Cabin Fever

by Felicity Heaton

  He wondered if she was single.

  An all too familiar ache in his chest reminded him what had happened last time he'd felt like this. It stung as fresh as the day it had happened and taunted him with whispered words that it would happen again, history would repeat itself in some way. Fear laced his thoughts and he did the one thing that he knew would make it disappear.

  He shut his feelings down.

  Made himself empty.

  "Let's go,” he said flatly.

  Kate frowned as his eyes lost their brightness, turning cold and hard as though he'd just clicked off a light bulb behind them and now there was nothing but darkness inside of him.

  "Sure,” she said, looking into his eyes. She grabbed her thick socks from the bed and then began to walk down the hall to the stairs.

  Her brows set in a pensive expression as she walked. She couldn't figure him out. One minute he was all smiles, and the very next he was a completely different person, one that looked like he had a lot to hide and had been in danger of letting it show.

  She hobbled down the stairs and went across to the table where her thick padded jacket was. Slipping it on, she grabbed the cabin keys and went to the back door. She checked it was locked and then glanced around to make sure that everything was off. She'd leave the refrigerator on. She didn't know how long it would be before the storm would let up and they could return to the cabin but it probably wouldn't be too long.

  When she walked back into the main room, she saw that Jack had done the fire for her and was waiting by the front door. He had put a thick jacket on over his jumper. It was black and made him look like the Special Ops character that was on the front of one of her books. She pulled her boots on and tied the laces with some effort.

  He opened the door as she approached and she waited, watching him kicking the snow out of the way so they could get out. When he'd finished, he looked back at her. He held the door while she walked past him and out onto the porch. She waited for him to pass her before she pulled the door shut and locked it. Staring at the keys, she hoped that they would make it down the mountain but she knew in her heart that Jack was right.

  She didn't have the strength to make it.

  But she had to try.

  Chapter 6

  Jack used his hunting knife to cut a thick switch from a small tree beside the snow-covered road. He handed it to Kate who took it with a wide smile of gratitude. He had to do something to help her. She was doing a good job of hiding how much walking was hurting her, but sometimes she slipped up and winced, or drew in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. Her ankle was in no condition for walking on, but it was impossible to make her change her mind. She'd give up soon enough and then he'd take her back to the warmth and safety of the cabin.

  He started walking again and then stopped and looked back at her. She was apparently tying her bootlace but it looked more like an attempt to rub her ankle to him. He didn't know what she expected to gain from prodding it like that. She'd only make it worse. He wanted to tell her to stop, but at the same time he didn't want to embarrass her by pointing out that he'd noticed what she was up to.

  She couldn't hide anything from him.

  He was trained to see the small things—the minute changes in body language, breathing, and voice.

  He sighed and she looked at him, plastering on a false smile to cover the hurt.

  "Damn thing won't stay done up,” she said with an air of cheeriness that he saw straight through.

  She picked up the walking stick he'd made for her and began towards him. Her limp was worse now and they'd barely walked two hundred yards. He could still just about make out the cabin through the trees.

  There was no way she'd make it all the way down the mountain without assistance, but he didn't trust himself enough to offer her his shoulder to lean on. Whenever she was close to him, he lost all rational thought and found his attention wholly with her. He couldn't afford to let that happen when they were out here. There was a chance that they were being watched and he didn't want to risk her by losing focus. The animals up here could grow extremely dangerous in severe weather conditions like these.

  But it wasn't just the animals he was worried about.

  He smiled when she drew level with him and they began walking down the road again. The ground was rocky underfoot, not ideal for walking over, especially with a bad ankle.

  "Are you sure...?” He let his half spoken question hang in the air when she frowned at him, her dark eyes daring him to finish it.

  "I'm fine,” she muttered and he again got the feeling that she said that a lot.

  He turned his attention to their surroundings and stared at the snowy peaks across the valley to his right. They were barely visible through the storm. His attention moved to the trees that crowded the steep bank to his left. While he looked at them, he became aware of Kate again. She hadn't said much since they'd left the house. It was probably hard for her to speak with the cold and her ankle. The snow that was making it through the sparse canopy above him melted against his face, freezing him when the wind blew. Kate's cheeks were flushed red and her nose was bright enough to put Rudolph to shame.

  There was no sign of the storm letting up. The snow was still falling fast. He looked back over his shoulder. It was covering their tracks quite well. Turning back to face the road again, he stopped when he caught Kate looking at him.

  "Remind me again why you're up here at this Godforsaken time of year?” He smiled at her.

  Her intense frown melted away and the corners of her lips twitched slightly.

  She wrapped one arm about herself while leaning heavily on the makeshift walking stick.

  "It's normally nice and rarely like this. I needed a vacation and my friends pushed me into it. The last thing I expected was having it wrecked by Nick. Bad went to worse when I fell on the slopes."

  He glanced down at her ankle and wondered how badly she'd fallen to sprain it like she had. She was barely placing any weight on it as she walked and there was still a lot of pain in her eyes whenever he dared to look into them.

