“No, but I saw a wood pile back by the shed. Maybe a piece of wood will work.”
Alex nodded.
“I’ll go get a piece.” She turned to fetch the wood.
Alex’s grabbed her arm and stopped her. “No. You can barely stand. I’ll get it. Wait here.” He literally leaned her up against the side of the cabin and disappeared around the corner. She didn’t argue; her feet felt like lead and her body was so cold she could barely move.
A couple minutes later, Alex returned with a piece of wood. “You better stand back, just in case glass flies everywhere.” He gripped the wood in his gloved hands and tapped it firm against the window. Nothing. He hit it again, harder, creating a crack. Then he swung back hard and nailed it.
The glass shattered. He ran the wood over the inside edges of the window frame to knock the jagged glass away. He brushed stray shards off the side and turned to Katie. “We’re sleeping inside tonight.”
She sighed in relief, thankful to finally find a safe haven.
“I’ll climb in and come around to the door.”
That was fine with her. She didn’t know if she could navigate her stiff, frozen limbs through the window.
Alex brushed the edge of the sill again, put his gloved hands on it and jumped up. He ducked his head and disappeared inside, his legs scraping the edge as he went.
Katie held her breath, praying he was okay. A couple seconds later, he popped up, looking happier than he had the whole trip. “Go around to the back door. I’ll meet you there.”
She picked up the piece of firewood and hugged it, hurrying the best she could to the door. For an instant, she panicked, afraid he wouldn’t be there to let her in, that she’d be stuck outside. But her fears prove false as the door flew open, and Alex reached forward to help her in.
He closed the door after her, blocking out the frigid winds. She sighed, so exhausted and cold from their trek. She looked around the dark room, stunned at the quiet of the cabin compared to outside. They stood in a kitchen with a counter jutting out. The shadows of furniture loomed in the space beyond.
Alex removed his gloves and rubbed his hands together. “I am so cold, my fingers could fall off.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever feel warm again. Oh, here. I figured we’d need this.” She set the piece of firewood on the counter, her backpack and purse followed.
Alex fumbled in his coat pockets and pulled out the flashlight. “Let’s get a look around and see what we’ve got. There’s no electricity; I checked. Either the owner turned it off when he left, or the storm knocked down the power lines.”
He directed the light slowly around the cabin, revealing a tiny kitchen that opened up into a main living area. A big, old brown couch anchored the room with a log coffee table on a large braided rug in front of a fieldstone fireplace.
“Bingo!” Alex turned to her, his voice so bright that she could picture his great smile.
Thank goodness. They examined the fireplace closer and found a poker and brush in a stand, a basket of old newspapers, and on the mantle an old kerosene lamp. She wondered if it was a decorative antique or something they could actually use. She found a couple of framed pictures, most likely the owners whose home they’d just busted into, and a large box of stick matches.
“Let’s start a fire right away.” Katie couldn’t keep the urgency out of her voice. She moved to the kitchen to grab the chunk of wood. Her jeans felt like hard cardboard against her frozen skin.
Alex kneeled before the hearth with the chain curtain open, crumpling newspaper. “Here, take the flashlight and see if there’s any wood stacked over there.”
Katie aimed the beam at the other side of the fireplace and discovered a metal pail with wood. She lugged it over. “There’s only three pieces.”
“Thanks. That’ll be enough to get a fire started. I’ll get more wood in a few minutes.”
“I can fetch some now,” she offered.
“No, you need to get warm. You’re shivering.”
Katie resisted the urge to hug him. She really didn’t want to go back outside. “Thanks.”
While he organized the newspaper and wood, she pointed the flashlight beam at the fireplace.
He struck a match and lit the edges of the paper. “There you go. Burn baby, burn.”
The tiny flames quickly spread, catching more paper on fire. Katie moved closer, longing for warmth. Within a minute the paper engulfed into flames, but a few seconds later, smoke poured into the room.
