“It nearly gave me a heart attack.” I sounded breathless.
“Good news is we’re one mouse less.”
I released a burst of laughter, almost a hysterical sound, and pressed my head against Jude’s shoulder. “I love nature and the outdoors, but this is just a bit too close to the wild for me.”
He pried the pitchfork from my hand.
“I’m not usually this jumpy,” I said. “I’m a little embarrassed that I’m not being more brave.”
“You’re being very brave.”
Kind words, but definitely not true. Together we sat on my sled. He put his arm around me and drew me close. I nestled my head into the nook of his shoulder.
“It’s going to be a long night,” I said, my voice low.
Jude pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “So if you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?”
I knew he was trying to distract me—just as I’d been trying to do with the earlier unimportant questions.
“Disney World maybe. All the scares there are fabricated. Nothing truly dangerous. How about you?”
“Quite honestly, as insane as it sounds, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than right here.”
He slipped his finger beneath my chin, tilted my face up, and kissed me.
Nothing was melting in this Vermont winter except my heart.
Chapter 14
Some time later, Jude found some dusty horse blankets that he shook out and piled on the dirt floor, giving us a little cushion to lie on. We both acknowledged that we weren’t going to sleep, but made a pact to keep the other awake anyway, even if the conversation turned silly.
We were in the process of lying down when we heard a noise at the door. We both froze. A fox stuck its head inside, took a look around, and then retreated.
I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“I can’t believe that only a few hours ago, I thought showing you a moose was going to be the high point of our animal sightings.”
Chuckling, he stretched out and drew me in against his side, with me nearer to the fire. I welcomed the heat on my back. We unzipped our jackets and snuggled closer, absorbing each other’s warmth.
“I bet this scenario never crossed your mind when you thought about traveling to Vermont,” I said jokingly.
“What? Holding you close? I thought about it the first time I ever saw a photo of you.”
I was trying to process that, unable to come up with a coherent response. The silence must have bothered him, because he said, “Why do you think I came to Vermont? I’m a sand and surf kinda guy. I’m used to feeling my toes at all times.”
I shot up to my elbow and looked down on him. “I’m the reason you came to Vermont?”
“Yeah. I mean, at the time I didn’t realize Rick was your boyfriend. I just thought you were friends, nothing more. You could have knocked me down with a snowflake the day you asked if I knew you were his girlfriend. I thought, ‘Well, I’ve stepped in it now, haven’t I?’ Then you said you’d broken up and I had to fight not to grin like a fool with that news.”
I remembered how stunned he’d looked. “Why would you want to meet me?”
“I liked your smile. In the photos Rick sent. Believe me, I know I sound bonkers.”
“Do you do this often?”
“I’ve never done it before.”
I didn’t know how to respond. I was flattered and overwhelmed and maybe just a little terrified of what I was feeling for Jude. I’d never felt such intense emotions where a guy was concerned. He fascinated and charmed me.
I lowered myself back to his shoulder.
“Have you ever thought about moving to the States?” I asked, then cringed because I was trying to make this into something permanent. Why did I always have to think of a guy I was with as being the one?
“Yeah, I have, actually. Thought about getting a student visa, maybe working permanently over here. Have you ever thought about going to Australia?”
I laughed lightly. “Actually, I haven’t thought about going anywhere. I mean, I’ve traveled in the States, with my parents in their trailer. As I got older, it became miserable. But other than that, I haven’t been anywhere. I don’t even have a passport.”
“You don’t have a passport? That’s nuts!”
Sadly, I shook my head. “No passport.”
“Oh, you’ve got to have a passport. What if you wake up one day and decide you just want to go somewhere? It takes weeks to get a passport processed. By then, the opportunity may have passed. You always want your passport ready to go.”
“You’re probably right.”
“We’ll go get you one as soon as we’re rescued.”
“What? No.” I laughed. “I have to think about it. Have to get all the documentation together. And besides I’m not even sure I can fly.”
Beneath my cheek, he went very still. “What do you mean you’re not sure you can fly?”
“I’ve never been on a plane.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
“That’s mental.”
“No, we just never went anywhere that we couldn’t drive to.”
“You’ve got so much of the world to see.”
I could hear in his voice that he was clearly baffled by my lack of adventure.
“I always thought I’d travel later, after college when I had a job and some money.”
“Traveling doesn’t take as much money as you’d think. You ought to get that passport. I might invite you to visit me in Oz, and then what?”
I felt my heart kick up at the thought. “Would you really invite me to visit you?”
“Yeah. I like you, Lys. I like you a lot.”
“I like you too,” I said very quietly. “Very much.”
Silence settled between us—as though I’d made a grave confession. I listened to him breathing. Listened to my heart thrumming.
