Page 42 of Accidental Abduction

Part of me wanted to completely ignore the thawing snow, staying here long after it melted off and ignoring the world outside. But when I pulled my phone off the charger after I’d made Charley breakfast and left her to shower by herself, the screen was full of text notifications.

Hazel:Are you two ever coming up for air? Mom is about to send Dad up there to dig you two out. She’s worried that Charley will never come to Christmas this year if she’s stuck there with you for too long.

As if I intended to give Charley another option. She was now welcome at all the family events she’d been welcome at before this, but for a whole new reason.

Hazel: I didn’t tell her you were probably doing gross things to her furniture.

Laughing, I responded, ignoring her digging for information that little sisters shouldn’t know about their brother’s sex lives. If she and Charley were really as close as they appeared, she likely knew this confinement was not platonic.

Hudson: She’s fine. And I’ll drag her up here if she tries to back out of it. White elephant stockings is a tradition, and she’s not missing it.

Hazel: Does that mean that you two...

Hudson: It means that I really like your friend.

Hazel: And...

Hudson: And I don’t want to let her out of my sight long enough to get sick of me.

Hazel: Sounds counterintuitive. But maybe the Stockholm Syndrome has finally set in.

Hudson: She’s here because she wants to be, not because I accidentally kidnapped her.

Hazel: Mmhmm, sure.

She sent a GIF of a woman nodding and mouthing the same words.

Hudson: She’s mine now.

Hazel: She’ll always love me more.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

Hazel: The county has been plowing for the last two days straight. They’re hitting the pass today. The bar is fine. Annie made sure everyone made it in for their shifts.

Fuck. That meant our hours were dwindling.

Closing out of the thread with Hazel, I clicked on one from Reid’s cousin Jayden who lived in Butterfly Ridge.

Jayden: Reid told me you were stranded.

Jayden: Just cleared the pass. You should be able to dig out now.

Jayden: Let me know if you want me to come back and help, I can switch out my blade.

Hudson: Thanks man, I think we’re good, but I’ll let you know.

Jayden: We? Reid told me you were up there with Hazel’s bestie.

Hudson: I am. Long story. We’ve been stranded since Friday night.

Jayden: Want me to push the snow back into place?

I laughed, kind of wishing he hadn’t been able to make it up here. But with the weather clearing, I knew we’d need to get back to open the bar. Annie, my head bartender, would continue to cover like she had for the last few days if I needed her to, but I knew Charley and I were both on the next shift together.

“Everything okay?” Charley asked, sitting down on my lap sideways and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Yeah. Road is clear.”

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