Friends to the End

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  She’d fallen asleep imagining him standing there. So close but yet so far.

  Now it was near nine in the morning and she was huddled in her sleeping bag, watching Logan sleep. Their roaring fire had dwindled to a slow burn, and the stockpile of wood in the holder was now empty. Because of that, the temperature had to have dropped to the low fifties.

  She needed to go out and get more wood and bring it in but kept giving herself excuses, her latest being that all the movement would probably disturb Logan. She certainly didn’t want to ruin his sleep.

  Propping herself on her elbows, she glanced out the window on the other side of the room. It was still snowing; heavy, wet flakes swirled in the air and stuck to the glass.

  Even from her position on the floor, it was obvious that there was no way they were going to be able to leave the cabin today.

  That meant Logan was going to be stuck with her for another day and night, and the poor horses were going to have to stay in the shed. She didn’t know much about horses, but she feared they were going to be worse off for this adventure. Especially since she knew they didn’t have any food stored for them.

  Just as she felt the burden of guilt weigh down her body again, she heard the roar of an approaching engine.

  Ignoring the chilly air, she jumped to her feet and hurried to the window. In the distance, she saw the faint flash of headlights. Someone was at the far end of the drive.

  Alarmed, she turned to her sleeping companion. “Logan, wake up!”

  With a fierce inhale, he jerked to a sitting position. “What?”

  “I just saw some headlights. I think someone’s driving over to see us.”

  Rubbing his eyes, he blinked several times and then yawned. “Maybe it’s a snowplow.”

  “A snowplow?”

  “Jah. Do you get those out here?”

  “I don’t know. It seems doubtful, though.” She peered out of the window again. “This isn’t a snowplow. Even from this distance, I can tell it’s a truck.” When the wind switched directions, lessening the snow for a few seconds, she got a better look. “I think it’s a big SUV.”

  After stretching his arms, Logan walked to her side. Like her, he was wearing thick socks on his feet. However, while she had gotten up a few hours ago and quickly changed before hopping back in her makeshift bed, he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, though they were all far more rumpled. She thought he looked like a teenager with his golden hair sticking up every which way.

  After yawning again, he pressed a hand on the ledge and leaned against it. “Guess we’re gonna get company, Trish.”

  “Who do you think it is?” Her mind spinning, she thought of the various possibilities. “Do you think it could it be the sheriff or something?” she asked, trying not to panic. “Maybe he is checking cabins to make sure we’re okay.”

  “That would be nice if sheriffs did house calls like that, but I’m pretty sure this ain’t him,” he murmured as the approaching vehicle came into view.

  “I bet you’re right. I don’t think many sheriffs drive big black Cadillac Escalades around in the snow.”

  “I canna think of anyone who does . . . well, maybe one,” he murmured.

  “Who?” She could hardly believe it. “Logan, are you telling me that you recognize this car?”

  “Oh, jah.” After a second or two, he turned to her. “You know this vehicle, too, Tricia. Marie has arrived.”

  “Marie?” She tried to hide her dismay. While Tricia might have always felt comfortable around Logan Clark, she’d also always been extremely intimidated by Marie Hartman.

  Marie was everything Tricia had never been. Thin and tall, popular, beautiful, and confident. Not only that, she’d been homecoming queen her senior year in high school. Andy had even been her escort on the football field.

  Torn between being glad that the newcomer was a friend and feeling the burst of apprehension that she was going to be around Marie without Andy, she glanced at Logan again. “Do you really think that’s Marie Hartman?”

  He nodded. “Yep,” he said as they watched the vehicle slowly roll to a stop next to the edge of a snowdrift about ten or twenty yards away.

  Then, after honking twice, not one but three car doors opened.

  Logan chuckled. “Jah, it’s Marie all right. And, by the looks of things, it seems that she didn’t come alone.”

  NINE

  “Andy, you go over with Sarah, I’ve got Tricia here,” Logan called out.