The wind picked up, shrieking through the cracks. The boards rattled. Somewhere something crashed. I cringed. Maybe the building would come down on top of us. The shadows danced in rhythm to the flames in our fire. The wolf’s lonesome howl filled the night.
“Are you scared?” Jude asked.
“Yeah, actually, I am. I don’t want to be. I want to believe that everything is going to be okay, I want—”
I felt him shift, his fingers touched my cheek. “I meant are you scared about us.”
I nodded.
“I’m scared too.”
Then he gave me a lingering kiss. The wonder of it chased away all the fears, not only those we were facing tonight but the ones that I’d face when it came time for him to leave.
Jude drew back, tucked me into the nook of his shoulder, and pressed his large hand to the back of my head as though he was determined to keep me there. I could hear his heart pounding in rhythm to mine, heard him swallow.
The fears began to creep back in.
More than I wanted to be rescued, I wanted him to kiss me again.
“Lys? You awake?”
I couldn’t believe it. I’d gone to sleep. In spite of my worries and all the creatures—
The creatures? Were they about to attack?
“What is it?” I asked, disgusted with the panic in my voice.
“Nothing. Listen.”
I listened. I heard the owl hoot, but I didn’t think that’s what he was talking about. It wasn’t what I could hear…it was what I couldn’t.
“The wind is gone.”
“Yeah.” I heard the marvel in his voice. “I think the storm is over. I can see some stars through the hole in the roof. Come on.”
He sat up.
“Come on? Come where? It’s still night.”
“I know.” He picked up the flashlight. “Let’s go look at the stars.”
He pulled me to my feet before I could object. Not that I had any arguments for not going.
I reached down and picked up the pitchfork.
He laughed. “What are you g
oing to do with that?”
“It’s the only weapon we have.”
“All right.”
He slid his arm around my waist, pulling me close, and we walked in tandem to the door, squeezing through. With the flashlight leading the way, we trudged through the snow for several yards.
When we stopped, Jude put his arms around me, drawing me back in against his chest. “Ready?”
“For what?”
He switched off the flashlight.
It was as though the entire night sky suddenly opened up. It was so vast, the stars so bright. It was too magnificent for words.
“Look,” Jude whispered. “A falling star. Do you see it?”
On such a clear night how could I not? I nodded.
“Quick, make a wish,” he said.
I closed my eyes, leaned back into him, and wished tonight would never end.
Sometime after our trek outside, once we got settled on our makeshift bed, we both managed to fall asleep. We also shifted around. I awoke to find Jude curled around me, my back to his chest, one of his arms serving as a pillow for my head, while the other held me close. It was probably the most romantic way I’d ever been held, certainly the most romantic way I’d ever slept.
I opened my eyes. Sunlight, instead of snow, was spilling in through the cracks.
“We survived,” Jude said from behind me.
I guess something had alerted him to the fact that I was awake.
“We did.”
“So I guess we need to start our signal fire,” he said.
“Yeah.”
But neither of us moved.
I felt him touch his lips to the back of my neck. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’m going to miss all this.”
“Me too.”
“But the world beyond this barn awaits.”
“I hope so.”
Jude rolled away from me and groaned low. I jerked around. “What’s wrong?”
“My arm fell asleep. And it’s cold! I let the fire go out.” He was rubbing his arm.
I zipped my jacket, because our cocoon of warmth had dissipated quickly. Then I reached over and zipped his while he rubbed his arm.
“I’ve got some chocolate-covered mints,” I said, scrounging around in my backpack and pulling out the little box. “I believe chocolate is essential to survival. I never travel without it.” I poured some of the mints into his open palm.
He wolfed them down. Normally I savored anything chocolate, but I was hungry too, and I ate them just as greedily.
Then I tried the radio again. Nothing but static. I tried my cell phone. No signal.
“All right,” Jude said, getting to his feet. “Let’s get rescued.”
The clearing was large enough that I didn’t think we were in danger of setting the entire forest on fire. Jude was able to easily pull off more boards from the stalls and haul them outside to create our little bonfire.
The fire was larger than the one we had in the barn; the warmth was welcomed. We sat on our sleds and waited.
A lot of tracks were circling the barn. I pointed toward a set. “Do you think the wolf or fox made those?”
“They’re small. I’d say the fox.”
“And those.”
“The wolf.”
I released a deep breath. “Glad I didn’t see those last night.”
“But I was right. Nothing attacked us.”
“Still, I wouldn’t want to tempt fate with another night out here. How long do you think we should wait before trying to find our way to civilization?”
“Maybe give it until midday, then we’ll see.”
What struck me about Jude was that he never complained; he was ever hopeful. We would get rescued. We would survive. Everything would be all right, and we would add our latest adventure to the things we’d laugh about years from now.
“If I had to get lost in the woods, I’m glad it was with you,” I finally told him.
