The Frozen Gift
Amber and Dan returned to their suite to find a foiled box sitting on the coffee table. Amber looked at it quizzically at first, then her eyes went wide. "The Edelweiss?" she whispered, her hand going to her new locket.
Dan nodded with a smile. "I think so." He double-tapped his Solos and watched her lift the lid straight up and off the box—the light from his Solos subtly reflecting off the wine and royal blue foil.
Amber gasped. She lifted the clear hexagon and rotated it in her hand—carefully looking for the spot where her petal belonged. The woolly fibers inside were like fiber-optic cables and lit up when the light hit them. For both Amber and Dan, it was another wonderful experience that they shared.
She spoke a bit distantly and full of wonder. "It looks so perfect." She turned to Dan and looked into his eyes. He knew instantly that she was looking into his Solos. "This is the preserved Edelweiss. Its perfection is just a small sampling of the wonders of the Himalayas. And you don't need to go on an extravagant vacation to experience it. The resort has packages to fit any budget and their conservation programs can even help students finance a trip here to experience their wonders and wealth of resources. Don't ever give up on this type of experience; understand your world so you can learn to truly love it."
She smiled once more and then her eyes went distant again, and she turned away, examining the preserved bloom again.
That night, both Amber and Dan were feeling quite nervous. When up at the hunt camp, they had slept in the same bed; it had seemed both natural and necessary. But now they were both hesitant and unsure of what to do. In the end, they slept separately—and neither of them got much sleep at all. Amber fretted over what Dan was thinking and Dan fretted over what Amber was thinking, and they both ended up tossing and turning all night.
In the morning, they enjoyed the Himalayan version of a continental breakfast in their room. They enjoyed Po Cha (yak butter tea) and coffee, the resort's signature pick-me-up drink, several regional breads, and a variety of jams.
Amber looked reflectively out the window and into the mountain ranges, chewing a piece of fluffy tingmo smeared liberally with kafal-hisalu jam, and fingering her pendant. Dan watched her, holding his own hearty piece of Gurung bread with a generous amount of apple-sea buckthorn butter atop it.
He cocked his head. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Amber turned to him with a smile and then blushed. She took a bite of her tingmo and relished the soft texture and the sweet tang of the berries. She chewed slow and took her time answering. "I guess I was being a bit nerdy and reflective." She blushed again and looked down at her lap timidly. She shrugged. "It is just so beautiful here. I was comparing it to the beauty of Blue Serene Lake and then I thought about being able to share this with you."
Her eyes fluttered up then down shyly. Dan smiled. "This is just the beginning, Am." He reached across and brushed his fingers against hers. "You and I will find a way to bring our work lives together." He took a big bite of his Gurung bread and his eyes twitched in response to the sourness of the sea buckthorn. He chewed rapidly, excitement welling up within him.
"I was thinking. You are such a wiz with design and managing multiple construction projects. Well… I was hoping… I was hoping that you could come in on Trace Progressive and do the design and construction management side of the property flips."
He began to get nervous and speak faster, starting to ramble. "I mean we were hurt a bit—before you saved us with your liquid stone—primarily because we have two commercial properties and we have no idea what to do with them. We got them cheap but now we have paid taxes on them for two years and not one idea." He sighed and took another bite of bread—his eye twitching again.
"I asked David what we should do. Maybe sell them off and just take a loss." He looked up at her, shame shading his face. "He said to talk to you. I haven't been able to, until now, because I was so ashamed I didn't even think of my own wife."
He sighed, tossed the last of the Gurung bread in his mouth, and chose a piece of fluffy siddu, trying a mix of the apricot-peach and apple-sea buckthorn jams. When he finally looked up, he froze when he saw Amber staring at him.
They stared at each other for a long time and then Amber finally smiled. "I would love to become a part of Trace Progressive. Send me the information on the two properties and I will see what we can do with them."
She enthusiastically grabbed a piece of roti and spread a bit of yak butter on it. Dan smiled. "That was easier than I thought."
As Dan took pictures and videos of unique aspects of the resort—filling out his content—Amber worked on the curatorial flow of the new gallery. Construction was almost finished and the new curator sent over his plan for the flow. She nodded as she looked over his sketches and descriptions. She liked everything except for the fact that he had put the functional pieces to the side as if they were not truly part of the gallery.
"Mr. Burgess. I really feel we should have the visual and textural art lead to, or even flow into, the functional art. I want our clients to see these tables and chairs as sustainable, functional pieces that will appreciate with use. Please think on this before you finalize the flow of the gallery."
She sent the email and turned to the teahouse. The images of the deck and artificial islands had been beyond what she had imagined. She had looked at them over and over again. She and her interior designers had agreed on dividing the octagonal-shaped teahouse into eight distinct tea experiences to give it a worldly feel.
She smiled at her designers' ideas. She would look at the two Trace Progressive commercial properties next. She loved how her life was shaping up. She still delved in science and environmental works but now she baked, created, and—most importantly—spent time with Dan.
For the first time ever, she finally felt like Mrs. Amber Ann Lance-Trace.