Trapped with the Blizzard (20 page)

I knew it was probably a lie but it still stung. I couldn’t figure out why she was trying so hard to antagonize me, but I was done playing her game. It was only a few hours before dawn and I hadn’t gotten any sleep. And in a matter of minutes, she’d smashed my good mood.

“Whatever. I really don’t give a shit,” I said as I walked past her.

“No need to be rude! I’m just trying to give you a friendly warning.”

There was no helping my reaction. In my defense, it’d been a very long day. “A friendly warning?” I asked as I slowly wheeled around. “From where I’m standing, you’re the only hot mess I can see. In fact,” I said as I rocked back and crossed my arms, “yeah. I just figured it out. You’ve shelved him for so long you can’t stand the idea he might be interested in someone else.”

The look on her face was all I needed to know I was on track. “Whatever. I’m the one who’s been turning him down,” she tried to defend.

“And probably leading him on the whole time, too, if I can even believe a word you’re saying right now. But you can’t stand that someone prettier, smarter, and all around more interesting is grabbing his attention.” She jumped down from the counter and tried to step up into my personal space. I didn’t back down. In fact, I only inched closer, my slight height advantage making me look down my nose at her. “You think you’re so fucking exotic? You’re just another redneck and maybe, just maybe, Miah is interested in something more than a pair of fat tits. Now kindly get the fuck out of my face.”

December 24th

I was awake before the sun even hinted it planned on joining us that day. Some point during the night I wondered if we’d see day again at all. The wind pelted the windows with icy snow, huge gusts howling through the pine trees around us. I quietly kept still, savoring the relative calm. Sniffles, snores, grunts, and moans… all the sounds of people sleeping multiplied by a hundred. Not exactly the way I pictured our first Christmas Eve as a family.

Dani had only just slipped back into bed and I could tell by her breathing she was still awake. I thought to ask her where she’d gone off to, merely out of curiosity, but I knew it would come out as controlling.

With Jack sleeping in my arms, I rolled to my side and stared into the glowing coals of the fire beside us. My mind slid back to the attack downstairs in the boiler room. He seemed to know me, to know Bryan.

Didn’t he say he had something to say to him? Why do I feel like he knows me? He could just be someone from around town. But why would the arsonist stay up here? It makes no sense…

None of it made sense and I didn’t have the time or energy to untangle the knot of thoughts I’d knitted. Already people were stirring and I heard pots clanging in the kitchen. Feeding an entire town three times a day was a tough job and I was thankful to Bruce for stepping up to the plate.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Walt was already awake and sitting up, idly rubbing his knees as if they ached. He lifted his head and gave me a brief nod, a wordless greeting. I gestured with Jack and he stretched out his arms to take him. I needed to go find Bryan, see if he’d gotten any sleep whatsoever. Of course, I went via the kitchen to say good morning to Bruce and steal a cup of coffee.

After a short search, I found Bryan at the front entrance. He watched as a county plow worked its way up the drive to the parking lot. I touched him on the back as I offered him the cup of black coffee.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he smiled. “You’re a godsend.”

“Another group coming up?” I asked as I nodded to the small train of cars following the plow.

He closed his eyes as he took a sip. It was like he wanted to block out the world for just a moment. When he opened his eyes again, I could see the stress creasing the corners. “Yeah. The thing is, people are panicking down in town. They should’ve come up when we first called for the evacuation.
Now
they want help after the storm has stalled, making it even more difficult.”

We watched as the plow pulled to the side and the few cars behind it found spots to park in the lot. The closest half of the parking lot was paved and usually lit, while the overflow lots in the back were packed gravel. Most of the cars in the paved portion were already buried. I thought they looked like little white burial mounds but pushed the image away.

I wrapped my arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze as the straggling townspeople fought through the wind and snow to get to the building. We greeted them as if we were welcoming guests into our home and pointed them in the right direction. Bringing up the rear was Jerry, the plow driver we’d come to recognize over the past day.

“Hey man, how you holdin’ up?” Bryan asked as they shook hands.

Jerry’s face was ruddy and full, his body the result of many hours sitting and eating in a truck. He always had a toothpick in his mouth. “Ah, you know, hanging in there. Word is they’re pulling us from the back roads in a couple hours so we can focus on the highways.”

“But what about…” I started to say.

“I made the case for Powder Road and we’ll do our best to keep up with it, for emergency crews and stuff. They know most of the town is up here now, which…” he said as he looked around suspiciously, “is probably a good thing.”

Bryan frowned. “Why’s that?”

Jerry licked his chapped lips and leaned closer, shifting the toothpick to the opposite corner. “You know that nut that’s been setting fires all over the place?” Bryan and I shared a look and nodded. “He’s been having a fucking field day down there since the storm really kicked off. Fire department can’t keep up. You know the Texaco station at the foot of the mountain?”

I grinned and nudged Bryan with my elbow. “We had a date there on this same day a few years back.”
And by date, I mean he rescued me from my crazy ex-boyfriend who was trying to kill me.

Jerry gave me an odd look but continued. “Gone. Completely burned to the ground. The call didn’t even come in until the damn thing was fully engulfed.”

“When was this?” I asked.

“Dunno exactly,” Jerry shrugged. “Fires have been burning off and on all day yesterday and last night.”

Bryan shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. “Hardly anyone is down there to call the fires in.”

