That evening, while you were getting dressed for dinner. You kept thinking of Jonathan and his smile. You just met. Could it be that you're both falling in love already? You never really believed in love at first sight. Your mother always said there was no such thing as love. 

That explains why your mom was so miserable and felt everyone else should be miserable. She never showed you affection unless it was to manipulate you to do her bidding. Like with Prince Jimin, she tried to force you to marry him. 

Little did she know that you and Jimin already had a sweet crush on each other. You knew things would have progressed to love and marriage if only your mother hadn't interfered and locked Jimin away. When she found out you tried to set him free, she also locked you away. But that is another story; you don't want to think about that now. You want to think about Jonathan and get to know him better.

In Jonathan's room, he has just stepped out of the shower, wraps a towel around his waist, and stands before the mirror. He turns his head left and right, wondering if he should shave, then decides against it. It's too cold to shave his well-manicured beard off if he is going climbing in the snow.

He is busy getting dressed for dinner, wishing he had brought a dress shirt and slacks, but then he rolls his eyes, mumbling. "You came here to mountain climb and speak at the  Mountaineer Convention, not to fall in love!" He settles for wearing jeans and his favorite cable-knit sweater.

There is knocking at his room door, and it's Max, Alex, Eddie, and Pete. They wore their usual casual style when on these kinds of trips.  Pete was in skinny jeans; he always thought that would impress the ladies, and he planned on impressing Miss Sharp tonight. Eddie was in his favorite grey sweats, Max in his usual khaki cargo pants and Henley shirt. Alex wore distressed blue jeans and a Forest green V-neck sweater.

He lets them file in as Pete and Alex talk about Miss Sharp.

Unknown to Pete, Alex finds out her first name after she shows them to their rooms. While the others were unpacking, he stepped out into the hall and caught up with her before she reached the elevator.

"Thank you, Miss Sharp. They may not have said it, but they appreciate the help." They had already given her tips but sometimes his friends forget words like 'thank you' and 'you're welcome' go a long way. Sometimes, having more value than a tip.

Knowing the name on the guest card he filled out earlier, she says, "You're welcome, Mr. Tolley, and it's my job to help guests with luggage."

He can't seem to pull his eyes away from hers. They are a unique shade of emerald green flecked with gold. They were mesmerizing and full of mirth. She is the first to break eye contact.

"The dining room will be open in two hours, but if you need something to eat before then, the bar does have some hardy snacks if you or the others are feeling peckish. Good day, Mr. Tolley." She turns to continue to the elevator when he comes up beside her.

His lips lift in a gentle hopeful smile. "Please call me Alex, and thank you. I will let the others know."

She hopes she is not blushing. She feels attracted to Alex. He is very handsome and has a sense of confidence about him that pulls her in. She is drawn to him with his warm, slightly upturned brown eyes, and the dimple on his right cheek is so adorable. 

He isn't like Pete, giving off vibes of just wanting to add a notch to his bedpost. But that notch won't be her. She found Pete's attitude and demeanor off-putting. Deciding to be daring, she lets Alex know her first name.

"You may call me Lindy if you like." She inwardly fights - don't blush, don't blush! 

Alex's smile is warm and slightly teasing when he says, "Your blush is adorable." 

The desire to caress her pink rose blush was almost more than he could bear. He puts his hands in his pockets to stop from touching her face.

She lets go of the cart and covers her cheeks with her hands. Her saving grace is hearing the elevator's ding right before the door opens. She grabs the cart and hurries in.

Before the door closes, Alex says, "I hope to see you at dinner."

He wonders if she is even allowed to dine with the guests. He sighs. Have I just embarrassed us both!? 

He turns, heading back to his room. A smile is playing across his face when he reaches his door. She said I could call her Lindy, I bet Pete doesn't even know what her first name is. Hmm, it's more like he doesn't care what her name is. His brother needs to talk with him about his attitude toward women.

Riding down in the elevator, Lindy leans against the wall with a dreamy expression. She whispers, "I'm falling in love." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, the snowfall was nonstop and heavy, resulting in a foot of snow by dinner. You would be overjoyed to see it any other day, but a blizzard advisory is still in effect. You are thankful to have had a large-capacity generator installed when you bought the lodge. Locals said the power was out for weeks due to an unusual ice storm that left everything covered in a layer of heavy frost.

You take one more look in the full-length mirror before going down to dinner. You run your hands down the front of the black wool tea-length skirt to remove any possible wrinkles. You smile at how well your favorite cable knit sweater in peach blush accents your eyes. 

You've gotten many compliments on how it makes your blue eyes pop. Your eye color attracted Jonathan, so you thought the best thing to do was to enhance their appearance this evening.  You pin the pearl snowflake broach your father gave you to the  sweater and announce to the image in the mirror, "Let's hope he likes it."

Leaving your room you head down to the kitchen to see how dinner preparations are going. Tonight is buffet night, so everyone can fix their plates according to what they like. Most of the staff is snowed in for now, and they are allowed to eat in the dining room, though separate from the guests.

You stop by the mountaineer's table during dinner to check on them.

"How is everything?" You ask, resting your hand on the back of Jonathan's chair, presenting a friendly family-type atmosphere for the guests.

They all let you know the food is great, and they are enjoying themselves, which brings a smile of satisfaction to your face.

Jonathan looks up at you to speak, and you lean closer to him. 

"Chili, will you walk with me later? The snow has stopped, and we might not get a chance before the blizzard hits." He wants to reach up and lay his hand over yours. But he hesitates. He never fell for someone this quickly before.

Taken by surprise, you quickly answer, "Yes, I would love to." Oh, you silly girl, you were too quick to answer. You should have waited.

He smiles, and this time, he does lay his hand over yours, resting on the back of his chair.

Max kicked Eddie under the table because he was whispering to him that he was going to try and embarrass Jon. Max leans over to him after giving him a kick in the shin. "Leave him alone. Don't start on him tonight."

"But I was just going to tease him a little."

"He made sure we all got private rooms, didn't he?" Eddie nods. "So, in appreciation, Leave. Him. ALONE." Max says through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay." Eddie goes back to eating but glances at Jonathan with a mischievous smile.

Alex and Pete, busy eating, would stop between mouthfuls to talk. 

"I will have her eating out of my hand by the end of dinner." Brags Pete as he glances over at Miss Sharp. He smiles and winks as she happens to glance his way. But she was looking at Alex and not him. Pete frowns and looks up at Alex, staring at Miss Sharp.

"What are you up to? You don't stand a chance with Miss Sharp. As they say, I always get the girl, and she will be no different." Pete brags again, this time with a smirk on his face, seeing he struck a nerve with Alex. He cheerfully goes back to eating. No woman can resist me. He is so confident in himself that he starts making plans to woe her away from Alex.

Alex gets up without a word and carries his plate with him. He walks to the table where Lindy is sitting with a few others. 

"May I join you, Lindy?" He glances at the others nodding in greeting. "May I join the table?" He asks politely.

He was kindly accepted at the table, and they shifted their chairs so one was empty next to Lindy.

Pete is left glaring as he takes his anger out on his dinner roll -- he savagely rips a hunk off with his teeth, chewing aggressively.