Anita put down the book, "One Hundred Years of Solitude", that she'd been reading when she heard the pilot say they'd be arriving in Salt Lake City in 10 minutes. When she'd heard Lennie make reservation for the Utah ski resort she'd laughed saying it would be the perfect place to read it. Lennie smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Anita couldn't believe they were really taking a skiing vacation together. She'd never skied in her life and Lennie admitted he'd only tried it once himself, but that didn't matter, they'd be together, far away from the NYPD.
From the airport they caught a shuttle to Solitude. They'd rented a condo in the resort village; it had a hot tub in the living room right next to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. Lennie opened the door to check out the balcony. As he turned to go back in he noticed that glass in the door was like the windows in the interrogation rooms but in reverse, in the interrogation rooms you could see in but not out, seeing only your own reflection, the patio doors allowed you to look out but not in. Lennie's face sprouted a wolfish grin, they could make very good use of that hot tub now, knowing that no one could see them.
On the advice his neighbor who had recommended Lennie go to Utah for a winter vacation, they didn't rush out to take ski lessons on that first day, but instead took it easy. They took a long slow walk around the resort. Each of them relished the simple pleasure of being able to hold hands in public, even share a kiss without worrying that someone would see them.
They did a little shopping, charging their purchases to Lennie's credit card. Anita left a small bag she'd bought at one store as she was leaving another; the clerk called out 'Mrs. Briscoe' to get her attention. The clerk assumed Anita was delighted not to loose her purchase, but actually it was that the clerk had assumed she was married to Lennie.
Lennie's heart ached, when he saw the joy on Anita's face, to think that having someone assume she was his wife could make her so happy. He mulled the idea over in his mind. Could they get married? There was no legal reason they couldn't, they were both divorced, but there was department policy. How could they get around it? Bigger question, was he willing to try marriage a third time? Yes, yes for Anita he would. Now he'd just have to figure out when and where to ask her.
On the way back to the condo they played in the snow like kids, making snow angels and carrying on a fierce snowball fight. They both noticed that they got winded easily and Anita was a bit dizzy, but because they had kept themselves well hydrated as they'd been advised to do, they didn't get full blown altitude sickness, which would have ruined their holiday.
When they arrived at the condo they were cold and wet from their snowball fight. Putting their purchases on a bench just inside the door, they helped each other out of their coats and boots. Lennie then began maneuvering Anita towards the hot tub as he peeled off more of her clothes. Anita began to protest, but he explained that the window was one-way and suddenly she was as eager to strip him of his clothes, as he had been to strip her.
They sat in the hot tub with Lennie's left armed draped around Anita's shoulders, his hand idly brushing across her breast.
"I think I'm finally warm enough," Anita said.
"I wasn't sure it was possible to ever get you warm enough," Lennie replied, thinking how apologetic she'd been the first time she'd placed her icy feet against his calves, something he actually enjoyed.
"And I suspect you're too warm, aren't you?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm getting there. Come on," he said as he helped her out of the hot tub, wrapped her in a towel and then led her up the winding staircase to the loft where the king size bed was.
They made good use of the bed, as they generally always did, but as they lay together in the afterglow Lennie remarked that he'd no idea why he'd insisted on a king size bed when they tended to sleep so close to one another that they could have slept in a twin bed. For some reason that struck Anita as funny so she laughed as she pushed him to get out of bed to take a shower with her.
They dressed and went out to one of the resort's many restaurants. After dinner they took a walk. Lennie couldn't believe his luck, after a 10-minute stroll they'd not only come upon a jewelry store, but it was still open!
"Why are we going in here?" she asked, startled when Lennie moved to open the jewelry store door.
"To buy an engagement ring," he answered.
Lennie'd never forget the look on Anita's face nor the joy he felt that evening in Solitude.