*Kelly*
My teeth were chattering uncontrollably. “AJ, this is insane. I’m freezing! I can’t feel my toes or my nose. I’m going back to the lodge,” I said starting to turn back around.
“Kelly, no please don’t. It’s right down this hill. I promise you’ll love it!”
I sighed and continued to walk with AJ down the hill. Yeah, of course he’s warm…he’s dressed for Antarctica!!
“Alright, we’re almost there…close your eyes, please,” AJ said stopping.
I closed my eyes and just stood there. All I heard was a deafening silence.
“AJ…?? You still there?” I said peeking with one eye open.
He smiled and said, “Yeah, of course I’m here, honey. I’m not ever going to leave you. Now close your eyes. No peeking!”
He led me by both of my hands a little further down the hill, I could tell by the way we were walking.
“Ok, Kel, we’re here,” AJ said, letting go of my hands.
“Can I look now??” I said squinting my eyes.
“Oh yeah, of course you can. Sorry.”
I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my entire life. AJ and I were in a valley and there we no trees, nothing…just snow and above us the clearest, bluest sky you’ve ever seen.
“AJ, this is absolutely beautiful!” I gasped walking around in the snow a bit.
AJ plopped down in the snow and motioned for me to come sit on his lap. “Here, let me tell you about this valley. It’s called Angel Cove. See, 30 years ago, there was a tremendous avalanche that came through here. Ever since then, the snow has stayed here. It’s never snowed in the valley again, but it’s never gotten warm enough to melt it, either.”
“Wow! That’s very spectacular. Was anyone killed in the avalanche?”
“Yes, there was. Actually, there were two small children, probably 5 or 6 playing out in the snow on their sleds and making snowmen when the avalanche came through. They were killed probably instantly, and that’s why it’s called Angel Cove because the two children are angels still watching over the valley and that’s why the snow is still here from 30 years ago.”
“Aww…that is so sad, yet so amazing,” I said venturing into the dark realms of AJ’s beautiful eyes.
“Yes, and I wanted to share this with my angel,” he said gently kissing me on the lips.
Words cannot express how I felt inside. I was no longer cold, but instead, very, very warm inside.
“Okay, come on…we have to do something,” AJ said lying down in the snow.
“AJ?? What are you doing?! We’re going to get sick,” I said lying down beside his in the snow looking up at the bright blue sky.
“Just watch me and then do what I do,” AJ said while moving his arms up and down and his legs back and forth, causing an image to appear in the snow.
I gasped silently, “It’s an angel…”
I glimpsed a smile creep across AJ’s face and he said, “Yes, Kelly, it is. Just as you are. Now, do what I just did.”
I did as he said and the he stood up and helped me up as we looked down at the images the two of us had just created in the snow.
“They’re beautiful…just like you,” AJ said turning to me, stroking my cheek and softly kissing me.
“I love this place. I’ll never forget it…ever! It will always remain deep in my heart,” I said pulling back from AJ so that I could look around Angels Cove once more before AJ and I left.
“You ready?” AJ said grabbing my hand and interlocking it with his.
I looked around Angels Cove for the last time and sighed. “Yeah, I am…come on baby, I’m cold.” AJ and I trudged up the hill to get back inside the warm cabin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Gail*
“Alright, girl, you ready?? Let’s get ‘em!” I said, pumping Claudi up as Brian and Nick looked at us like we were insane.
Nick walked over to me and whispered softly into my ear, “Try not to be too hard on me, ok?”
I just smiled at him, took the ball, and headed out to the center of the court.
Well, Claudi and I took the lead and were wearing the guys down. I wasn’t exactly sure if they actually sucked that bad or if they were giving pity to us and allowing us to win.
I had the ball and was running to do a lay-up when Nick came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and tickled me to the ground.
The only word that I could manage to force out was, “Foul!”
“Foul?! You called a foul on your boyfriend??” Nick said appalled.
“Yup. Sure did. What? Did I hurt the baby’s feelings??” I pouted.
Nick put on a baby face and played along. “Yes, you did,” he whined.
“Aww…come here…” he walked over to me and I placed his head on my shoulder while I stroked his golden locks.
“Come on, baby…I’m tired. Let’s go play some Mario Kart and leave Brian and Claudi alone.”
“Okay, that sounds fine. Let’s go. Yo Bri, man, Gail and I are gonna head back to the room. You and Claudi go ahead and finish out the game,” he winked over in their direction. He turned back to me and grabbed my hand as we left the gym together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Claudi*
“Well, I guess it’s just me and you then, huh??” Brian said devilishly, walking toward me, dribbling the ball.
