Page 40 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

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C H A P T E R

Gwen

Gwen walked over to the couch where her mother, father, and brother sat in front of the fireplace. Her parents were reading while Brent was busy playing his game.

“Guys, I’m going with Sawyer, Lucas, and Darren. We’re running low on supplies and Oliver said there is a hunting lodge a couple of miles due west of here.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” her mother asked. “You’re not as strong as they are and it’s extremely cold out.”

Gwen smiled. “It’s not that far. The snowshoes will make the trip a lot easier. Besides we need the supplies and I don’t think help is coming anytime soon. I can’t sit around here doing nothing.”

Brent looked up from his game. Gwen saw the worry in his eyes. She didn’t want to scare him, although she wasn’t going to hide the truth from him, either.

Audrey stood up and hugged Gwen. “Just be careful, okay? It’s dangerous out there. You guys could easily get lost. We’ve had snow storms that just suddenly crop up.”

Gwen nodded and smiled reassuringly at her mother. “We’ll all be careful, I promise.”

She glanced at Jerome who was sitting in the corner of the couch, his arms crossed over his chest, with a hard expression.

To her surprise, he cleared his throat and said, “Be careful. There are a lot of wild animals out there.”

Gwen blinked. That was the first decent thing he’d said to her since they’d been trapped in the lodge.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond. Then, she said, “Uh, thanks, Dad. I will.”

He nodded, although the hard look on his face didn’t soften. Gwen wasn’t sure what to think.

The men were putting on their snowshoes. She quickly pulled on her coat, gloves, and boots before tying on the snowshoes and heading out.

With a heavy sigh, Gwen followed Sawyer out the door, with Darren and Lucas behind her. The snow seemed to go on and on forever. If the situation had been different, Gwen would have been enchanted. Tall evergreen trees, with a dusting of snow on them, reached the temporarily blue skies. The sun shined on the snow, making it seem as though it sparkled like someone had sprinkled diamonds over it.

No one talked as they focused on putting one foot in front of the other. As they plodded on, the cold gnawed at Gwen’s face and her fingers started to feel numb. A chill permeated through her parka and grabbed her bones.

After about an hour and a half of trudging through the snow, they saw what was little more than a shack ahead. It was small and weathered. Snow weighted down the roof and it was half buried. It was nestled in the woods and if they hadn’t known it was there, they might have missed it.

There were no footsteps around it and the place looked completely abandoned.

“It doesn’t look like we’re going to be bothering anyone,” Sawyer said.

The door was unlocked and Lucas pushed open the door, looking cautiously inside, before they entered. It was a single-room structure. A thick layer of dust covered everything. The air was thick and musty. The wood box was stacked high with kindling and logs next to a primitive potbellied stove.

A pile of blankets was piled in see-through bags on the makeshift bed in the corner. Three boxes of canned goods sat on the counter. Two cases of water perched on the table.

Sawyer picked them up and looked at the dates on the food. “They’re still good.”

They started filling their backpacks full of food and water.

“I kind of feel bad,” Gwen said. “What if someone gets lost and comes here looking for food.”

“Hopefully there’s no one out here. But we have a building full of people who need the food now and we can’t wait for ‘what ifs.’ What if we leave the food here, no one comes, and our people need it,” Lucas said.

“Plus, judging by the condition of this place, no one has been here in at least a few months. Either the rangers or Oliver will resupply the place once the roads open again,” Darren said. “Lucas is right. Right now, we have a need for the supplies.”

Gwen knew they were right, although she was still worried in the back of her mind.

“What about the blankets?” Darren asked.

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