Latino/Spanish Artists at Charlton: Demetrio (3) - For Lovers Only 79

This June 1979 story drawn by Demetrio is set in a ski resort in New Hampshire. Cindy, on a break with three girlfriends from the office and meeting up with four guys they know, starts out in a miserable mood. She's away from the rest of the group, heading up on the ski lift just with Lance, the guy she's partnering with. It's clear they're not getting on too well: he's making rather clumsy approaches, and it's just adding to her foul mood.

Cindy just isn't into Lance, and takes off on her own from the top. She unwisely chooses the expert slope.

Lucky for Cindy the ski patrol guy who watched her start off from the top realized she wasn't sufficiently skilled for the slope she'd chosen. When she inevitably fell, he wasn't too far behind.

By the time Cindy is rescued and diagnosed with a broken leg and ribs, she starts to wonder whether Lance cares about her, even though she didn't like him before her accident.

Cindy is transported to the local hospital by Kirby Nord, the ski patrol guy who rescued her. He informs Lance and Cindy's friends about her predicament, but it seems they're all so engrossed in having a great time that they haven't the inclination to visit her. However, someone has sent flowers, and Cindy wonders whether it was Lance. It seems she just wants some kind of sign that he actually cared about her as a person rather than seeing her as an object to be exploited for sense gratification on the weekend away.

It turns out Kirby sent the flowers. Kirby's quite a guy - runs a farm in the summer and today he's out in the freezing weather clearing snow off the interstate with a plow. But it seems sending flowers isn't his usual MO. Kirby turns up having skipped cleaning up so that he could make it to the hospital in time to see Cindy. His comments indicate he hasn't exactly endeared himself to the local females, so we're getting clues that he sees Cindy as something special..

Cindy has to leave the hospital as the bed is needed. She reveals to Kirby that she's lonely back in the city, and has developed a liking for this mountainous New Hampshire area. Kirby suggests she stay with his widowed aunt, who has two teenage girls, and convalesce at her home. Kirby's aunt is pleased to accommodate Cindy.

Things start getting pretty domestic. Kirby's got Cindy walking with crutches. Cindy's hanging out with Kirby's younger cousins and finding out things about him. To pay back Kirby's aunt for her hospitality she's doing chores and a bit of baking, much to Kirby's delight.

Naughty Kirby has been persuading the doctor to recommend that Cindy stay put longer to aid her recovery. It reaches the point where the two of them come clean about how they feel about each other. Kirby's aunt excuses herself, claiming chores to do, and Cindy and Kirby can finally express their love for each other.

Basically this is a straightforward boy meets girl story where they fall in love and, we hope, live happily ever after, but set in the New Hampshire winter. A plot with no real complications this one. Note Demetrio's psychedelia accompanying the rapturous moment when the lovers kiss at the end. But it is one of those stories about two people thrown together almost as if fate had intended it that way, and don't some couples feel that way about how they met?