Page 126 of Tangled up in You

“That’s also thanks to the reflectors and insulating the tent walls,” Mark added. “That reminds, me we should grab more wood while it’s still light.”

“That’s what she said,” Jesse quipped, making both men laugh.

She started to get up, but Mark stopped her. “I’d prefer you stay in the tent.”

“Why? I can help.”

“Yeah, but it’s easier to stay warm than to warm you up again,” Chris said. “And you shouldn’t expend the extra energy.”

Then it hit her. “Because we’re rationing food.”

The men exchanged a grim glance but nodded. “Yeah,” Chris said. “That’s the biggest reason.”

Once she was alone, she realized how damnedquietit was. The soft patter of the snow on the tent, the water that almost killed her rushing in the nearby creek, the sound of trees swaying, creaking, the wind.

Being alone allowed her to…contemplate the situation.

I might really die out here.

In Jesse’s conscious memory, she never in her life willfully thought, much less said the phrase, “I want my daddy.”

But there she was, sitting there, staring into the fire, and thinking over and over again,I want Daddy.

If for no other reason than to hug him and reassure him yes, she did love him.

And to call him Daddy again, the way she had when she was little and her mom was still alive. She didn’t know when she’d transitioned from calling him “Daddy” to “Dad,” but now she thought maybe she was better able to understand some of her former schoolmates who used to annoyingly talk about “Daddy” this and “Mommy” that when they were a grade or two—or more—ahead of her, sometimes even five or more years older than her.

Nowshe got it.

I miss Daddy. I want Daddy.

Hell, she even wanted Josie.

If I survive this, I’m giving that woman a freaking long hug and telling her I love her, too.

Because while she loved Josie she realized she might not have always shown it to her in a way her step-mother’s neurotypical brain recognized as such.

Please, let us get out of this safely.

CHAPTER 14

JESSE

By the end of the day it still snowed, although not as heavily. The temps climbed above freezing before dropping again as the evening slid in to steal the anemic daylight.

She sat at the entrance to the tent with the men and stared out with them. All around them the snow quickly grew deeper. Trudging through it, even for only a few yards to use the bathroom, grew difficult. That little bit of exertion at this altitude wore her out.

She could only imagine how difficult it’d be trying to make their way through it on a trail.

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?” she asked. “Realistically? Assuming we survive.”

“At least another day or two,” Chris said. “We can’t risk moving. None of us are equipped for deep snow. And we’ll burn too much energy if we try.”

“It’s safer to stay where we are,” Mark added. “They’ll see you set up the last sensor, and they know our planned trek from there. So they’ll have an area to start searching. Once it stops snowing I’ll build a signal fire. When they start searching for us they’ll spot it.”

“If,” she said. “Ifthey start looking for us.”

“When,” Mark insisted.

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