  "Why're you here?” she said.

  He shook his head, rousing himself from his perusal of her. She was clearly making small talk now. Her face showed her awkwardness. Nick would've told her why they were here, or at least he would have told her what he told everyone else.

  "Vacation. Nick convinced me that a little snow and sun was the cure for anything, so here I am."

  "Only there's no Nick, no sun and too much snow.” She smiled broadly. “It was supposed to be clear. The ranger in town told me that the forecast was good for the next few weeks."

  "Storms have a tendency to come out of nowhere. They're unpredictable like that. You can't tame nature and it has a way of reminding you.” He stared out at the valley, watching the snow swirling through the intermittent trees that covered the slope on that side of the road.

  Kate made a squeaking noise that brought him out of his thoughts and he turned to see that she'd stopped again and was bent over, rubbing her ankle. She was muttering something under her breath that sounded a lot like curse words.

  "Everything all right?” he said, watching her closely for another sign that she was hurting badly. She'd give up soon. They'd walked almost a mile now.

  "Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Never better."

  He walked back to where she was and crouched in front of her. Extending his hand, he ignored her feeble attempts to swat it away and instead pushed her hands away from her ankle. He undid the laces of her boot, clearly relieving some of the pressure in her ankle judging by the way she sighed quietly, and then slipped his fingers inside. Feeling around, he shook his head when he felt the damage she'd done to it. This morning her ankle had been on the mend, now she'd only made it worse and it was going to take even longer to heal. He did her boot up again.

  Looking up into her eyes, he held her gaze for a moment, drinking in how wide with expectation hers were. At least he presumed it was expe
ctation and not the other thing. A girl like her wouldn't want anything to do with him. That would be a miracle and those didn't exist in this harsh world.

  "It's bad, right?” she said, breaking the silence and bringing him out of his daze.

  He nodded and regret filled him when he saw how disappointed she was.

  "It's too far into town,” he said.

  "We can make it.” She stood and grabbed her walking stick. “It's only a few more miles."

  When she went to walk past him, he grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  "Kate,” he said and she remained facing away from him, her whole body tense as though she was bracing for impact. His fingers flexed of their own accord, feeling the muscles of her arm beneath her jacket. She felt so flimsy, but was so strong. Was she strong enough to love him? He shook his head and told himself to stop thinking about her that way. She was a complication.

  She turned slightly, looking over her shoulder at him. He looked back towards the cabin, partly because it would emphasise what he was about to say, but mostly because he didn't trust himself to look into her eyes again.

  "It's too far,” he said, a little harder this time so it sunk in for her. “We should go back."

  Her silence told him that he was going to have to give her a better reason than that.

  "You mentioned the rangers. Do you have a radio?"

  "Yes.” Her voice was full of revelation and he hoped it meant she was coming around to the idea of returning to the cabin.

  "Then we'll go back and radio them. Maybe they can come up and get us once the weather clears. They might have news about your sister.” It was a below the belt shot to mention her sister, but it was what it took to stop her from hurting herself further.

  She was quiet for a few minutes in which he realised that he was still holding her arm. Just as he was about to let go of it, she spoke and instead he turned to look at her.

  "Okay,” she said and moved to face him.

  Releasing her arm, he waited for her to come closer before smiling at her. “You can't walk on that."

  She looked down at her ankle. “I have to ... I mean, what other way do you propose I get back to the cabin?"

  "Piggy back.” His flat expression didn't alter as she stared at him with wide eyes as though he'd gone crazy. Maybe he had. Having her so close to him was only going to bring back the thoughts about her that had been clouding his judgement from the moment he'd set eyes on her, but it was the only way of stopping her from hurting herself. He couldn't bear watching her go through that.

  Kate's stomach flipped as his words sunk in. Piggy back? She could only stare at him when he took her walking stick away and turned his back to her.

  "Come on,” he said, holding his hands out behind him.

  She swallowed hard, the action of it making her frozen face ache. He was serious. He was going to carry her up to the cabin on his back. Taking a few deep breaths, she hobbled towards him and swallowed again. She placed one tentative hand on his shoulder and then another. She took one last deep breath, closed her eyes and jumped.

  His hands closed around under her legs and her arms immediately went around his neck. She kept her eyes screwed shut, telling herself that she was imagining this. He slipped a little and she squealed, clinging even tighter until he'd regained his balance.

  "Choking me,” he said in a tight voice, walking up the hill with her.

  She loosened her grip on him and leaned forwards so she was easier to carry. His grip on her thighs tightened and a blush chased away the chill on her face. She couldn't believe he was carrying her like this.

  She realised that this was what he'd meant earlier when he'd said he'd come with her so she had a way to get back when she got tired. He'd known that she was going to have to turn back and he'd let her go anyway. He'd let her hurt herself.