Chapter 6
Katie coughed and backed away.
“Oh shit! I forgot to open the flu.” He reached into the fireplace.
“The what?” She waved through the smoke that billowed from the fireplace.
“The flu, the damper. It’s kept closed to keep air out when the fireplace isn’t in use.” He fiddled underneath and coughed. Eventually, the smoke stopped snaking into the room and trailed up the chimney instead. “There, that should do it.”
Katie knelt next to Alex to watch the small flames as they devoured the newspaper and caught on the corners of the wood. They held their hands close to the growing fire. Katie let a whisper of heat touch her fingers. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
Alex glanced at her and smiled.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. You make me laugh. It doesn’t take much to make you happy does it?”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Like surviving a near death experience?”
“I wasn’t going to let you die. You were always safe with me.” He nudged her with his shoulder.
“Yeah, until you drove your truck into a river and made me walk ten miles through a blizzard in wet clothes, which, by the way, are now frozen solid.” She arched an eyebrow.
“My bad.” He chuckled. “Just for that, I’ll bring in more firewood?”
“Don’t you want to wait and warm up a little first?”
“No. I’d rather stock up now and not have to go back out for a while.” He grabbed his gloves and disappeared back outside, into the cold abyss.
Katie wiped her nose on her sleeve as she was out of tissues. She cleared the area next to the fireplace to make space for the wood. Even though she still couldn’t stop shivering, she unzipped her coat and pulled out the slightly bent sour dough bread. Luckily it didn’t appear to be wet. They’d be eating it soon.
The door flew open. Along with a frigid gust of wind and snow, Alex brought in an enormous pile of wood. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was stocking up.
“Over here. I cleared a spot.”
He crossed the room and eased the pile onto the stone hearth and went out for more. She stacked the wood in a neat pile and tossed two more pieces on the fire, to make sure their precious heat source didn’t extinguish.
Alex brought in two more loads, and in between organizing the wood, and thawing herself by the fire, Katie moved her belongings to the side of the couch.
“That ought to hold us for a while.” He lowered the last of the wood to the floor and then stood in front of the open flames.
“Great job. It actually feels warmer in here.” She shivered from the cold wetness of her thawing jeans.
Alex noticed. “You need to find some dry clothes. We both do.” Snow covered his jeans well past his knees from tromping through the drifts. “There might be some clothes in that back bedroom.”
“I’ll take a look.” She grabbed the flashlight and opened the bedroom door. A cold blast blew. The freezing room sucked away any warmth she’d managed to coax back into her body. Broken window glass covered the floor, and snow dusted the small room. The owners were not going to be happy, but she and Alex had no choice. It was break in or die. She knew her parents would pay for the damages. Then she thought of her mom and how worried she must be and how much more worried she’d be when they failed to show up. Katie never gave her mom Alex’s number, so she couldn’t try to contact him either.
She opened the top drawer of the dresser to f
ind miscellaneous items like sunglasses, binoculars, and a book on fishing. The next drawer contained a few t-shirts, some socks and one very large pair of boxers. But the bottom drawer held the mother-load. She grabbed a few items and brought them to the living room where Alex sat by the fire with his coat open.
“I found some pajama pants and a pair of sweats, along with a couple flannel shirts and what look like hunting socks. I think our host is into shooting things.”
“And fishing too.” Alex held up the flannel pajama pants patterned with various types of fish. “Let’s hope these were a joke Christmas gift and not this dude’s real taste in clothes.”
“I’m taking the sweats.” Katie snatched them off the pile before Alex could.
“Fine. I’m a Pisces. I’ll do the fish flannels proud.” He held them up, admiring the various fish.
“The bedroom is a mess with broken glass and snow. I wonder if we should try to clean it up and block the window. Maybe we could push the dresser in front of it to keep some of the snow out.”
“I’ll go do it.” He tossed the wild fish pants on the coffee table.
“I’ll help.” She sniffed back her runny nose.
