‘Do lots of people need rescuing in the middle of the night?’
He gestured for her to come in and he closed the door behind her. She noticed one of his Air-Glaciers sweatshirts slung, crumpled, over the arm of the sofa. It looked big and warm, and she felt cosy just looking at it.
‘No, and we can’t fly the helicopters too close to the mountains and the cables in the dark, it’s too dangerous,’ Marco continued. ‘But one guy yesterday was stuck on one of the faces after he got lost hiking, and then the cloud came in so we had no visibility. It was just about dusk before we finally airlifted him out, and then we took him to base to treat him before delivering him to hospital. It was a late night because of the paperwork and cleaning up the equipment. Anyway, I am “blah blah blah”.’ He motioned talking too much with his hands. ‘How is your morning?’
‘I like to hear about it, it’s interesting,’ said Alice. ‘And my morning is . . . well, I’ve been making some decisions. That’s why I’m here.’
‘Oh that’s cool,’ he said with interest, and touched the small of her back to indicate she could take a seat at the bar. He poured her a cup of tea and pushed a box of gingerbread cookies towards her. Her Swiss friends loved assuming their British visitor always wanted a warm drink. It was a sweet gesture.
Ask for what you want, she thought, watching his tall form moving around the kitchen, strong arms, soft face, sleep-tousled hair, slim waist. She would like him to hold her again, but that wasn’t what she was here for today.
‘Marco, can I take you up on the offer of looking after Bear over Christmas?’
He turned, a big smile on his face. ‘Of course! David and I would be honoured.’
‘You’ll take care of him, though, right? I haven’t left him with anyone since I took him in. He’s . . . everything to me now.’
‘I will take so much care of him, you can trust me.’
She thought they could. He was kind – they all were – and Bear was so comfortable with him. ‘I don’t want to put him through the long car journey again, but I think I have to go home. If I fly I can go on Christmas Eve and be back on Boxing Day.’
‘Take as long as you want. I’ll be here, with him. And David.’
‘Where is David? I should check it’s okay with him too.’
‘He’s still on the slopes. It’s just me here at the moment.’
‘Oh.’ Oh. The silence probably only lasted a moment but thanks to the snow against the window, the wood of the cabin, the warm air in the kitchen, she could have been in the opening shot of a Christmas number one music video.
Marco broke the spell by noticing the time. ‘Oh shit, I have to make my way down the mountain to work soon. What are you doing for the rest of the day?’
Alice stood, thanked him again, and used it as an excuse to give him a quick hug around the waist before leaving. ‘Today I am finding ways to get my life back.’
