flowers? You know how much I love purple.”
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Exploring the lodge, Michaela’s arrival, eating dinner together, then settling before the fireplace in their suite to catch up—which didn’t take long, since they’d only been apart a short while.
Now Scarlett sat cross-legged on her bed, writing in her journal, her anxieties about coming here a dim memory. Of course accepting the job had been the right thing to do.
The ambiance in the dining room resembled that of a fine restaurant. Actually, everything about Snowbird Lodge excelled her every expectation. What a joy to be able to plan activities for the guests. The job would be a breeze, and she couldn’t imagine any complications.
~~~
“What are you doing for the next week?” The familiar voice came through his cell phone.
Derrick Greene took that question as a prelude for a request of some kind. “Nothing’s going on.”
He could almost hear Pastor Bob’s smile widen. “Good.”
“So what do you have in mind?” Derrick saved and closed the Internet page he’d been working on and leaned back in his desk chair.
“A group of the college guys want to go skiing. Although it’s not a regular church trip, they wanted someone going with them who could lead a Bible study each night. I thought of you.”
Skiing? “Do you know where they’re going?”
“They were talking about Lake Tahoe, but they’re having a bit of trouble finding any place that’s not booked up.”
Derrick stood and studied the bulletin board on the wall above his desk. “I’ve been meaning to try a new facility there.” He pulled the tack from a slip of paper and pushed it into a vacant spot on the cork. The note floated to the top of his desk. He picked it up. “Snowbird Lodge. If they want me to, I can try to get reservations. How many are going?”
“Eight or ten.”
“I’ll check on this and get back to you.”
“Thanks.”
The phone call to the lodge didn’t take long. The three rooms they needed were available. Pastor Bob said they could use the church van, and the young men decided to leave early the next morning. Even with the wintery weather, the drive shouldn’t take too long.
Derrick decided to take his own Xterra. They’d need the extra space to carry all the luggage and equipment, even though guys would pack light.
A month after completing his last wilderness trek, he felt the need to get out and do something physical. His muscles tingled in anticipation.
Get in some intense skiing. Spend time with guys who looked up to him. An unexpected chance to spend special time with the Lord. Life couldn’t get any better.

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