“Why don’t you change while I take care of it? I don’t mind.”
“Thanks.” Katie wished she were more help. So far all she’d done was stack wood. Alex disappeared, and she eased out of her frozen shoes, leaving them by the door. Her feet were so cold and stiff they hurt. She eased her jeans down her thighs. Her skin felt frozen deep into her bones. She’d need a hot shower or a Jacuzzi to warm up. What she wouldn’t give for a hot beverage. She stepped into the sweats. The soft, cold fabric slid against her legs. Even at her above average height, the sweats were too long. She pulled the drawstring in, tied it snug, then rolled the waistband over several times.
Katie sat on the fireplace ledge and covered her frozen feet with the thick socks. Better. She took off her coat so the heat from the fire could warm her faster, and pulled up a chair and hung her pants over it to dry. Katie laughed at herself because she’d seen people do exactly the same thing in the movies.
“Are you decent?” Alex called from around the corner.
She smiled. “The coast is clear. You’ll see no moon tonight.”
“Damn, and I love a full moon.” He came around the corner with his arms full of blankets.
Was he flirting? Or maybe he had hypothermia and was delusional.
“I figured we should grab whatever we need out of the bedroom before snow fills the room. I brought the blankets and pillows off the bed.”
“Good idea. I’ll go check out the bathroom for anything useful while you change.” She took the flashlight and left him alone.
The bathroom was a tiny room with a shower stall, sink and toilet. She tried the water, but it didn’t work. No surprise. The owners would have turned the water off to keep the pipes from freezing. She hugged herself in the cold little room. The medicine cabinet held the usual—soap, extra razors, pain reliever, Band-Aids, a bottle of Viagara! She put the bottle back, safe in the knowledge they wouldn’t need any little pills.
Underneath the sink, she found extra toilet paper, paper towels, a can of cleanser and a plunger. The drawer was much better. She found a box of tissues and a votive candle. She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Ever since they arrived, she’d been wiping her nose on her sleeve when Alex wasn’t looking.
She gathered her small booty, about to ask Alex if he was ready. As soon as she stepped into the small hallway, frigid air blew from under the bedroom door. She backtracked and grabbed the bathroom rug, rolled it up, and pushed it against the bedroom door. That ought to help keep out the cold.
“Ready or not, here I come,” she called to Alex. She secretly hoped he might not be ready. With a face like his, his body promised to be damn good looking too. She stepped around the corner; to her disappointment, he was fully clothed.
“Don’t you look fine.” She snickered at Alex modeling the yellow pajama pants with green fish. The fact was, he did look fine, even with his hair messed up from wearing a hat. He wore a grey t-shirt that hugged him so nicely that she chewed her lower lip. Either he worked out a lot or he naturally had a kick-ass body.
“Not just any man can pull off pants like these.” He posed, offering his best Blue Steel pose.
She laughed. “No, they definitely cannot.” She noticed his clothes lay over a chair next to hers and thought they looked like a little matched set. A couple. Which they weren’t. He was engaged and she was only a stranger he had offered a ride.
“I found a candle.” She set it on the coffee table and joined Alex next to the roaring fire.
Finally, the room began to warm. Katie faced the fire, letting the heat penetrate her legs. They still felt like cold marble. After a minute she turned around to warm her backside. Alex reached for the poker to adjust the wood. She noticed a red smudge on his wrist. “Are you bleeding?”
“What? Where?” He paused, looking down at his arms, but not turning his hands over.
“Your wrist. Here, let me see.” Katie reached for his right hand. She removed the poker from his grip, set it on the knotted rug, and examined his wrist. His hand was large and still cool to the touch. “Oh my gosh. You cut yourself.”
“I did?” He leaned down to get a look at the dried blood on the side of his wrist, but he let her hold his hand. “Look at that. I noticed my wrist stinging earlier, but I didn’t put it together. It must have happened when I crawled through the window.”
