Saturday, December 18th, 1954

7:25 a.m.

"We could have taken the train. Then you wouldn't have had to do all the driving."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You know, we could have had a drawing room. A drawing room for two with a comfy bed on a train."

Carol gave a quick glance and returned her focus to the road. "Hush, you're starting to sound like Bing Crosby in White Christmas." She switched on the car radio, keeping the volume low since it was still early in the morning and the sun had come up less than ten minutes prior. Her mind wandered as she drove past endless snow-covered countryside, still somewhat dark with shadows from nightfall. She hummed along to the music and lightly tapped her fingers while Therese looked out the window at the opposite end of the car seat.

Just a couple years earlier, Therese used to wake up in a freezing, poorly maintained and insulated apartment. She rode to work with her boyfriend on the back of a dinky bicycle. She now would wake up in the warm large bed they share; covered by down comforters atop fine cotton sheets and fluffy feather pillows. It might have been cold in the morning, but that wasn't as big a deal when there was a warm, cuddly body next beside her. Carol would make breakfast, Therese would tidy up the bedroom: Sometimes they switched tasks. They ate, got ready, headed out. Carol on foot or her Triumph roadster bicycle, Therese on her Vespa.

Things changed. Now with Carol, cold didn't bother Therese as much anymore, but could still make her grumpier than usual. The wind chill made it feel far colder than it actually was, and Therese pulled her hat down more over her ears and tightened the scarf around her neck. The car was still cold, even though they had been on the road for a couple hours.

"Are you chilly?" Carol asked without diverting her eyes from the road. She was able to see in her peripheral all of Therese's movements to keep warm.

"Yeah. I should have worn that other sweater. Maybe even some extra socks." Therese slumped her head back against the seat and let out a wide yawn. "How are you not cold? I never see you wearing a real hat."

"Pipe down and scoot closer."

Therese slid across the bench seat so her side pressed against Carol. She rested her head on Carol's shoulder; the fur from her coat tickled her cheek, but it was warm and radiated Carol's perfume that she loved so much. Carol took her right hand off the wheel and steered just with the left so she could hold Therese's hand.

"That day you came into Frankenberg's, you mentioned stopping by the ski department. Were you going skiing?"

Carol immediately smiled at the memory of going into Frankenberg's two years to the day. "Abby and I were thinking of going to Sun Valley. I wandered over to check out the goggles. I decided against getting any. Fortuitous, no?"

Therese nuzzled the fur in reply, she clasped both hands around Carol's as to keep her warm, falling asleep grasping the cool hand in her lap. She was comfortable right where she was and soon drifted to sleep as they crossed the state line into Massachusetts.

When Therese next awoke, she wasn't sitting up anymore, but on her side across the seat with her head in Carol's lap, with Carol's arm draped over her shoulder. Therese turned her head to look up, but everything appeared to still be blurry and hazy as her eyes tried to focus. Carol vaguely appeared hovering above her, appearing upside down, and smiling gently as Therese rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"You're awake." she said softly.

"Are we there?"

"About an hour away, maybe a bit more."

"How long did I sleep for? And how come I was like that?"

"You were tired, darling. I also may have encouraged you to lie down because I needed my arm for some of those hairpin turns back there."

Therese sat up to take in their current surroundings. They sat in the Packard, parked in front of a large general store-type place with a stovepipe peeking out the top, smoke billowing out of it, and a few snow-covered picnic benches off to the side. It was calm, no other cars driving around the slushy roads and only a handful of people wander the main street through the town.

She shut her eyes to take in the sounds, or lack thereof, and enjoy the silent ambiance. "Perfect," Therese quietly said, "not a sound of car, train, bus or whatever." She leaned back against Carol's arm and opened her eyes to glance upward to Carol's face.

"What?" Carol said after a few moments of silence.

"Nothing." Therese replied. "Well, not nothing. I like looking at you."

"Oh, that."