  Her heart reasoned with her that she'd been the stubborn one that had refused to listen to him even though she'd known he was right—her ankle wasn't strong enough for the walk into town, not in these conditions. She hadn't expected the road to be so bad. She'd thought the trees would protect it more than they had. When she'd seen the state of it, she should've turned back, but she'd pressed on because she couldn't bear the thought of him having the opportunity to say he'd told her so.

  He hadn't though. He'd been civil and not mentioned that he was right and she'd been wrong.

  "Jack?” she said, close to his ear. She could see her warm breath turning frosty in the air and mixing with his.

  Snowflakes settled on his black jacket. She smiled as she remembered what Connie called it—God's dandruff.

  Now it was Jack's dandruff.

  "Hmm?” He jostled her a little and she wondered how heavy she was.

  She pushed herself up so she wasn't in such an awkward position. Her ankle was throbbing like crazy. The look in Jack's eyes when he'd inspected it told her that she'd done more damage to it by trying to walk down to town. Now it would take even longer to heal.

  "Thanks,” she whispered, her stomach flipping when he turned his head to one side and smiled.

  She rested her chin on his shoulder, her arms dangling limp in front of him and her hands joined. The pace was steady and she could feel the warmth of his body against her chest and legs. It was so comfortable that it made her drowsy. She stared up the hill at the distant cabin and then out towards the mountains.

  They weren't there. There was just a blanket of whirling white and she got the horrible feeling that they weren't going to be able to get through to the rangers. The signal was going to be terrible in this weather if her mobile was anything to judge by. She was going to be stuck in the cabin until the storm passed, and it was showing no sign of leaving anytime soon.

  Still, she wasn't alone.

  She looked out of the corner of her eye at Jack and tried to imagine how panicked she would've been had she been left to face this storm alone. She probably would've killed herself by trying to get down the mountain in her Jeep or on skis. Wrapping her arms around him and holding him, she stifled the sigh that tried to escape her and smiled. It was good to have him here with her. He made her feel safe.

  Plus, he was easy on the eyes.

  She could think of far worse things than being stuck in a cabin with him for a few days.

  A few days up here was enough to get to know anyone inside out. She told herself not to think such things, but it was hard not to when he was so close to her. He smelt wonderful, the scent of snow mixing with the warm smell of his aftershave. She took a deep breath and sighed it out.

  "You all right up there?” he said, his accent melting her and making her want to slip boneless to the floor.

  "Just fine,” she said with a broad smile.

  This was much better than having her stupid stepbrother carry her down the mountain. She couldn't believe that she'd thought she'd liked Nick's other friend. She frowned, unable to remember his name. Yep. Some impact he'd made on her.

  But Jack? She'd never forget his name, or his face, or the way it felt to be touched by his strong hands.

  Suddenly she felt a little hot—too hot. She raised her face to the snow and turned it towards the wind, letting the icy blast of it cool her down.

  "I'm sorry we didn't make it down.” His voice was full of regret and she believed that he really was sorry.

  "You were right, Jack,” she said, wanting to clear the air and feeling the need to admit that she was wrong. Being stubborn with him was going to get her nowhere. With him, she wanted to be somewhere. She wanted him to like her and stop giving her the insane mixed signals like he had last night and this morning. “I was crazy for trying to walk down. I'm glad you came with me."

  He turned his head towards her and his cheek brushed hers. A jolt ran through her at the brief contact and she was too dazed by it to notice that he'd quickly moved his head away.

  "Someone had to rescue you.” There was a mocking edge to his voice.

  She didn't mind. She deserved to be teas
ed for her stupidity and her earlier comment. He probably thought she was a crazy man-hater now. All she'd done since he'd arrived was show him how much men had let her down. He hadn't let her down, not once. She hoped he didn't think she hated men. She could certainly come to love him.

  Her eyes widened at that thought and she shoved her feelings back down inside. The voice at the back of her mind said that she couldn't ignore it, that she had to face facts. There was a startlingly high chance that Jack had the elusive ‘it'.

  Her thoughts were chased away by Jack shifting her again and moving his hands into a better position on her thighs. She looked ahead, ignoring the way she was burning where his hands were touching her. They were close to the cabin now. She could probably hobble to it from here and give Jack a break, but she didn't want to get down. She wanted to stay up here, holding him and having him holding her.

  They made slow progress past the cars where the snow was deeper but it wasn't long before he was gently lowering her to the porch floor. She thanked him with a smile when he turned to look at her and then took her keys out of her pocket. She had to admit that although a part of her was disappointed they hadn't made it down into town, a bigger part of her was looking forward to spending more time with Jack.

  Once they'd radioed the rangers, it wouldn't be long before they were rescued. She didn't know whether she'd see Jack after that.

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

  If that was the case, she was going to have to make the most of their time together.

  Chapter 7

  Kate hobbled over to the table and stripped her warm jacket off as Jack went to the fire. She watched him pile the logs on and light the kindling. The room was already freezing, but it wouldn't take long to warm up once the fire was going. She smiled at Jack as he sat down in one of the armchairs and looked at her. He gave her a brief smile before removing his boots.