Page 19 of Defending Our Ever After

“Well, this may come as a surprise to you, but Mike and I are thought to be very stubborn men,” Lee answers and we can hear Russ snort from where he’s preparing the meal in the kitchen.

“While I’m shocked to the core bythatannouncement,” I say, dryly. “What are we going to do to fix it?”

“Weare not going to do anything, Julia,” Lee responds. “I am.”

*

“Life has changed a bit without weather reports, hasn’t it?” Lee says as the three of us stand on his front porch two mornings after I had arrived.

We had barely made it onto the porch when we decided it wasn’t worth pushing any further through the snow, dressed as we are.

“Wouldn’t have made any difference,” I shrug. “They aren’t even right half of the time.”

“Lee, any chance we can stay another day?” Russ deadpans as the three of us continue to stare at the massive snowfall that came overnight.

“Yeah, I don’t want that old horse of Elsbeth’s getting hurt on the way home,” he grumbles, but we’re pretty familiar with his dry sense of humor by now and exchange a smile when he steps back inside.

“I’ll go out to the barn and take care of the animals,” Russ tells me, but I stop him with a hand on his forearm.

The wind is still kicking up flurries and the gray skies above give me the feeling there’s more on the way.

“Wait for me,” I insist, my eyes locked on his until he nods in agreement. “Let’s handle this together and get back quickly.

Striding back to our room, I gather extra layers for Russ and I pull on my snow pants before emptying out my backpack.

“Lee, I’m going to need the combination for the locked room in the barn,” I tell him when I walk out to the main room. Grabbing water bottles and snacks for us, in case we’re out there longer than we plan to be.

Like most families who plan for the worst, I know he must keep extra supplies in the locked room out there, but now’s the time we’ll need to supplement his animals’ feed for the coming days. Russ has already shored up the weak boards on the barn, so we shouldn’t have to worry about wild animals making their way inside—looking for comfort and fresh livestock.

“Once you’re in there, walk past the food storage bins, you’ll see the items you need and extra blankets for the horses on the shelves,” he tells me, handing me a Post-It note with the combination on it.

We’ve barely stepped off the porch when Russ turns and scoops me up, his long legs making easy work of getting through the deep snow. I nuzzle my face into his neck and enjoy the ride.

“Here, can you help me with the supplies then we’ll get the pens and stalls cleaned up before feeding the beasties?” I instantly start to plan out the work that will be needed as Russ waits for me to open the door to the storage room. “It’s an easy code, without being obvious, isn’t it?”

The long narrow windows let in enough light for me to spot a lantern and I get that turned on, illuminating the room. The items are where Lee told us they would be, so we load up on them before we head back out to the main area.

“That room’s not right,” Russ murmurs, as we split up and start switching on the solar powered lights. I turn to see he’s pacing the length of it from the back wall to the entrance. “Can you get started without me?”

“Of course,” I say, not really paying attention to him as I start the task at hand, and he goes back into the storage room.

Focusing on the two cows first, I get Russ’s least favorite chore taken care of before I realize he still hasn’t come out of the storage room and it isn’t like it was big enough to spend that much time in.

“Russ?” I call out and not hearing anything, I reach inside my coat to pull out the small snub-nosed gun Gramps had slid me and cautiously approach the door. “Russ, answer me.”

Looking inside, the room appears completely empty, but I quickly notice that the shelving has been pulled away from the back wall and I walk over to peer behind it. “What the hell?”

There’s a door that’s been pushed in with a staircase directly beyond it.

“Julia?” Russ calls out from the darkness below. “Is that you?”

I jump nearly a foot in the air when I hear his voice, before I start to shake in relief, letting out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Yes, what’s down there?” I ask. “Are you alright?”

“Can you just keep a lookout for me?” Russ says by way of a reply. I see a beam of light approaching the bottom of the stairs and relief fills me when he comes into view. “The size of the room seemed off to me and I found this bunker. There’s a kitchen and bathroom, then rooms with more supplies and food stores down that way, I’m just going to look to see what’s on this side, but watch the house to make sure he doesn’t decide to come out here.”

“Five minutes, Russ. Then I’m coming after you,” I tell him, nervously looking over my shoulder.

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