"No 'oh, that,' Carol. You make me happy. You make me feel all, I dunno, warm inside." Therese adjusted her hat again as it became askew in her sleep. "I bet you're hungry."

Carol turned her head to smile at the woman leaning against her shoulder. "Famished, sweetheart."

Therese's stomach did a little somersault whenever Carol called her by some term of endearment. Even after almost two years, she didn't have a loving nickname for Carol. Then again, Carol simply didn't need one.

She would always be Carol.

The way her name rolled off her tongue, whether it was to ask Carol to pass her a lighter or unlock the front door to the apartment, was perfect. She couldn't imagine calling her anything else. On the other hand, Therese loved all the pet names Carol had for her. Sometimes, when she could tell Carol was just about to say something to her, she would try to guess what nickname she would be called.

Sunday, December 19th, 1954

10:15 a.m.

Once Therese had finally layered on enough clothing beneath the festive green angora sweater and the woolen grey ski pants, and still capable of moving her limbs, she met Carol downstairs in the lobby to catch the shuttle to the mountain. Her knit cap drooped over her ears with wisps of hair sticking out from underneath the edges, still trying to keep in all the warmth that she could. Carol had gone downstairs before her to make some calls and make dinner reservations for later in the evening. Therese found her contentedly seated by the fireplace, wearing one of her beloved red cashmere sweaters and, most surprisingly, her plaid beret.

"That can't possibly be appropriate ski gear." Therese gestured to the black, yellow, and red plaid beret on Carol's head.

"What?" Carol pointed to the beret with a grin. "Don't you like it?"

Therese did a rapid scan of their surroundings before speaking. "You're adorable in it, but I don't think it's good for the slopes." While tempted to simply remove it from her head, Therese didn't want to muss up Carol's hair that she probably spent a good chunk of the morning brushing, despite the fact they were headed up the mountain to ski. "Have you got another hat?"

"I got my scarf."

"That'll do."

Carol removed the beret and begrudgingly handed it to Therese, who placed it in her bag. Carol tied the scarf that was around her neck atop her head, and put her gloves on before heading outside.

By the time the shuttle reached the top of the mountain, Therese was already hankering for some hot chocolate. Or schnapps. Or hot chocolate with schnapps. Was it too early for hot chocolate and schnapps? If they were home in Manhattan, it would never be too early, as Abby always so bluntly put it.

The mountain. The snow. The eager young people traveling up on the chairlifts or down on their skis. It was all a bit much for Therese who had just gotten the hang of navigating the streets of New York on her Vespa. She was feeling hesitant about climbing to far off the ground with a pair of wooden skis strapped to the bottom of her feet.

With a gesture of the gloves she held in her right hand, Carol called Therese to her side to look out the window of the ski lodge at the snow-covered mountain. Therese trudged along with a set of ski and poles in her arms. The skis towered over her as she clumsily clasped them in her hands to keep from losing her balance and falling onto the floor.

"Therese, you alright?" Carol asked, pressing her left hand forward to touch Therese's sleeve, but before she could even make contact, she paused with her arm outstretched.

Therese nodded. "Just cold," she replied, looking down at Carol's extended hand, catching a beam of sunshine in her eye from the reddish gold of Carol's ring. She had to shut one eye in order to look directly at Carol. "You should put your gloves on. You'll get cold." Therese motioned with her head toward the gloves Carol held in her right hand.

All Carol could do was laugh; she was used to Therese being cold all the time now. She was also a touch saddened by the fact that she couldn't warm her up then and there. "Why would I possibly want to put these gloves on?" she winked.

Carol pointed out different crests and peaks, indicating where they would ski down. She then traced the path of the chairlift as it sputtered up the trail.

One of the lodge staff walked up as the two admired the peaceful mountain bathed in sunlight. "I see you admiring that chairlift. Just opened yesterday, ma'am. Would you like to be some of the first to try it out? It's the first of its kind we have here."

"Is that so?" Carol said.

"Yes, ma'am. It's built for two."