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Jen woke the next morning and began her workout regime. She pulled on a pair of leggings and a tight tank top. She knocked out a few reps of jumping jacks to warm up before stretching. Once finished Jen stepped outside and began her run.

It was still dark when she left the door, but her eyes quickly adjusted, bringing the world into sharp relief. Jen started slow but quickly began to speed up as her cold muscles began to loosen. Rather than head into town, she turned up the street to a little known trail head. She reached to opening in the trees that marked the beginning of the long accent to the top of Mt. Baldy. There were signs of recent snow shoe tracks, probably from the day before, but other than those, the trail was unmarked. She flew up the mountain, her toned legs barely staining against the incline. The pine trees sped by as she traversed the many switchbacks.

Strenuous actives always helped Jen clear her mind, and she defiantly wanted a clear head this of all mornings. She burst through the tree line, now high above the town. She focused her aim for the top of the peak. The sun had just begun to extend its first fingers of light over the mountains behind her. Jen vowed to beat it and, if possible, sped up, racing up the mountain at an astonishing pace. Her legs burned and sweat began to fall from her, melting points in the snow. Jen growled, willing the pain away as she pounded across the last fifty feet to the summit. She stood atop the mountain, reveling in her triumph as she slowed her breathing, and taking deeper breaths to compensate for the thin atmosphere.

Jen lay in the snow of the continental divide and watched to sun rise between Peak 5 and Crystal Peak. She was just able to make out landmarks in town from high up here. For some reason, being alone, on top of the mountains, always brought her peace of mind. She stood again, and tensed her body. If someone had been near to witness her, they would have been awestruck by the image of her toned and shapely form, silhouetted by the glowing sun in a surreal challenge to the world.

As the sun continued to rise, still not reaching to top of the tree line, Jen began her decent, quickly pacing back the way she had come. She passed the first trees, only dwarfs, stunted by the harsh conditions this high up. Soon though, she was back in the forest, the tops of the tall pines just starting to be warmed by the light.

When Jen got to the house, she heard movement from Sam's room. Jen went upstairs and finished her workout with a stretching and palates routine. Now, as she cleaned herself, it was time to face what she had been putting off all morning, last night. She had kissed Ryan. The thought of those moments on the door step made Jen's heart race again. What did this mean now though? She contemplated how it might be interpreted.

Jen heard Sam come out of her room. Well, if she was going to be interrogated, it had better be sooner than later. Jen dressed and climbed downstairs to join Sam for breakfast.

"Looks who's up," jested Sam over her bowl of cereal.

"What are you talking about? I've been up for a couple of hours now," replied Jen with a laugh.

"Thinking?"

"Running."

Sam looked at her with an astonished expression on her face.

"You got up to run... after last night, you got up early to work out?"

"Whatever. Anyway, what are we talking about this morning for, I want to hear everything about last night."

Jen let out a mock sigh, "well, I guess it had to come sometime."

She started into to the story. Somehow, repeating it didn't have the same feeling that had been present at the time of, but she retold the events as best as she could. Jen told Sam almost everything she could remember up until she and Ryan had gotten back.

"Yes, that's all great, but your leaving out the most important part," Sam chided when Jen took a break.

"I know, but, after that, I'm not entirely sure what happened."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "I know what happened, and I was sitting inside watching through the curtain."

"You know what I mean. It was a little of everything. I had such great night, and the gondola ride, and the stars..." Jen trailed off, "something just told me I should do it. I know I'm probably not making any sense."

Sam giggled.

"It's not funny!" Jen defended indignantly.

"I don't think it is," replied Sam seriously, "I think it's cute."

"Oh."

"I mean, you only got here a few days ago, not knowing anyone, and you show up at my door looking like a lost kitten, and now here you are, at the beginning of a happy relationship."

Jen looked down at her gratefully and Sam smiled back.

"It's all thanks to you," said Jen, "you've been so welcoming and helpful. I was scared of coming here, but you have made me feel so much at home."

