I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed this show back in the day and for some reason, I had recently starting thinking about it. After finding it on YouTube, this story came to mind. It was actually harder to get down on paper than I had thought and this is my fourth of fifth re-write. I am now happy where this is going and look forward to updating. I moved the time to essentially now as there is no particularly good reason to not do that and it makes Jesse's dislike for technology even more stark. I actually just needed to tweak this. Being the dork that I am, I looked closely at the show on YouTube and realized that Matt's eyes are brown. Not a huge deal, but changed the story for the sake of accuracy.
Spring had come to the Sierra Mountains, but that did not mean that winter was giving up. The higher elevations were still covered with snow and this is where Antonia Philips found herself one late afternoon. She wanted to ski maybe one more time before all the snow on the mountain tops melted as it had already melted below. All she wanted was to ski undisturbed; to feel the wind on her face and the snow under her skis. That is why she had chosen this Black Diamond run at sunset; the run should have been mostly empty and she could be alone with her thoughts.
She knew that she had left the marked course, but the snow was fresher beyond the markers and there were no people. Well there was one person and now she was standing in the middle of the slope staring up into a pair of mezmerizing green eyes and those eyes did not look even a bit amused.
Matt was on the edge of losing his temper. This young woman was standing there looking him right in the eye and telling him she had no idea that she had skied off the marked route and into the forbidden territory. She was lying to him and they both knew it. Nobody could have missed the markers, even in the fading light; she was just lucky he had seen her before she hurt herself and he would make sure that she continued in one piece by escorting her to the bottom of the run.
"I'm not bothering anybody," Antonia said with more belligerence than she actually felt. Damn, those agate-like eyes were making it hard to concentrate. She saw that the man's white parka bore some type of insignia - a shield divided into four quadrants. She was talking with a High Mountain Ranger – everybody in her business and in this part of the Sierras knew of them; they were the most elite, the most highly trained law enforcement and search and rescue unit in the West. Looking him in the face, Antonia found it a bit difficult to draw a breath. This man was handsome and his eyes, although currently flashing with anger, looked like they were more accustomed to compassion and good humor. She had the oddest feeling that she had seen this man before...somewhere...at some point in time.
It was taking every ounce of Matt's concentration to sound stern with the young woman in front of him. Standing there pulled up to her full height in her indignation, the top of her head barely reached to his chest, but she was definitely not intimidated. She was bundled up against the bitter cold of the Sierras and all he could see were cheeks pink with cold and, he thought with amusement, anger, and a pair of eyes of an indeterminate color - something between blue and gray; right now those eyes looked like they would bore a hole through his chest. But those eyes - he had never seen their like; even in the falling darkness, they were luminous and Matt felt like he could look at them forever. But maybe he had seen them before; some part of his brain knew; somewhere in the back of his mind, he was having an odd feeling of deja by. Regaining his control, Matt said, "You are not skiing on a marked trail and it is about to get dark." His voice was deep and full of authority - he was used to being obeyed and even Antonia as rebellious as she was feeling, reacted to it. "So how about you follow me down and I won't cite you and bar you from the all the trails?" he asked conversationally. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll go slowly and you can follow me." He slid his goggles over his face and headed down the hill where he stopped a few yards below Antonia and waited.
Antonia actually laughed out loud, drew her goggles back down on her face, tucked herself into perfect racing form and raced passed him down the hill. Matt found that he could not repress a wolfish grin as he pushed off to follow her.
It was a long way down and the two skied companionably as Matt's genuine concerns about her ability to navigate the treacherous hillside were quickly allayed. The young woman easily kkept up with every move he made, moving across the hill in a graceful counterpoint. Antonia even took the lead over a particularly rough patch getting some great air over a few of the moguls. By the time they had reached the bottom of the run, Antonia had a name for the tall, handsome Ranger; a name that brought back a flood of memories; Anotnia's heart was racing – and not from the physical exertion.
When they finally ran out of snow and had to take their skis of, they were both breathing hard and Matt could not help smiling at the young woman who looked to be the same age as him and looked so familiar. He picked up both sets of skiis and to walk her to her car- it was the only one still in the parking lot. When she spoke, he stopped, leaned the skis against a tree.
"Its Matt? Matt Hawkes, isn't it?" she asked. Matt froze for a moment as his brain finally drew up a name to go with the face.
"Antonia? Toni, is that you?" The question was tentative, even tremulous. Matt's heart was suddenly in his throat. "After all this time. What are you doing here?"
"As of three days ago, I live here. I'm the new Trauma Nurse down at Barton Medical Trauma Center. I sent Uncle Jesse a letter, but I've not heard back and I could not find a phone number or an email."
At that Matt laughed outright. "You remember that Dad's a bit of a Luddite. The Post Office does not deliver to his cabin in the winter and he has no phone at the cabin much less a cell phone. My kid brother, Cody, has a computer and a cell phone - although reception is pretty bad up there. They also have a radio," Matt found that he was rambling, and cleared his throat to get back on track, "In any case, I can reach them and tell them you are looking for them. Where can I tell them to reach you?
Matt was finding that he could just look into Toni's face indefinitely. It was comfortingly familiar,yet different as she had grown and matured in the seven years that he had not seen her. She was pretty, but not conventionally beautiful. Her chin may have been too prominent and her nose a bit too much like a button and some would object to the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, but the whole was so much more than its parts. Her face reflected strength of character, compassion, warmth, intelligence, and, most of all, humor. Matt felt his heart give a little skip - something he had not felt in years. He quashed it ruthlessly, as he always did, but this time his heart would not cooperate and continued to beat faster every time he looked at her.
Antonia thought for a moment. "I'm still camping out a hotel while I look for a place to live. He can reach me at work."
Matt nodded. He picked up her skis and walked towards her car. Antonia dropped back a step or two, permitting her a moment to admire the tall, strong frame as Matt easily crossed the now-moonlit expanse in several steps. Taking a deep breath and reasserting control over her jumbled emotions, Antonia reached for her keys and opened the trunk so that Matt could deposit her skies.
Matt did not recall the last time he felt like this - well yes - he did; he had felt this way, the last time he was with Toni. Seven years ago, on the Lake when her family had come to visit his. "Maybe I'll see you up at my Dad's," he said hopefully, feeling like an idiot teenager instead of the Commander of one of the most vaunted law enforcement units in the world.
Antonia found his question sweet and charming. Her heart skipped a beat and her smile grew a little broader and a little warmer. "Maybe even sooner, Matt."
With another smile that warmed Matt all the way to his toes, Antonia started her car and drove away. It was only once he saw her car turn out of the parking lot, that he realized that he had forgotten to scold her for going off the course." For a long moment, Matt stood in the middle of the empty parking lot, immobile as a statue as he permitted memories that he had long locked away to come back into view. Standing there under the bright street lights and the bright, cold moon, of the new spring, he knew with certainty something that the had never admitted to himself in seven years – he still had feelings for Toni. They were the feelings of a man, not a teenage boy and he was not willing to define them, but he knew he did not want her to disappear from his life again; not for anothere seven years, not even for a few days.
Matt picked up his skis and headed toward the Ranger's Headquarters. As a light snow started to fall, Matt made himself a promise – he would not lose her again. Matt always kept his promises.
Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this story. Please review and let me know your thoughts.