Page 32 of Waitress at the Shadow Ridge Inn
Decision made, I pulled my arms out of my sleeves and wrapped them around my torso to preserve body heat. Then, I brought my knees, throbbing from where they’d been thrust into the dash, up to my chest and settled in for what was sure to be a long night.
The tears began to flow again in earnest. I’d officially reached the limit of what I could take. Sobs racked my body. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me. In my determination to keep everyone at arm’s length, I’d ensured no one would notice that I was missing for some time.
Strength depleted, I gave myself over to the darkness with one final thought.I can’t do this anymore.
12
I wasn’tsure how long I’d sat like that. A couple of hours maybe. It felt like forever. The rain continued to pour, and the wind howled. Every now and then, a strong gust came along, rocking the car and making me think about mudslides and rockslides and the fact that I was somewhere on the side of a mountain road in a crunched metal box.
Something struck the glass above my head. My first thought was debris, like the kind I’d seen in a storm chaser video once. I curled into an even tighter ball against the door, ducking down as far as I could get. There weren’t many things that could make the situation even worse, but a branch spearing through the window and skewering me was one of them.
That thump was followed by another dull thud, and this one was powerful enough that I felt the vibrations. I vaguely registered a flash of light before the door opened, and I tumbled out onto the wet, cold ground. I screamed, certain that either (a) a bear had decided I looked like a canned snack or (b) I was plunging to my death.
“Casey!”
That voice. I knew it. It was Steve’s voice. Some people saw their lives flashing before their eyes when they were about to die. I heard Steve.
“Look at me, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. He called me sweetheart. What a nice way to go,I decided.
But I wasn’t falling anymore. I wasn’t moving at all. I opened my eyes and looked into gorgeous hazel orbs, framed by thick sable lashes.
“Steve?”
Relief passed over his features. “Yeah.”
“How … why …”
“Christ, you’re freezing. Let’s get you someplace warm before we do the Q and A. Are you hurt? Is anything broken?”
“N-no, but …”
“Hush now.”
I hushed. He took the baseball cap off his head and put it on mine, then lifted me into his strong arms, as if I were a child, and started walking up the hill. It was still raining, I thought, but I didn’t care. To be honest, I didn’t know if I was awake or in the grips of another flashback, minus the overwhelming sense of terror.
The bright light was blinding when he opened the cab door and set me on the bench seat. He had to pry my hands from his quilted flannel jacket. He spoke in low, soothing tones as he did so. I couldn’t tell you what he said. My teeth were chattering too loud to make out the words.
Then, the door shut, and I was alone, but not for long. He appeared again, coming through the driver’s door this time. He covered me with a blanket, then pulled me close and held me. I knew it was probably to get my body heat back up to a normal level, but the romantic part of my brain was willing to create its own ideas. All I knew was, I liked it. A lot.
It took several minutes before I stopped shaking enough to say, “Th-th-thank y-y-you.”
He pulled back but left the blanket. In the light of the dashboard, I could see the concern etched in his beautiful features. As if he’d really been worried about me. It made me want to cry again.
“What happened?”
“D-d-deer,” I said simply.
“Do you need medical attention?”
I shook my head.
He nodded once, put the truck in gear, and pulled out. The fog wasn’t as thick as it had been earlier. I supposed the cold rain had chilled the ground enough to reduce the ground-air temperature difference by that point.
We drove in silence. In my peripheral vision, I could see him shooting worried side-glances my way.
He pulled into the long drive a short while later. As it turned out, I had only been about five minutes away from the cottage. Had I known that, I could have walked it easily.