  Andy didn’t look all that happy. “Are you sure you want her?”

  Logan smiled. “Oh, jah. Mighty sure.”

  Muttering under his breath, Andy walked over to Sarah’s side. As he stomped away, Logan laughed. “Do you even know how to play volleyball, Trish?”

  I felt my cheeks flush as I nodded. The moment he turned away, I immediately started hoping and praying that I wasn’t about to make a fool of myself.

  Seeing the look of trepidation on Tricia’s face, Logan was tempted to give her a hug. Anything to reassure her that she wasn’t the only one to feel disappointed that they weren’t alone anymore.

  All the progress that the two of them had made in their relationship was about to evaporate. He hated that.

  “Don’t look so worried. Marie’s great. I’m sure whoever is here is going to be a friend, too,” he said as he walked to the kitchen sink and splashed some cold water on his face. It was bitter cold, but it served to push the last of the sleep off his face.

  “Did you know they were coming?” she asked as she walked over to the hooks by the door and pulled on her coat.

  “Nope. I didn’t talk to your bruder yesterday, you did.” As he stuffed his feet into his boots, he said, “Did Andy give you any indication that he was going to call around?”

  “No. He didn’t sound all that happy that the two of us were going to be living here alone, but I let him know he was being ridiculous. I don’t know what he thought we’d be doing.”

  An image of him pulling her into his arms and breaking down all the barriers that stood between them flashed into Logan’s brain before he could push it away. Fearing that she could read his mind, he waved a hand. “You know Andy. He’s always imagining something is going on that isn’t.”

  “But nothing has been going on. I mean, not besides the two of us doing just fine.”

  “It don’t really matter anyway.” Hoping to sound happier than he was, he lightened his tone. “Just think, in a couple of hours, you’ll be back at your house, warm and comfortable. This whole thing will be over. Let’s go meet them.”

  Tricia smiled faintly before opening the door and waving for him to go first.

  He did, but only because he wanted to act as a buffer between her and everyone who was arriving.

  Almost another foot of snow had fallen during the night. Their boots sank into it while more floated around their faces and necks. Beside him, he heard Tricia take a fortifying breath.

  He was just about to give her a small word of encouragement, when he heard his name.

  “Logan!” Elizabeth Ann called as she climbed out of the back seat. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”

  He barely had time to hold his hands out before she tumbled into his arms for a hug. “You are acting like Tricia and I have been lost in the wilderness instead of stuck in a cabin in the woods.”

  “You might as well have been that way,” Harley said as he came around and clapped him on the back. “Getting here was pretty nerve-racking, I’ll tell you that.”

  “Uh-oh. What happened?”

  “You name it,” Marie said. “Traffic, car accidents, and unplowed roads. What usually takes about an hour and a half took almost three.”

  Elizabeth Ann nodded. “It was really bad.”

  “We were going to come out last night, but my parents heard that the weather was worse. We decided to head out early this morning,” Marie continued as she followed Tricia and Elizabeth into the cabin.

  “At least you’re here
now,” Logan said as he closed the door behind him and Harley. “Now, please tell me you brought us some coffee.”

  Harley groaned. “That’s all you have to say?”

  Grinning, Logan inclined his head. “Very well. Danke for coming here,” he said politely. “Do you happen to have any hot coffee with you? Any at all?”

  Elizabeth looked at their pair of sleeping bags still littering the living room floor. “Looks like you’ve been having a slumber party.”

  “You can see that we’ve been cold and sleeping by the fire,” Logan said, feeling more than a little irritated with the knowing looks his friends were sending one another.

  “It hasn’t been that bad,” Tricia protested.

  No, it had actually been really nice. Probably too nice. Hating that his mind was going back to Tricia again, Logan tried to pretend that he was relieved by their arrival. “Even though I’m going to have to stay behind and care for Priscilla and Pet, I’m relieved that you’ll be able to get Tricia back home. Andy’s going to be happy about that.”

