Page 38 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

“It would seem so,” Sawyer said, trying to keep his voice calm even though he felt anything but.

His heart raced and a shiver of fear moved through him. He could see the massive white tsunami racing toward them.

They had barely recovered from the first avalanche and now there is a second. He glanced at Gwen, their eyes meeting across the room for a moment. She looked terrified.

He glanced around and saw the wide-eyed panic of everyone in the room. Sawyer stepped into the center. He held up his hands, and said softly, “Okay, everyone, let’s stay calm,” he said, louder this time, cutting through the growing panic. “This place was built to handle conditions like this.”

Gwen nodded, stepping forward. “He’s right. We’ve already gotten through one avalanche. We’ll get through this one, too. We just need to stay inside and wait it out.”

Lucas added, “Stay away from the windows. You’ll be fine.”

Sawyer could still hear the snow crashing down outside, each wave sending vibrations through the thick wooden walls. But the structure held firm. He and Gwen moved among the group, doing their best to offer reassuring words and gestures.

When a particularly loud crash shook the lodge, everyone jumped, including Sawyer, and Elsie let out a loud squeal. Joseph wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

After what felt like an eternity, the roaring stopped. Everyone stood in the parlor looking around them. Complete silence hung over them like a heavy curtain.

Samantha was the first to speak. “Is it over?”

“I think so,” Sawyer said.

He carefully walked over to the window and studied the scene. “It’s stopped.

The entire group seemed to exhale in relief at once and everyone looked at the others in a mixture of relief and anxiety, as though they expected another avalanche to follow.

“I need to go outside and check for damage,” Daniel said.

Lucas, Darren, Joseph, Sawyer, and Gwen headed for the coat rack.

“We’ll come with you. We need to bring in more wood anyway,” Lucas said.

The air was eerily quiet, the fresh blanket of snow undisturbed except for the remnants of the avalanche. The majority of the snow had fallen short of the Cooper’s cabin, which was a relief. The main lodge, however, had taken a bit of a hit. There were a few drifts piled up against the walls, and one window had a small crack, but nothing seemed irreparable.

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. “It looks like we got lucky. I’ll have to cover that cracked window, though.”

“Is there any other damage?” Sawyer asked.

“None that we can tell right now. With the snow piled so high against the lodge, there might be something hidden that we can’t see.”

Gwen helped Daniel nail a board over the window, while the rest of them uncovered the wood from the snow that had fallen on it the night before. Luckily, the pile had been out of reach of the secondary avalanche.

They headed back inside and Sawyer looked at his watch. “We still have a couple of hours to sleep. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going back to bed.”

Everyone agreed and headed back to their rooms. Sawyer made sure that Brent was okay before getting into his cot. Fora long minute, he lay awake staring at the ceiling. Montagne Maudite is certainly living up to its name.

He looked over at Brent, who was still awake.

“Sawyer, are we going to be okay?”

“Yeah, Buddy. We’ll be fine. The lodge has been here for decades and has survived many storms and avalanches.”

“Okay,” he said. A few minutes later, he was snoring softly.

Sawyer felt bad for Brent. He might have found a little reprieve staying with the men at the lodge, but eventually, he would have to go home. Hopefully, though, Jerome would calm down and stop being such a jerk once he was no longer around him.

The next morning, after breakfast, Sawyer, Darren, and Lucas put on their snowshoes and go for a walk. The wind had calmed down a lot, although there was enough to make the snow whirl around them.

They had walked for about half an hour and were about to turn back when a faint sound caught Sawyer’s attention. At first, he thought that it was just the wind or an animal, but then he heard a shout.

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