Katie took his hand in hers. “We need to clean that up. You should get a tetanus shot. Sit down so I can get a closer look.”
Chapter 7
“I think I’m going to have a little trouble getting that tetanus shot anytime soon.” Alex sat close to Katie on the warm hearth and his leg brushed hers. He noticed that she didn’t pull away.
She ducked her head, examining his wrist. The cut didn’t look like much of anything, but if a beautiful girl wanted to fuss over him, he sure wouldn’t complain. After the scare of the truck nearly sliding into the river and then Katie falling into the icy water, he’d almost suffered a heart attack. Being tended to was a nice change of pace.
“I can’t tell if there’s any glass in it. We need some water to clean away the blood.”
“If you want water, we’ll have to melt some, which we need to do for drinking anyway.”
“Oh, wait! I’ve got a water bottle in my backpack. Aren’t you glad I brought it now?” Katie popped up to fetch the water.
He bit back his smirk, entertained at how intense she was over a little scratch. “Very glad.”
She returned with the water bottle. “I won’t be able to see anything if we do this over the sink, and I don’t really want to pour water on the floor. Let me grab a towel.”
He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom and then the kitchen, rummaging through a couple of drawers before returning.
“Okay, ready. Why don’t you sit here on the coffee table, then I can see in the firelight.”
“Whatever you say, doctor.” Alex moved to the coffee table as Katie set her items between them.
“You’ll thank me later. You don’t want to end up with blood poisoning or lockjaw.”
He fought back his laughter over her extreme concern. “No, ma’am, I don’t.”
Katie pulled his hand over the bowl and uncapped the bottle. She raised an eyebrow. “I know you’re laughing at me.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, trying to be serious.
“No, you’re not.” She bit back a smile and he saw laughter in her eyes.
Alex felt a kick in the heart that he hadn’t felt with Trina in forever. Breaking off his engagement was definitely the right move.
Katie poured water over his wrist and dabbed at the cut with a damp tissue. Then she put a little soap in her hand and gently massaged his wrist area, carefully rubbing the lather over his cut. The sting almost made him flinch, but he refused to let Katie
think he was less than invincible.
As she concentrated, her dark hair draped forward like a silky curtain he wanted to touch. She held his hand captive with her soft delicate fingers, and he found himself breathing heavier than normal. She poured more cool water to wash away the soap, then dried it with a white kitchen towel and placed a Band-Aid over the cut.
“There. That should do the trick. Any more cuts you want to tell me about?” She glanced up, still in doctor mode.
The light from the fire danced in her eyes. “None that I know of.”
“Let’s see your other hand.”
He offered it freely. She turned it over and then looked closer at his fingernails. “What’s this? Blood on your fingernails?”
“There is?” He pulled back his hand. Sure enough, he discovered dried blood under his nails. “I wonder how that got there?”
Katie examined him with renewed interest, checking each of his arms, then studying his neck and face. “Turn your head the other direction,” she instructed.
He obeyed.
“You have a cut on your cheekbone, close to your hairline. You’ve been scratching it.” Her voice sounded close to his ear, giving him an unexpected tingle up his spine. She picked up the dishtowel and water bottle. “Scoot closer so I can see it better.”
“I kind of landed face first when I fell through the window.” He inched forward and leaned his face closer to Katie. “This gives whole new meaning to turn the other cheek.”
Katie chuckled and leaned in to examine the cut. She swept her hair over her shoulder and dabbed at his wound with the moist cloth. Her breath warmed his cheek. With her finger, she brushed his hair away from the injury. Her touch tickled.
“It doesn’t look bad.” She gave the cut a final dab and he accidentally flinched. “Come on, that couldn’t have hurt,” she said.
“What can I say? I’m a sensitive guy.” With their heads close, he held her gaze and noticed bright flecks in her eyes. A few seconds later, she glanced away. A rosy blush colored her face.
Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella) Page 4