  The three of them exchanged looks again. “What’s going on?” he asked slowly.

  “Well,” Marie began, “I’m not real sure if things are going to work like that.”

  “I don’t understand,” Tricia said.

  Harley softened his voice. “Trish, what Marie’s trying to tell ya is that we’re going to have to wait at least a day to take you anywhere.”

  “Why?” Logan asked. “Are the roads still really that bad?”

  “They really are,” Marie replied. Shivering a bit, she added, “Growing up in Walnut Creek, I’m fairly used to driving in snow. Now that I’ve been in Cleveland for two years, I’ve driven home in some pretty nasty weather, too. But this short trip getting here was bad. I don’t know if I’ve ever attempted to drive through worse.”

  Tricia covered her mouth with a hand. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that because my brother called you.”

  “Don’t go putting that burden on your shoulders,” Elizabeth Ann said. “We wanted to be here and we’re glad we could help. But honestly, it’s like the snowplows didn’t leave their garages today.”

  “Right as we pulled off the highway, we heard a new weather alert. They just upped the weather advisory to a Level Three. No one is supposed to be on the roads right now,” Harley said. “Another storm’s on its way.”

  “Another one?” Tricia said as she walked to the windows. Already at least a foot of snow covered everything in sight. “I can’t believe this.”

  Logan noticed the way her shoulders had slumped. It was obvious that she was feeling as though her bad choice to come to the cabin had steamrolled into a minor disaster. He didn’t feel that way, and he knew the others didn’t, either . . . but he couldn’t deny that he would have probably felt the same way. “So you all are going to be spending the night tonight,” he murmured. “Maybe even tomorrow night, too.”

  “Yup,” Harley said with a shrug. “I’m telling ya, Logan, I knew it was bad, but it seems to have taken everyone by surprise. We listened to the weather reports most of the way here. Some kind of terrible freak storm is brewing over the Great Lakes and fixing to dump snow along northern Ohio.”

  Elizabeth Ann nodded. “They’re expecting another foot of snow.”

  Tricia groaned.

  “Luckily for you, we brought a bale of hay, grain, and some blankets for the horses, too,” Harley said.

  “Harley had it all ready to go when I picked him up,” Marie explained.

  “Then we decided to run to the Walmart and grab a bunch more things for all of us.”

  “Including a carafe of hot coffee, Logan,” Marie added with a grin.

  Logan closed his eyes. “Bless you.”

  Harley rolled his eyes. “You should be more grateful that I’m feeding your gauls.”

  “I am, but I need some kaffi in a bad way.”

  Marie playfully nudged him with her shoulder. “Don’t say I never get you anything.”

  “I promise, I’ll never say that again,” he teased.

  Elizabeth Ann pointed to the door. “Come on, everybody,” she said in her typical practical manner. “We need to stop talking and unload Marie’s vehicle and get organized. There’s a ton to put away.”

  Looking at the lot of them, Logan grinned. “Just how much did you all bring?”

  “About as much as you might think Marie could pack in two hours,” E. A. said.

  “Oh, my,” Trish murmured.

  “Jah. It’s stuffed to the gills,” Harley said. “But that’s all right, ain’t so? That means you two will have plenty of time to tell us all about what you’ve been doing in this here cabin to make the time go by faster. We’ve had quite a gut time guessing.”

  Feeling Tricia tense up next to him, Logan yearned to clasp her hand and remind her that she was with friends. Harley especially loved to tease and joke, but he would never intentionally hurt or embarrass her.

  Tricia had to know that she was safe. That there was nothing she could say that would be taken the wrong way or twisted and repeated to either her parents or even Andy.

  That was the beauty of the Eight, and the depth of their friendship. Surely she understood?

  But when he turned to her with a wink, he noticed Tricia had turned pale.

  He winced as he realized something he should’ve known a long time ago. She didn’t see that at all.

  TEN

  My first attempt at serving was worse than bad. The volleyball kind of flew up in the air, then sailed straight back down, nearly hitting Logan’s foot.

