Page 10 of Sugarplum

Chapter 6

The gas stationwas open but there were no customers. Holt rolled into the parking lot. A man with glasses and a blue beanie waved from his window in the kiosk before returning to the book in his hand.

The machine slid over ice to a place near the air pump. Holt turned off the motor. “This is the best place for a phone call.”

I climbed off and pulled the phone out of my pocket. It was dead as a rock. "What the hell? But that's impossible, I just charged it. And there I am again saying 'that's impossible' when clearly it isn't."

I glanced around at the landscape. It looked surreal, covered in crystal white with the looming trees transforming into tall, shadowy beasts with many arms in the fading light. I had never seen any of it before, yet I'd traveled up the same mountain highway at least a dozen times. Even the peaks, mountain tips that were always part of the view from my apartment, were gone, as if they'd simply sunk back into the earth. Tears burned my eyes but stopped short of falling, mostly due to the icy air, which was slowly chilling me to the bone.

"Hey, are you all right?" Holt's deep voice pulled me from my sudden state of melancholy.

"Sure thing." I shook my head. "No, not really. I'm lost. I was heading up a mountain to a weekend with friends, and suddenly, I'm here. I have no idea where here is. Nothing looks familiar. It's like I dropped into some alien planet landscape." A slightly hysterical laugh popped from my mouth instead of the sob I had welling up inside of me. "My job is to create video game graphics. Maybe I just spend so much time in gaming worlds, creating creatures and landscapes, that I've lost my mind." The sob followed.

Holt moved closer. Without a second thought, I pressed myself into his arms. "You haven't lost your mind." His deep voice and strong arms warmed me. "You've just lost your way a little. We'll get you back to the warm inn, and you'll feel better."

I was still lost in an unexplained place and standing in the arms of a stranger, albeit a particularly beautiful stranger, but his simple words provided some comfort that I was going to come out of this fine. It could have been the arms too. They were really something. They made Stan's thin arms feel like wet spaghetti. And that analogy produced a laugh.

Holt leaned back to look at me. "See, you're feeling better already. Want to let me in on the joke?"

"Nope, just know this. You've got a great pair of arms."

"Do I?" His smiles never fully formed, but the cocky tilt of his lip was just one more thing that reminded me of my game hero. "Well then, let me tell you that I'm enjoying the hell out of having them wrapped around you." He lowered his mouth. I closed my eyes for a kiss that I was sure would exceed any other kiss I'd ever had. But it never came.

"I better get you home, Jen. Your lips are turning blue."

I could think of at least one way to warm them, but, it seemed that moment had sadly passed. He was right though. My bargain priced snow gear was no match for the icy weather. My limbs were starting to tingle, and I was struggling to keep my chin from trembling. Of course, all of those were symptoms that could have been brought on by Holt's near kiss too. Either way, I needed to get back to the inn.

We climbed back on the snowmobile, but before we started off on our icy ride, Holt pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hey, my phone has reception. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. You could try and call your friend. Might make you feel better if you can at least let her know where you are. Or him?" he asked with a definite questioning tone.

"It's a her. My best friend Tanya would be the only person worrying about me. It's worth a try." It took me a moment to remember her number. "Jeez, that's the problem with the contact list. I can't remember anyone's number."

I pulled off my glove and slid my numb fingers over the keyboard. It rang several times and went to voicemail. "Hey, Tanya, it's me Jen. Just didn't want you to worry. I'm fine but I won't make it to the lodge. Car trouble. A friend lent me his phone because I'm having phone trouble as well. I'll see you Monday with lots to talk about. Be safe on the slopes. Bye."

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