Christmas at the Cabin | ONC 2023 (Complete)

One | Are You Ready?

"This is ridiculous," Damien grumbles, popping his heel into the snowshoe. 

What an amazing start to our morning. I love taking inexperienced grumpy rich dudes up mountains and across plains and into small cabins for fancy expensive meals. I'm not even remotely bitter that they pay so much to be here. I could use that money to buy an entire acre of property and they throw it away like it's nothing.

Bee, who is working the counter of the shop today, hides her laughter behind her hand. "Does he know he's not going to need the snowshoes until later?"

"I tried to tell him, but he just said he knew what he was doing and didn't need my help and then mumbled something about someone having the worst taste in activities and, I quote, 'why couldn't they have just gone golfing or something?'"

"Oh, you're going to have fun with him," she laughs, drawing his glare, which only incites us to more laughter.

"His client isn't even meeting us until we're up the mountain. I talked to Harley, and he says this man booked a whole excursion up the mountain to prove to the client guy that he likes the outdoors."

"Sounds like a lot of work just for a bit of money."

"Oh, it's a lot of money. So much money, in fact, that he tried to convince Harley to let him hire a helicopter to get us most of the way there so we could hike up a bit and make it seem like he hiked the whole way."

"There's no place for a helicopter to land up there, at least not in weather like this."

"Exactly, and when Harley explained that to Mr. Cranky Pants over there, he apparently said, 'perfect, that'll make it more believable.'"

"Believable? Is he planning to jump out of the helicopter before he begins his hike?" She rolls her eyes and then pauses to look at her bright red nails. "Actually, that might be kinda fun. Does he want to rethink the helicopter idea? I'd jump out of a helicopter with him."

I start laughing, drawing more attention from Mr. Cranky Pants, who I should probably start calling by his name before I accidentally call him that to his face.

"Oh, my God," Bee gasps, covering her mouth. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then you shouldn't have said you'd jump out of a plane for him." I shrug and steal an almond from the snack bowl she's always hiding behind the counter.

"I said I'd jump out of a helicopter WITH him. There's a difference."

"A very negligible one," I admit, snacking on Bee's almonds and watching Damien struggle with his snowshoe he's not even supposed to be putting on.

"You should probably go convince him to pack his bag right or you're never going to make it before his meeting."

"I know. There's supposed to be a small storm coming in, too, so I have to get us there to the cabin before it blows in." I check my watch. There's still plenty of time. We're risking it a little bit at the end. It's possible we may get stuck up there. But there's food and heat and I get paid overtime which I desperately need so who am I to complain?

"Here," she says, sliding me the trip pack across the counter. "Keep your radio on, kid. Or I'll come up there and get you myself."

"I'm not even seven years younger than you, Bee."

"When you pass thirty, you get to call everyone in their twenties a kid," she says with a shrug. "It's like a perk for your whole body starting to fall apart."

"Something to look forward to, then."

"Go get 'em, tiger," she says. She thinks she's picking up Canadian slang after all these years working here, but I'm not sure where she's getting her information.