"I tried to do my best," said Sam grinning, "but as to helping you with Ryan, I only showed you the door, you had to walk through yourself."

"Quoting the Matrix now?" asked Jen with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, it was a quality movie!"

Jen continued to look skeptical.

"The first one I mean."

"Right," Jen agreed.

"You know what you need to do though?" asked Sam turning serious again.

"What's that?"

"You need to go see him today, and I," she added looking at the clock, "need to get to work."

With that, Sam grabbed her purse and walked out the door, leaving Jen alone in the kitchen. Jen walked to the telephone and picked up the directory. She flipped though the yellow pages. Surprisingly there were only two architecture offices in town. She looked at the addresses and picked the one that seemed closest to where she had walked with Ryan on the previous day. Jen dialed the number and waited. After the second ring, a male voice answered.

"G and L Architects, fulfilling you mountain design needs, this is Jim. How can I help you?"

"Yes, is Ryan there?"

"He just came in, just a moment please."

Jen could here distant voices over the receiver.

"Ryan... phone!"

"Damn! Can't even take my coat off without having to work here."

Jen heard the sound of a second phone being picked up.

"This is Ryan."

"Hey Ryan, its Jen."

Ryan's tone changed from one of formal business to contained excitement, "Hi Jen, how are you?"

"Great," Jen smiled, "and yourself?"

"Never better, anyway, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch today?"

"Sounds great, when's good for you?"

"Anny time, my work is flexible."

"I've got a meeting with a client at ten so... how does 12:30 sound."

"That's perfect."

They said their farewells and Jen hung up the phone. She sat back smiling. That went well she thought. Then her stomach knotted up as she realized what was coming up. Why did everyone get so nervous about a first kiss? That was easy. The hard part, at least from her perspective, was facing the person the next day.

Jen could barely work that morning. She kept nervously checking the clock. Her mind kept wandering and she couldn't focus on her work. Finally, giving up all hope on getting anything productive done that morning, Jen organized her workspace and cleaned up.

Jen showed up at Ryan's office to find him walking out the doors. The building looked like all of the others on the street, old brick and wood, remodeled from the original mine town's structures. The doors had been replaced and were glass. One had a frosted white G and the other an L.

Ryan walked up to her smiling.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes," Jen replied.

The tables had been turned from last night. Now Ryan was calm and confident, and she was the nervous one.

"I just..." she started but quickly trailed off not sure what to say. Jen felt the heat rise to her face. She wouldn't have been surprised to find that her white fur was turning pink.

Ryan bent down and kissed her on the forehead

"You're cute," he said and, taking her by the shoulder, they walked together, talking freely down the street.

The next couple of weeks were a few of the best of Jen's life. She and Ryan were seeing each other regularly. He was a truly amazing individual. Jen had never met anyone quite like him. He always knew how to make her laugh and smile, even when she was down. She skied with him and Sam on the weekends. On top of that, her art had really taken off.

It had started with a couple of displays. One was at the bakery, and one in Ryan's office. Soon however, word had gotten out, and Jen was doing steady business. She was even considering moving her work to a small, more permanent studio in town.

Through it all, Sam had been there to support her. When business was slow, and Jen started to worry, Jen was always there to give her encouragement, and get her back on her feet. When Jen was having troubles, Sam always seemed to be able to provide inspiration. Though she would never tell her, Jen had made a few pieces which were drawn entirely from the insight Sam lent. One of these, which had become rather popular, was a gold pendant. It traced the outline of a mountain which lead into an abstracted bushy tail set with green topaz the same color of Sam's eyes.

As Jen rode up the ski lift, with Sam on her left, and Ryan on her right, she let out a long, contented sigh. Yes, she had been worried about coming out here. She had had her doubts and fears. Now it seemed things were finally starting to look up. As the breeze swirled her hair, and the sun reflected off her goggles, Jen felt truly happy, something she hadn't felt in a very long time.