AVALANCHE

Chapter 9

On our way to breakfast the following day, the lodge had a totally different feel to it. More people than usual were walking up and down the halls, and all of them had lumpy, bulging bags like they'd been packed in a hurry. When we walked through the lobby, things became more strange. There was a massive line at the front desk, and it appeared that everyone was checking out in a hurry. I even spotted several women who weren't wearing a stitch of makeup, and their hair was bundled messily on top of their heads. That wouldn't seem like a big deal in most places, but I'd noticed at The Ski Lodge the women were always carefully done up.

"What's going on?" Ava asked as we entered the dining room.

Dan didn't answer, and I shook my head in response. "Maybe they're one big party?"

Ava shook her head too. "I don't think so."

We were seated at a table, and a server with a crease between his brows came by.

"What's going on?" Ava asked before he could ask about our drink order.

"There's a storm coming. Supposed to be a big one. Weather advisory and all. Almost everyone is leaving before it hits. There's no penalty for canceling reservations today. Can I get you something to drink?"

We ordered our drinks, and he hurried off. We took our plates to the buffet and gathered our food. I snagged two of the chocolate white chocolate chip muffins and went without the pancakes.

I was savoring my first bite when Ava sat down her fork. "Should we leave too?"

I looked at her. "Why?"

She frowned at me and waved a hand around. "Because of the storm."

Dan shrugged. "Storms come and go all the time. I don't see why this one is any different."

Ava sighed. "Well, it must be different if everyone is leaving."

Dan shook his head. "Nah. People are just worried because it's on the mountain."

"Have you looked up anything about this storm?" Ava asked with a raised brow.

Dan grinned and pulled out his phone. It took him a minute, but then he frowned. "It does look like a bad one."

He passed the phone to Ava, and she, too, frowned at it. "Maybe we should go. They're calling it the storm of the century."

I shook my head. "I mean, the storm will hit Brinklynn City, too. We might as well stay here."

"Yeah, but it'll be worse up here on the mountain," Ava said.

"I get that, but how would we even get home? The driver is going to pick us up at the end of the trip. I don't think we can just call an Uber."

"We probably could, but it would be crazy expensive," Dan offered.

Ava sighed and gave Dan his phone back. "Maybe we can wait until this afternoon. They're saying it could veer to the south and only graze us. We shouldn't have to leave if that happens."

After breakfast, we decided to roam around the lodge and see what else was going on. As we exited the dining room, I noticed a sign.

GUESTS,

PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATION CHANGES WITH THE FRONT DESK BY NINE PM TONIGHT, SO WE CAN BETTER PREPARE FOR THE COMING STORM.

THANK YOU,

THE SKI LODGE

I frowned, but we kept walking past the busy front desk and took a side hall that we hadn't explored yet. There were a couple of small meeting rooms down this way, but mostly it was rooms.

We found two big double doors at the end of one hall, and we shoved through to enter a large conference room. The recessed lighting was bright, and the walls that weren't logs were flat and white. The floor was the same dark redwood that ran throughout, and it smelled like a mix of pine and air fresheners.

I chewed my lip as I realized we weren't alone.

On the other side of the room, four men huddled around each other, talking in low tones. They were dressed nicely, but there was something off about them. It wasn't their overly muscular builds, or that their hair was a little unclean, or even the noticeable bruising and scaring on their knuckles.

As they turned to face us, I realized it was something about their eyes. They were cold. Not icy like Chance's, though. No, there was cruelty in these men that lifted my arm hairs.

"Oh, sorry," Ava said, and we started backing out the doors.

One man stepped in our direction, his beady eyes locking onto our group. He had a hooked nose and pointed chin and altogether looked extremely unfriendly.

Dan and I each gave them tight smiles before the three of us pushed through the doors and into the safety of the hall.

I grabbed Ava and Dan by the arm and propelled us back the way we'd come. I didn't want to be anywhere near those men.

"Remember what I said about shady people coming here?" Ava asked.

I nodded a little too fast.

"They sure as hell looked shady to me," Dan said.

***

As the day wore on, it became more and more clear that the storm would not veer off course.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Ava prompted as we sat down with full plates at our lunch table.

Already the absence of people was noticeable. Staff, too, seemed minimalistic.

"We have plenty of time," Dan said. "We can wait to decide until tomorrow. See if things look different then."

I shook my head. "No, today everyone has to make their plans known so the staff can prepare. There was a sign."

Dan rolled his eyes. "They aren't going to hold us prisoner if we decide to leave without notice tomorrow."

"I'm not going to be the people that cause problems," Ava said, her tone firm.

I nodded my agreement.

"Fine." Dan huffed. "Well, I'm down to stay."

"I can't decide," I replied.

Ava smiled at me. "Shocking. I guess we can stay. We'll have to face the storm no matter where we go. Unless one of you wants to buy us tickets to Florida."

I laughed. "Not it."

When we finished our meal, we left the dining room and headed in the library's direction. People were preparing to leave or stay all around us, and there was an air of finality to it.

"We should go, Chance. There's no reason to stay anymore," a voice said from around the corner in the library. Ava and I froze, recognizing Paulo's voice, and Dan looked between the two of us with a frown.

"No. We'll stay as long as they do," came that deep rumble.

"You don't have a chance in hell," Paulo said.

"I don't care," Chance replied, his voice sharp and firm but still on the quiet side.

"Well, c'mon then. Let's at least go grab some lunch. You've been in here for hours."

"Fine."

I took two steps back before leaning forward, grabbing my friends, and dragging them back with me the way we'd come. "Hurry," I growled.

"What the hell is going on? What did I miss? I thought Paulo was a decent guy?"

"Oh, he was," Ava said in a dreamy tone.

"But his friend was not, and I don't want to see him," I said.

Ava and Dan made eye contact over my head, and I pretended not to notice.

"I've never seen you like this, Ryann," Dan said.

"Like what?" I hurried around a corner before slowing and releasing my friends. If the men were going to lunch, they wouldn't come down this hall.

"So frazzled by a boy." Ava laughed.

"I'm not frazzled. I just don't like him."

"Oh no, you're definitely frazzled. Usually, you write them off completely when you don't like someone. You may or may not b***h them out first, but after that, they are nothing to you, forever and always," Dan said.

I grimaced. They weren't wrong. "So?"

"So why does Chance Belgarde get to you so much?" Ava asked.

"Hell if I know."