Page 4 of Snowed in with Scrooge

“I da boss.” She points to herself. “You’re Ralph.”

“For the tenth time, my name is Fraser,” he grumbles but turns and takes Mina with him.

I follow behind them down the hallway and pass a few rooms before entering a massive living room with 30-foot ceilings. Skylights cover part of the vaulted ceiling, and I can see the moon lighting up the sky. The snow is still falling, but I can’t tell if it’s just as bad as before.

“It’s still night?” I ask, wondering how many days I’ve been out.

“Got dark a few hours ago,” Fraser says and then answers my unspoken question. “I got your fever to break before morning. Then you slept the rest of the day.”

He’d taken care of me and saved us. He called me “beauty,” but I must have dreamed that part. I don’t think the bear version of Wreck-It Ralph is going to call me beauty. He said I look like death and Mina is a pain in the ass. She can definitely be at times, but at least she’s an adorable pain in the ass. You’re not supposed to say it out loud, though.

Fraser steps into the kitchen that’s connected to the living room, and I look around. A fire is roaring in the stone fireplace, and I see Mina’s blanket and stuffed cat on one of the sofas. There’s a cartoon playing on the TV, but it’s on mute.

“Let’s take a look.” Fraser sits Mina on the kitchen island and then pulls back the side pocket of the sweater to get to the battery pack.

“Thank you for helping us,” I finally say when I walk over.

“I wasn’t going to leave you out in the middle of a snowstorm.” Again, his comment stings when it shouldn’t because clearly he was just doing the decent thing.

“Right.” I don’t know what to make of this man. He’s kind, but he seems irritated.

It’s probably because he doesn’t know us but has been stuck taking care of us. Then I remember begging him not to take me to the hospital. I told him more than I should have, and now I’m beginning to worry about letting that slip.

“My car.” A wave of dizziness hits me, and I have to put my hand on the back of the sofa to balance myself.

“Still out there. I wasn’t going to bother with it when I needed to take care of you two. Once I got you settled, I couldn’t leave this one by herself. So...” He shrugs one shoulder, letting the sentence trail off.

“It’s fine,” I lie, but I’m worried someone might see it or that it will be towed.

“Do you think the police will...ah...”

“No, I told our sheriff Angela about it. I said I’d grab it tomorrow when we have a break in the storm.”

“The sheriff?” I ask, and he glances over at me.

“I took your license plate off and she’s not going to bother with it since I’m already on it.”

Instant relief and gratitude fills me. “I appreciate that.”

His only response is a grunt and a nod.

“Told you, bear.” Mina tries to make the same grunting sound as him, and I would almost swear Fraser is fighting a smile.

I stare at the two of them as he opens the little battery pack and takes out the batteries. Fraser is way bigger than Cole, and even his tone is deeper. He has a standoffish vibe, yet Mina has quickly warmed to him. She’s always been a good judge of character, and I recall how she doesn’t trust Cole.

His smiles were fake, and he pretended to be nice. Somehow Mina could sense it and didn’t like being around him. Cole blamed it on me, saying that because I babied her, she’s shy.

“You dids it!” Mina squeals when the lights start flashing again. She claps her hands and then squeezes Fraser’s arms.

Funnily enough, she doesn’t seem shy right now. Not one bit.

CHAPTER 4

FRASER

“Why don’t you sit down and eat something,” I suggest when I see her wobble again.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’m wiped out.” She puts a hand on her forehead, and I point to the couch.

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