Page 7 of Winter's Kiss

“Enjoy sweetheart.” Anna patted me on the back before she moved back into the kitchen, Theo with a humored expression on his face.

“Just try one of everything and she will be satisfied.” I cleared my throat as Theo winked at me, and instantly, I knew I was going to like him.

Breakfast had finished as quickly as it started when I stood in the foyer of the home, a cup of coffee cupped between my hands while I looked at the pictures that hung along the wall. Each one is a new milestone the family experienced, from Anna and Theo’s marriage to her time pregnant with Rowland to his birth. I couldn’t help but smile at his baby pictures and the ones of him at what appeared to be the three fishing in a large pond.

I continued down the wall, along with the tables, and each brought a bigger smile to my face. Rowland had played football, defense based on further photos. He appeared to be voted Prom King, his date, of course, Queen. As I rounded the room, I noticed pictures of the family with the same woman from prom, followed by another of the two of them.

Did he have a girlfriend? Why would these still be up if he didn’t? Why would Theo make it, so we spent time together if he were involved with someone who meshed with the family? Questions flooded my mind as I stopped at a picture of just the two of them. He stood behind her, his muscular arms tight around her slender frame, while they stood in front of the very truck he still drove. Suddenly, the front door opened, and my gaze shot instantly to him as he walked in and looked up at me.

His gaze drifted to the picture I had been looking at before he glanced down at the snow, he stomped off his boots with his entrance. “You ready?” He asked with a slow lift of his head. I had no idea what to say, my head a simple nod in reply. “That the only coat you have?” He continued with a motion to my outfit.

What could I say? I hadn’t planned to be stuck in the middle of a blizzard and came from California. Without a reply, he stepped to the closet just inside the entrance. I sat my cup down on the small table with a slow stride in his direction, Rowland with a yank down of a thicker coat. A man’s coat.

“We should get going while we still have a break.” He waited for me to take the coat before he made his way out of the house, me quick on his heels. I pushed my arms through the sleeves, secured the thick material around my frame with my step, and stopped at the scent that brushed over me. Had he lent me his jacket?

I took my minute to inhale his scent, all questions of who the woman in the pictures was drifted to the back of my mind as I looked at him on the snowmobile. He glanced up at me while he pulled his black gloves on, and my heart skipped a beat instantly. Who was this man and what was he doing to me? To my morality?

Four

The ride into Muddy Waters was nothing like I could have imagined. It had been like the world was covered in a white blanket. Branches showed their strength under the weight of the snow. Small footprints are seen every other mile, of the wildlife that hid as we passed. Houses in the distance, only seen by the smoke that lifted from their chimneys. I wrapped my arms around Rowland’s waist, my head turned with my cheek resting against his back to block from the wind.

He moved over the unpaved earth like it was nothing, the engine from the snowmobile all that could be heard. Up and over hills he turned along the main road, untouched since the snow had started. Was this typical for this town? Why would anyone live like this? I couldn’t help but wonder and yet at the same time found amazement in the beauty that surrounded us.

No traffic jams or horns were honking from angry drivers. The air, although cold, was free of smog.

As we entered the main part of Muddy Waters, Rowland slowed the mobile down. I lifted my head to see a town that has stood still. The streets were empty, store windows dark. The sidewalks were covered in feet of snow, not a shoe print showed. It reminded me of a ghost town. Had I made a mistake letting Rowland bring me here? All for the chance of a call I no longer needed to make.

He pulled to a stop just outside a large building, Quinn Bar and Grill a top. I climbed off the snowmobile and took a step back as he killed the engine and stepped off. My feet sunk into the deep snow; a simple movement forward stopped as my body fell forward. Quickly, he turned and caught me in his arms, my own pressed against his. I looked into his eyes, lost in those blueish greys.

“You seem to keep saving me.” I teased with a slow, shaky, stand upright.

“Come on.” Slowly we made our way toward the entrance of the building, Rowland with a quick unlock of the door before he stepped inside and turned back to me. I paused as he held his hand out. A soft smile pulled at the corner of my lips. He wasn’t as hard as he seemed, I thought.

Once inside the building, he closed the doors before he made a heavy step toward the bar. It was a cute little place; I could imagine what it looked like full. The smell of Anna’s cooking was sure to fill the walls.

Just past the bar was a large dining area, at least fifty tables spread throughout, with a large, stoned fireplace located right in the center of the room.

Just to the left was a large staircase that turned to a second story lined with closed doors. What had this been long ago? My lips curled into a wider grin at the possibilities. The art that hung over the door filled with members of the Quinn family and what I imagined townspeople. I could hear the laughter in the candid. Feel the warmth in the close groups.

I moved around the room with a slow glide when I spotted her again. The same woman from his parent’s house. She stood table side with an older couple, a tray held up by her hand and an apron wrapped around her. She was beautiful. I would be a liar if I even tried to say she wasn’t. She had long blonde hair, wavy. Her eyes were a bright blue, her smile brighter than any I had ever seen. Of course, someone like her would have someone that looked like him. I turned to look at him as he slowly approached next to me. His attention was locked on the picture.

“How does she feel about you spending the day with another woman?” He blinked rapidly at my question; his attention shifted to me with a brief pause.

“Couldn’t get a signal. The clearing is closing. We should get going.” There was something in his eyes. Had it been pain? Anger? I had no time to ask before he started toward the entrance. Perhaps I had crossed a line, but what line did he cross if indeed he had a girlfriend, a wife even?

I had started this trip to find myself. The last thing I wanted to be was a home wrecker.

It took Rowland no time to lock up the building and return to the snowmobile. As I climbed behind him, a hard wind brushed over us. I felt the breath hitch in my throat. My body reacted to the chill with a quick grip against him. I just wanted to get back to my room, back to the house. If I had to stay in that single room until I could get my car, that was what I would do.

He made a quick drive along the same path we made into town, as the wind continued its violent gushes. I buried my face into his back, the snow a heavy curtain that seemed to surround us. I started to regret the trip. Had I made the biggest mistake? The one time I think of myself spoiled by a snowstorm, as though the universe had tried to tell me something.

Before I knew it, he had stopped before the house, his body turned slightly with a glance at me. I had become lost in my thoughts, unaware he had gotten us back to safety before the storm got worse. With a slow climb from behind him, I stepped back; my lips parted to thank him for the effort when suddenly he darted off down a path the snow started to recover. I watched him disappear around a bend, my head fell back with a close of my eyes.

After the sun had lowered, I stood in my room and leaned against the frame of the window, my gaze set to that gentle glow in the distance. Rowland hadn’t returned to his family’s home the remaining day.

A fact Anna commented on during dinner. Had I made him retract from his own home during a snowstorm? My gaze drifted to his coat that I had placed over the edge of the bed just as someone knocked on the door.

“Dear.” The sweet sound of Anna’s voice brought the first smile to my lips I had since the brief visit to town. “May I come in?”

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