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soon. The Land Rover would make it to the cabin just fine. If there’d been other vehicles in and out lately, it would be even easier. The plan was to meet up with the other vehicle at the lunch stop on the other side of the border then stay convoy-style in case one or the other got into trouble. With the border, and shopping involved, it ended up being a long drive but one well worth the effort. It had been three years since she’d been here. And as she looked out at the icy mountains ahead of them, she realized it had been too long. It was desolate. Cold. And incredibly beautiful.
    By the time they arrived at the cabin, it was late afternoon and the evening sky had settled like a cold dark blanket on the region. Being in the mountains, once the sun went down, night settled in early. If it weren’t for the powerful headlights of the Rover leading the way and the expert knowledge of her brother, Stacy didn’t think they’d have found the driveway. As this was also a popular climbing area, there had been signposts, but with the drifting snow and thick soupy darkness, they’d been hard to see.
    George parked in front and left his headlights on until Royce opened the doors and ascertained that it was empty and available for them. They’d booked it for the week, although a few might stay just for the weekend. It was owned by one of George’s friends and made available to the group at large for a pittance. They’d all made good use of the owner’s generosity over the years.
    The cabin had an emergency generator in the back. As the women worked to unload gear, the men set about bringing light and heat to the cabin.
    Within minutes, a huge fire was blazing in the big heater stove and water put on top for hot drinks while the hot water tank was turned on. Food would be needed soon, but for the moment everyone was just overjoyed to be here. Stacy wandered through the cabin and chose to set her bed up in the loft. It would be the warmest place, and she was no fool. This might be a holiday, but there’d be more icicles and thermal underwear here than bikinis and tropical drinks.
    She dumped her bag and went downstairs to claim a down sleeping bag from the stack her brother and Royce had supplied.
    “Stacy, where are you setting up?”
    “In the loft, if that’s all right.”
    There were a few calls and nods of agreement. There were several bedrooms along the side of the cabin. She noted that George and Kathleen took one of them and the two guys she worked with took another – it had double bunks on both walls as did the other bedroom.
    There were only a few other choices for sleeping rooms. Royce had yet to pick one.
    And neither had Yvonne.
    *
    George laughed at his sister’s choice. “Hey, Stacy, how come you gotta hide away upstairs like that?”
    “Ha,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure you and Kathleen managed to grab a private room for yourselves. And not being sure if there are going to be other couples happening,” she grinned, “like Stevie and Mark, I’m just being nice.”
    Everyone cracked up in laughter as Stevie turned on her. “Hey, it’s not like that,” he protested, but it was an old joke amongst the group as the guys had been best friends since forever. “There are other beds in our room if you want to bunk with us.”
    Stacy laughed and shook her head. “I’m good. Besides, there are a couple more guys joining us so they will need a place to sleep, too. Just think, the lot of you can have a foursome!”
    A pillow hit her in the chest as Mark tossed one at her. “That’s all right. Go ahead. Hide upstairs. We know when you don’t want to spend time with us.”
    She threw the pillow at Stevie. “I just know where the warmest spot in the house is.”
    “True enough.” He smirked, adding, “But if you slept with us, you’d be even warmer.”
    The other males in the group started raising their hands. “No problem, you can sleep with me.”
    “You don’t want to sleep with