  “I’m fairly sure the goal is to hit the ball over the net, Trish,” he murmured.

  His sister Sarah just glared.

  Tricia had known Marie Hartman ever since they were little girls and Andy had brought her over to play one day. Even when Marie was younger, she’d always reminded Tricia of one of those fancy American Girl dolls her grandmother had given her for Christmas. It was probably a good comparison even now. Marie positively embodied class—probably because her parents, who were richer than sin, had done things like take her to London and Paris on vacation.

  She was polished and confident and never seemed to ever have the social mishaps that had marked Tricia’s life.

  Back in high school, Marie had also been really popular, more than Andy had been, and even Tricia realized that pretty much everyone in their school had liked her brother.

  All of that would have been enough to make Tricia feel like the awkward teenage girl that she’d been in high school. However, there was something more about Marie that had been almost even harder to take.

  She was nice. Really nice. So much so that Tricia had never known what to say to her whenever their paths crossed.

  Now, all these years later?

  It seemed things hadn’t really changed. Marie was wearing skinny jeans, a beautiful pair of fuzzy designer boots, and a light-green sweater that was almost the same shade as her eyes. She’d put her long hair in a complicated variation of a French braid, and it hung down the middle of her back.

  After sleeping on the floor and barely even brushing her hair? Tricia felt more than frumpy by her side.

  They were alone in the cabin. Marie had offered to help Tricia clean up the blankets and sleeping bags while Harley and E. A. went out to the shed with Logan.

  “So, how have things been going with just the two of you here?” Marie asked.

  “They’ve been fine.”

  Looking like she was hiding a secret, Marie smiled. “I bet.”

  Feeling like those two words were meant to convey something personal, Tricia felt even more flustered. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing, other than it’s been pretty obvious that there’s something special between the two of you.”

  “There isn’t,” Tricia said quickly. “I mean, not beyond the fact that he drove his sleigh out here in the snow for my brother.”

  “For Andy?”

  �
�Well, yeah. I get it. All of you eight are so close. I know each of you would do anything to help my brother out.”

  “You really think that, don’t you?”

  “It’s true. I mean, you drove here in a bear of a storm to help Logan because Andy called.”

  “I came out here for you, too.”

  Now Tricia sounded whiny and ungrateful. “I’m sorry. This isn’t coming out like I wanted it to.”

  Marie pushed a chunk of golden hair off her shoulders. “No, I’m the one who needs to apologize. Here you’ve been living in the dark and the cold, and practically the first thing I do is tease you about Logan. That was pretty mean.”

  Tricia had kind of thought so, too. “I’m glad you came here, but I’m sorry you’re going to be stuck tonight.”

  She laughed. “If I was with other people, I’d feel worse. But being here, out in the snow, with no way to get on the computer and no way to get home? I’m thinking it’s kind of fun, if you want to know the truth.”

  “I guess everyone has their own idea of fun.”

  “I just mean that I’m sick of working in that bank. It’s so busy, and there’s so much stress. I needed a break, and this is giving me one.”

  “I had forgotten that you worked up in Cleveland. It’s really that bad?”

  “No.” She pursed her lips. “The work is demanding, but I’m pretty good at it, you know? I’ve gotten two raises and a bonus. It shouldn’t make a difference, but being able to pay my rent without worrying and being able to go out to dinner a couple of times a month makes everything seem better.”

  “I bet.”

  “But there’s more. Tricia, when I moved to Cleveland, I went for a variety of reasons. I wanted to try so hard to find a new identity. I wanted people to get to know me based on my merits. By what they saw and how I worked, not by what they thought they already knew about me.” She wrinkled her nose. “Does that make sense?”

  “More than you realize.” After all, hadn’t she gone to Bowling Green specifically because Andy had gone to Ohio University? She had been desperate to attain her own identity. It was only recently that she’d realized her family and her relationship with her brother were part of her identity.