“Wish I knew more about surviving under these conditions.”
“I think you’re doing a terrific job.”
He gave me a look that said he appreciated the sentiment, but I was bonkers.
Then I heard it.
Thwup. Thwup. Thwup.
I looked up at the clear sky—and there it was! A rescue helicopter.
I released a scream, jumped up, and started waving my arms frantically, and Jude started doing the same.
The helicopter began to descend.
I spun around to face Jude and released another scream. This one resonated with joy.
“We’re rescued!” I shouted over the increasing noise of the whirring blades.
“Abso-bloody-lutely!” he cried.
Then he picked me up, twirled me around, and planted a kiss on my mouth that made me dizzy.
“We’re fine, Mom, absolutely fine. You don’t need to turn the trailer around and head back up here.”
I’d called my mom as soon as my cell phone reception had returned. They were listed on my employee application as emergency contacts so Paul had called them as soon as he was notified that we were missing. Further attempts to turn my mother’s hair gray were made when the rescue efforts made the national news.
How embarrassing was that? To have our idiocy nationally televised. Obviously it was a slow news day if we were what the media chose to report.
To make matters worse, I, who did not like candid shots, had a news camera and microphone shoved into my face when the helicopter touched down at the ski lodge that had served as the command center for the search and rescue team.
“How in the world did you get lost?” Mom asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know. We weren’t paying attention and the storm came in…I mean, even the newscasters talked about the poor visibility.”
“But you know to be careful, Alyssa.”
Yeah, but I was also distracted by a hot guy. Not that I was going to confess that to my mother.
“Don’t scold her, Renee. She could have died out there.”
They had the speaker phone on so they could both hear me and I could hear them.
“Baby, we were worried,” my dad said.
“I know, Dad, I’m sorry. You really didn’t need to worry. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the news reported.”
I had no idea what the news had reported, but I was sure it was exaggerated.
“Who is this guy you were with?”
How did I even explain what he was? Did I even know? Was I afraid to face it?
“Just a friend.”
Jude was standing nearby, a blanket provided by the rescue team draped around him. Something passed over his eyes before he looked away. What was that look? What did it mean? And why had I felt an overwhelming need to put such a simple label on what wasn’t at all simple?
“Is he okay?” Dad asked.
“We’re both okay. Please don’t turn the trailer around,” I repeated. I wasn’t up to dealing with their hovering over me.
And they would hover. They always did. Quite honestly, I thought my going away to school had been good for them. Before, they never would have taken a trip without me.
Maybe we were all stretching our wings.
“Are you sure? Because we’re close to an airport now. We can leave the trailer—”
“I’m sure.” They’d probably started driving as soon as Paul called.
“Give your mother a call tonight before you go to bed.”
“Okay.”
“As a matter of fact, call her every night before you go to bed. She worries.”
And he didn’t? Get real.
“Okay, Dad.”
After a couple of rounds of love-yous, be-carefuls, and see-you-soons, we finally hung up.
I couldn’t wait for life to return to normal.
“How did you get lost?” Mel asked.
I was really getting tired of that question. Maybe we should have held a press conference instead of just saying that we were fine and heading away from the press.
Boomer and Mel had taken a room for the night so they’d be around to help with the search. The lodge gave Jude and me each a room so we could shower. They also provided us with complimentary lodge logo sweats.
Paul was there. He’d been in the chopper and had checked our vitals. I’d never hugged him before, but I had at that moment. If I could have gotten to the helicopter pilot, I would have hugged him, too. Everyone was my hero that morning.
As the chopper carried us toward the lodge, it had been a little embarrassing to realize we were only a few miles away from it. We would have eventually run into it, if we’d just kept going in the direction Jude had suggested.
“I don’t know how we managed to get lost,” I said, pouring maple syrup over my second stack of waffles. “It seems silly now, but our sense of direction just got all screwed up, I guess.”
“Hey, look, you’re famous,” Boomer said.
I glanced over at the TV hanging in the corner. People were coming off the rescue helicopter. Jude looked calm and collected, smiling and nodding at the reporters. Beside him was a girl whose black hair was sticking out all over the place. Dirt covered her face, and her huge, wide-open eyes were screaming, “I’m a psycho!”
Where had she come from?
“Omigod! That’s me!”
Thanks a lot, FOX News!
Couldn’t they have waited until we’d cleaned up?
“Please, don’t let my mother see that.” I groaned.
A reporter—of course it would be a very beautiful and put-together woman—put her microphone and her bright smile in front of Jude. “What can you tell us about your ordeal?”
He gave her his killer grin. “We survived.”
“How did you manage that, facing last night’s winter storm?”
“We found shelter in a barn. I probably owe somebody for the wood we burned.”
Suite Dreams Page 13