Page 25 of Snow More Secrets

I scowled and grunted, “I already answered that, Cammie. The trip is cancelled.”

“Likecancelled,cancelled?”

“Exactly.”

“But—”

“It’s not up for discussion, Cammie. I just got my wife back, and I’m not letting her out of my sight anytime soon.”

“You can’t throw that at me and not give me an explanation, Jacob Ashley!” Cammie yelled. “Why the hell are you calling Hannah your wife? And when did this marriage happen? Did you get her pregnant? Why was it a secret?”

“Because she is, last Christmas Eve, not yet, and none of your business.”

Cammie sputtered, making me grin.

“It’s been a year? Why—wait, did you say NOT YET??”

“Merry Christmas, baby sister,” I said in a jovial tone before hanging up. Okay, so “not yet” was probably wishful thinking. I’d wait as long as she wanted, but a big part of me hoped Hannah would be ready to start our family soon.

Before she could call back, like I knew she would, I hit the speed dial for Colin’s cell.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Hey…I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.” He sounded chagrined. “I didn’t mean to interrupt?—”

“You didn’t, Colin. Hannah is asleep.”

“That was fast. I’m impressed,” Colin said with an uncharacteristic chuckle.

“You should be,” I snarked, making him laugh harder.

“Anyway, I wanted to let you know about the roads.”

“You said in your text that they’ve closed down the roads to town,” I reminded him.

“Yes, but the storm has gotten even worse. We are pulling back the grounds staff from the paths around the resort. The snow covers them before they can get from one end to the other. And a few got hit with snow drifts. We don’t want anyone getting hurt or sick. And the winds are too high for the snowmobiles to be out. You’d never get anywhere the way it would keep blowing you off course.”

“So we’re snowed in here,” I surmised.

“Yes. I’m sorry, but the good news is that one of my guys dropped off your bags before we called him back. They are under the bench on the porch to keep them out of the snow.”

“Damn, thanks, man. I was planning to call and see if you could send out clothes. Now, I just need to figure out what we are going to eat.”

“Jake,” he sighed, sounding like he was talking to an ignorant child. “Do you not know me and your sister at all? We are prepared for this. The fridge is stocked, and we had the generator serviced a few days ago. And just in case there is a problem with it, there is a mountain of chopped wood in a shed just behind the cabin. I hate to leave you stranded, but…”

“I’d have made the same call, Colin. We’ll be just fine. And, I swear, I’ll never give you shit about your checklists and precious clipboard.”

Colin was very detail-oriented and meticulous, and I couldn’t have been more grateful at that moment.

“Honestly,” I added. “I couldn’t have asked for better circumstances. Nowhere to run.”

Colin chuckled. “I’ll admit, the thought occurred to me.”

“We’ll hunker down until the storm lets up.”

“Great. Merry Christmas.”

“It will be.”

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