Page 80 of Boss

“Yeah, you up for this? Last night you took it pretty hard.”

“I’m fine. I’m ready,” she said.

He handed her a spare pair of gloves. They were workman’s gloves, but would serve the purpose. She pulled them on. She stuck her feet in his workman boots by the door. That would not work for long. The shoes were big and floppy. So she kicked them off and removed his socks to put on her heeled ankle boots. Tarek knew those would be a problem in the snow but choose not to say anything. As they approached the door he explained the plan.

“We will walk out to the barn. It’s heated. I want to gas up my tractor. It’s not ideal but we could possibly drive it off my land back into town.”

“How far is the town?”

“Twenty miles give or take. I got neighbors that are twelve miles up the road. We reach them we can call in for help.”

“Okay,” she agreed. He paused and looked her over. He hesitated again.

“I’m ready,” she assured him. “Let’s go.”

“Wait a sec; you need something on your head.” He walked off to the back room and plucked a hat from the closet. A Texan had plenty. He returned and took the liberty of putting a Stetson on top of her head and pushing it down. She smiled for him. “That’ll do.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He thumped the bib of his Stetson and gave her a polite semi-bow. “Shall we?”He pushed his Stetson down on his head and opened the door for her. The cold that blasted them from outside shocked them both. She had no idea it was even more frigid outside. Her eyes stretched, and she looked over at him as if horrified. He stood behind her with his head tilted down to stare at her, and his Stetson protected his face from the wind.

“Go on, little lady. I’m right behind you.”

Kassidy walked out the door. They both noticed the snow had stopped. It was probably too cold for it. Anything that fell from the sky now would freeze into ice. She walked to the edge of the porch and had to be careful of her steps. A thin sheet of ice coated the wood, making it a bit slippery.

“What now?”

“Look there.” He pointed east. “That’s the stable, and the cattle barn. I’m pretty sure a lot of the equipment is still there. Got a Caterpillar with wheels as tall as you. It’ll get us out of here.”

She smiled for him. Damn. She was really pretty when she smiled. He went down the steps. And slowly sank into the snow. It stopped at his knees.

“Holy crap!” she exclaimed. “Is this for real?”

“Afraid so, darling,” He glanced out to the barn. It was a long walk in snow like this. He stepped down in the snow and sank. But there was plenty of packed snow beneath to make the journey doable. The problem as he saw it, was the wind. It pushed hard against them, capturing their breath and exhausting their energy.

“Maybe you should wait here, I’ll get the tractor and come for you,” he suggested.

“No,” she grabbed his sleeve. “I can do it. Don’t leave me.”

He looked down at her. She had turned her face up to look at him from under her hat. He nodded before he took her hand and tried to move through the snow. After several steps, he found it hard to keep the pace without wheezing for breath. When he looked back her struggle was even worse.

“It’s not going to work,” she said in defeat. “I’m so cold. It’s so cold out here. I can’t do this.”

“Yeah, I see that now,” he said. He helped her trek the way back to the porch. They were both wet but only she shivered. “Go inside and sit by the fire. Wait for me while I get the Caterpillar and—”

“But what if it starts to snow again?” she asked and sucked in her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. “What then?”

He looked back at her surprised. She didn’t show this kind of fear when he caught her in the parking lot of that barbecue restaurant. She didn’t even show much fear when he threatened to turn her into the police and forced her into his home. But now she was scared?

“I can handle it,” he said.

“No. Let’s wait a bit. The snow will... get... harder on the ground or something. You can try then. Maybe in a few hours when the sun is out of the clouds?”

“Or it could start snowing more and make it impossible for me to leave. I could shovel...” he glanced to the barn and realized it was too far to shovel toward.

“Damn.”

“This is why your man didn’t make it. The Cash guy, he’s out there stuck somewhere and the roads? They’re covered.” She hugged herself, visibly shivering. He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. He rubbed some heat up and down her arm.

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