“Yup,” Jerry said as he shifted the toothpick to the other corner of his mouth with his tongue. “Welp, I better get back to it,” he said with a clap of his hands. “Don’t you folks resort to cannibalism before I make it back.”

Bryan and I waved goodbye as he pushed out into the storm. “I really hate how people keep making that joke,” I muttered. “Interesting what he said, though.”

He nodded absentmindedly, his forehead tight in thought. “I guess it’s unlikely the guy we found downstairs is the arsonist then. There’s no way he’d be getting into town so easily.”

“This whole thing is fucking fucked.” I gave him a sideways glance.

“Totally fucked,” he agreed. He hid his smile behind the coffee cup, but the arch of his eyebrow gave him away.

Our radios crackled as Chris spoke. “Hey, boss? You there?”

“I’m here,” Bryan said as he gave me a quick kiss. “What’s up?”

“Where are you? I’ll come to you.”

We frowned at each other. “Front entrance, near the hall.”

“Great, be there in a sec.”

We strolled back towards the Great Hall where most people were stirring. The noise from the newcomers and the growing daylight woke everyone to another fun-filled day of boring captivity.

“So your cousin and I got into it a little last night. I caught her…” I trailed off as Bryan wrapped his arm around me. He was carrying enough of a burden. I didn’t need to lay this on him, too. “You know what? Never mind. Not a big deal.”

“Are you sure? If you want, I can talk to her again,” he offered. Bryan’s eyes narrowed as Chris approached, radio in hand, fully jacketed. I instantly felt guilty. He was trying to take care of so much at once, he could barely finish a sentence before someone else was demanding a piece of him.

“Hey boss, just got word. The chopper is coming. They want us to clear a spot for them to land.”

“All right, great. We’ve got the plow already hooked up to one snowcat and the others fueled up,” Bryan said as he stretched with a grunt.

I knocked back the rest of my coffee. “I’ll get a path cleared and everyone ready to go.”

Chris stepped closer, the rings under his eyes darker than I first noticed. I felt a twinge of guilt that I’d suspected him at all. Over the past two days, he’d done nothing but work tirelessly and without complaint.

“Where’s your little one? He doing okay?”

I nodded kindly, touching him on the arm. “He’s doing well, thanks for asking.”

My mind wouldn’t keep still. One second I’d think about how long we could keep the power on, and then I’d worry about the storm totals. Then the arsonist would pop up which, of course, made me think about the random guy who was living in our basement up to the point he attacked me. And then I’d remember how we were pretty much imprisoning someone, perhaps wrongfully. What made it all sting was that we were all meant to be home with our families celebrating Christmas Eve.

“You okay?” Bryan asked, his expression filled with concern.

I hugged myself, sighed, and leaned on his shoulder. “I’m fine. Merry Christmas, by the way.”

The air rushed from his nose, a sad but comforting sound. He kissed the top of my head and replied, “Merry Christmas, baby.”

I watched from the glass vestibule in the front as they cleared a huge chunk of the parking lot. I didn’t realize this, but apparently helicopters don’t just land and lift off vertically. They need space for an approach. There was a bit of panic when the rescuers radioed in their landing requirements. Thankfully, we had the equipment to handle the bulk of the snow.

I couldn’t believe my eyes every time I looked outside. It was like looking at the surface of an alien planet. We had done our best to keep the paths clear during the storm, but it became almost too much to handle. On the edges of the front entrance patio, the snow piles towered nearly two stories tall. Reports were saying we had already received a little over eight feet. That meant if I were dropped in the middle of the uncleared ground, the surface of the snow would be over two feet above my head. I tried everything I could to wrap my head around that amount of snow. I imagined a swimming pool, blowing out all the air, sinking to the bottom, and looking up.

The trunks of the pine trees were totally obscured, the bottom branches disappearing into the whiteness like vegetation disappearing into a lake of water. I wondered if the center near the trunk was empty and clear, the branches serving as a barrier. A part of me wished there was a way I could find out.

My daydreams crumbled as the distant
whomp whomp whomp
of the helicopter undeniably drew close. I waited until they were landing before heading into the kitchen to get Lacey. A few of the stronger men had volunteered to carry the stretcher out. Charlie stood protectively over her, gripping her hand tightly. The grim expression on his face aged him at least ten years. Everyone in the lodge could hear the chopper now, the news spreading like only a rumor can.

Bryan stepped inside followed by a swirl of snow. “Okay guys, it’s time to get you two out of here,” I said softly.

“Actually, the pilot told me there’s only room for her,” Bryan whispered with a grimace.

Charlie opened his mouth to protest but quickly came to terms. Lacey needed emergency care even if it meant separating. He bent to whisper in her ear, a faint smile and small nod her only acknowledgment. Charlie straightened, tears in his eyes, and nodded to Bryan.

Dusty, Miah, and the other men lifted the sled and secured a wool blanket around her body, even obscuring her face from the cold. I understood the need, but it made it look like we were carting a corpse out. Too similar for comfort. With Dani and me holding the doors open, they carried her outside and into the bitter cold. I could feel the eyes on us from behind as we shut the doors. We stood in silence, watching until they lifted her into the helicopter and jogged away.

While the men made their way back to the lodge as the helicopter lifted into the clear blue sky, a cloud of white in their wake, I nearly put my arm around her shoulders. Thinking better of it, I considered what my dad might’ve said in a situation like this, hoping to channel a part of him.
He would’ve stayed silent…