“Yep…guess so,” I replied stealing the ball from him.
“Hey!! What do you think you’re doing missy?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m playing a game of b-ball. Oh wait, excuse me…did I say playing, I meant…I’m winning a game of b-ball!”
“Hey, now…that’s not fair. I can’t help if Nick sucks at basketball! Don’t tell him I said that though or he would kill me!” Brian said putting his finger over my lips.
“I’ve got an idea! Why don’t I show ya some moves??” Brian suggested, taking the ball back and spinning it on his finger.
“Sure!” I said anxious to learn some new moves, especially since they were coming from Brian.
“Okay, watch me…you gotta do this.”
I watched intently his every move and how much he put his full concentration into that one move.
“Alright, stud, outta the way. My turn,” I said snatching the ball away.
I attempted to do just what Brian had done only a minute earlier, but obviously I did it wrong because Brian was sure to tell me that I had.
“No, no, Claudi, you have to do it like this. See….” Brian demonstrated again.
“Nope…Brian, I’m never gonna get it,” I sighed admitting defeat.
“Come on, here…take the ball. Now, do this…” he showed me this time placing one hand on top of mine and the other around my waist guiding the way the ball went.
“Okay, thanks. That’s enough for me today. Let’s go…ouch!!” I exclaimed grabbing my shoulder.
“What?! Are you alright, Claudi?” Brian said with genuine concern in his voice placing his hand on my shoulder.
“Oooh…yeah, but ouch!! I’ve got a major cramp I my shoulder.”
“Here, let me massage it for you. Sit down on this bench here,” Brian said helping me over to the bench and sitting down on the table above it so that he could reach my shoulder.
“Oh, thanks Brian. That feels so good,” I said with my eyes closed as I felt his strong hands gently rubbing the tension out of my shoulder.
“There. Does that feel better?” he asked.
“Yeah, lots!! Thanks!” I said turning around and giving him a sweet peck on the cheek.
“Anytime, hon. Listen, I’m getting pretty hungry. Wanna go to the lobby or something and get some chips or something?” Brian suggested, grabbing the ball and standing up.
“Yeah…sounds great! Let’s go.” Brian and I headed out of the gym and into the lobby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Vic*
“Oooh…I love this part. It’s where they dance the finale!” I gushed.
“Um…huh,” Kevin nodded.
“Oh wait!! My surprise!! Kevin, what is it??” I said sitting up, getting all excited and fidgety.
“Just sit there and watch the movie…it’ll be here soon. I promise!” Kevin said calmly, but I knew that he was really excited inside.
The song that they dance to at the end was about to start when Kevin stood up and pulled me up with him and started to sing:
“I had the time of my life and I owe it all to you…”
We held onto each other and dancing as he serenaded me the entire time!! That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me and his voice is stunning!
“Aww…Kevin, that was so sweet. I love you!” I exclaimed hugging him tighter and kissing him repeatedly on the lips.
He just smiled and lifted me up into the air like Patrick Swayze does to Jennifer Grey at the end. I felt so exhilarated being lifted up by Kevin’s strong, muscular arms. Everything about him made me feel safe and comfortable. I trusted him so much. Kevin slowly lowered me back down to the floor and wrapped his arms around me so tightly and gave me the most passionate kiss I had ever experienced.
“I love you so much, Vic,” he told me while I looked into his beautiful eyes, seeing nothing but love.
“I love you too, Kevin.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Theresa*
“Oooh…Howie, I can’t wait to meet your family! I’m sure they’re just wonderful people, like you are,” I said finishing my coffee.
“Yeah…they’re gonna love you. I know it!” Howie reassured me.
“Thanks, D!” I smiled.
“Come on…let’s get out of here…go do something…we’ve been in this room almost all morning!”
Howie and I cleaned up our trash and left the room. As we were leaving we ran into Brian and Claudi laughed and feeding each other potato chips.
“Hey guys. How’s it going?” Howie asked as we went and sat down across from them in the lobby.
“Great! We just grabbed a snack to eat,” Claudi answered feeding Brian another chip.
Howie and I just looked at each other rolled our eyes and laughed.
We all felt a cold chill come in as the door of the lodge opened. We all looked over and saw Kelly and AJ walked in wrapped as one under AJ’s coat.
