Page 74 of A Cozy Christmas Blizzard
Slade had pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway. The snow was so thick that she couldn’t see two feet in front of her.
“I don’t think we can go any further,” he announced.
Three
“We can’t stayhere,” Shelly insisted, looking at their precarious position beside the road. Snow was whirling in every direction. The ferocity of the storm shocked her as it whipped and howled around them. While she’d slept, the storm had worsened drastically. She found it little short of amazing that Slade had been able to steer the car at all.
“Do you have any other suggestions?” he asked, and breathed out sharply.
He was angry, but his irritation wasn’t directed at her. Wearily she lifted the hair from her neck. “No, I guess I don’t.”
Silence seeped around them as Slade turned off the engine. Gone was the soothing sound of Christmas music, the hum of the engine and the rhythmic swish of the wipers. Together they sat waiting for nature’s fury to lessen so they could get going again. Staring out at the surrounding area between bursts of wind and snow, she guessed that they weren’t far from Castle Rock and Mount St. Helens.
After ten minutes of uneasiness, she decided to be the first to break the gloom. “Are you hungry?” She stared at the passive, unyielding face beside her as she spoke.
“No.”
“I am.”
“Have some of that bread.” He cocked his head toward the back seat, where she’d stuck the huge loaves of sourdough.
“I couldn’t eat Dad’s bread. He’d never forgive me.”
“He’d never forgive you if you starved to death, either.”
Glancing down at her pudgy thighs, Shelly sadly shook her head. “There’s no chance of that.”
“What makes you say that? You’re not fat. In fact, I’d say you were just about perfect.”
“Me? Perfect?” A burst of embarrassed laughter slid from her throat. Reaching for her purse, she removed her wallet.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to pay you for saying that.”
Slade chuckled. “What makes you think you’re overweight?”
“You mean aside from the fat all over my body?”
“I’m serious.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just feel chubby. Since leaving home, I don’t get enough exercise. I couldn’t very well bring Sampson with me when I moved to San Francisco.”
“Sampson?”
“My horse. I used to ride him every day.”
“If you’ve gained any weight, it’s in all the right places.”
His gaze fell to her lips, and her senses churned in quivering awareness. He stared into her dark eyes and blinked, as if not believing what he saw. For her part, she studied him with open curiosity. His eyes were smoky dark, his face blunt and sensual. His brow was creased, as though he was giving themoment grave consideration. Thick eyebrows arched heavily over his eyes.
Abruptly he pulled his gaze away and leaned forward to start the engine. The accumulated snow on the windshield was brushed aside with a flip of the wiper switch. “Isn’t that a McDonald’s up ahead?”
Shelly squinted to catch a glimpse of the world-famous golden arches through a momentary break in the storm. “Hey, I think it is.”
“The exit can’t be far, then.”
“Do you think we can make it?”
