Page 29 of His One True Wish

“I saw enough.”

I laughed as I pulled on my pants. They felt a little chilled, so I walked over to the fire and let the flame warm my ass as I buckled my jeans. Billie pivoted again to avoid watching me.

“I will give you privacy,” she said. “You’ve already done enough for me, what with giving me your bed.”

“You slept well, I take it?” I said, buttoning up my flannel. I picked up my black vest from the hook by the door. “I’m good now, all dressed. It’s safe to look.”

“Okay,” she said, turning to face me. “Well, don’t you look cozy.” She looked a little flushed as she smoothed down her wavy hair. “I’m out of the bedroom, all packed up, if you want a fresh change of clothes. I know you wore those yesterday.”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m just going to sweat while I dig us out of here. It’ll be fine.” I nodded and walked to the window for a closer look at the snow. My stomach dropped. Holy fuck. It was not fine. “I thought you said the snow stopped.”

“I didn’t,” she said. “I told you I couldn’t get out the kitchen door.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered. The snowdrift in the south field reached the lower portion of the window in the shape of a wave. It was hard to see the wind blowing since white clouds still covered the sky and the flurries continued. It was so bright out it hurt my eyes. There was very little definition, just layers and shades of white. “How cold is it out there?”

“It’s bad,” she said, standing beside me. “I got up and saw the snow. I did the fire first because I could tell it was really cold, but I can’t get the back door open. It’s frozen shut. I haveneverseen that door frozen shut.”

“You try this door?” I said, nodding at the one that faced the back field.

“No, just the kitchen,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake you and Cam up, and I was focused on the back since my truck’s out there.”

I walked to the kitchen door and tugged on the knob. She was right; it was stiff and cold. I took a breath and braced my legs. Using all my weight, I grunted and pulled. The door snapped open, nearly knocking me to the ground. Cam got surprised and barked, jumping in circles.

“I’m okay, buddy. All good,” I said, hands on my knees. The drift out front was high, and the snow wasn’t stopping. A gust of wind rattled the open door, blowing in a pile of snow.

“Holy crap,” Billie said, jumping backward. Cam got excited and tried to bite snowflakes. I shut the door with a bang.

“That’s bad,” I said.

“Well, at least you could open the door.” Billie paced and rubbed her forehead. “If you weren’t here, I would be trapped. This isn’t happening. Stuff like this doesn’t happen to me.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” I said, rubbing my elbow. I’d banged it on the corner of the cabinet. “That felt like I was trying to open a sealed vault.”

“I’ve got to call my mom. I should never have left.”

“Your mom is going to be fine, because we will figure out how to get you out of here, okay?”

I opened the kitchen door again, this time prepared for what I’d see outside. On another day, I might have thought the snow was beautiful, but this wasn’t ordinary snow. This was a snow that stopped time.

Deep, dry powder covered the yard. Snow piled on top of the ledges, the car, the fence posts. The trees sparkled with snow and ice as the wind howled. I leaned out to check the porch thermometer. It was minus ten degrees. This wasn’t just a winter wonderland; this was dangerously cold. Hypothermia would set in fast in weather like this. I had no doubt that schools were closed, roads were closed, and winter advisories were telling people to stay indoors.

“Well,” I said, closing the kitchen door behind me. “That’s some snow.”

“I know, right?” Billie faced me, eyes wide, her arms crossed. “Too much snow.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “You could say that.”

“Okay, so I think we need a plan.” She clapped her hands, eyes locked on me like a player on the sidelines waiting to be put back in. “I have my purple coat and my boots aren’t great, but I thought maybe I could wear some of your wool socks? And thank goodness we emptied the truck last night. Thank you for that, by the way. I am pretty sure we have two shovels.”

I shook my head. “We’re not shoveling.”

“We’re not?” she asked, her voice weak.

“Well, it’s sub-zero right now, which means that even if we could get ahead of the falling snow, it’s dangerous to be out there.”

“And it’s still snowing.”

“Yes, it is still snowing. We need to wait out the snow and the temperature.”

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