“Just try not to touch it anymore.” She hesitated before gathering up her things and retreating to the kitchen.
“Whatever you say, Boss,” he called after her. If he had to be stranded, this wasn’t a half bad way to do it.
“I’m going to check the cupboards to see if there’s anything to eat,” Katie said from the kitchen.
“Go for it. Do you see any pots or pans I can use to melt snow in? Somebody used up our only good drinking water.” He raised an accusatory brow at her.
Katie stuck her tongue out and slapped a couple large pots onto the counter.
Alex pulled on his coat and slipped into his wet boots. “Thanks,” he offered as he passed by, in a better mood than he’d been all day, and scooped up the pots.
By the time he returned with the pots of snow, a candle flickered on the counter, and Katie displayed a variety of cans and jars. She rushed to push the door shut. Alex kicked off his boots, set the pots near the fire, and added more wood to the flames.
“Well, the choices aren’t great, but considering the situation, I think we’ll survive,” Katie said.
“What did you find?” He dumped his coat on the chair and joined her.
“Several cans of baked beans, a can of tuna, two cans of tomato soup.”
“Creamed corn?” Alex looked at the can with disgust. “I’d rather starve than eat that goop.”
“No kidding. It gets worse. Pea soup.” She wrinkled her face as she held up the can. “The good news is we’ve got grape jelly, crackers, pancake mix and last but not least, beef stew, not to be confused with canned dog food.”
He picked up the crackers, and as he feared, the edge had been chewed open. He held them out to Katie. “You might want to pass on the crackers.”
“Oh, gross! And I wanted to put tuna on them.”
“You still can, but you might get a few mice droppings in the deal.” He waved them closer.
Katie shrieked and jumped away. “Get that out of here.”
“We could use the crackers to trap the mice and cook them over the fire.”
“Oh my god! Stop talking. That is disgusting. There better not be any mice in here.”
“Or what?” He laughed.
“Or I’ll be out that door and on my way back to your truck.”
“You wouldn’t get ten feet and you’d be back here. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you if we see any killer mice.”
“You better.” Katie spied around the cabin in search of mice.
“So, what’s for dinner? I’m getting really hungry. I thought I’d be home by now enjoying a big plate of spaghetti and garlic bread.” Alex’s mom always cooked spaghetti his first night home from school. He hated to miss it.
“That sounds delicious. I don’t know what I was supposed to be having tonight, but I’m sure it would have been a better spread than this. Do you think our parents are really worried about us?” She picked up the tuna.
He frowned. “Yeah. I’m sure that by now your mother called the authorities to report us missing.” He wondered how long until his parents started to worry.
“My mom must be freaking out. I feel kind of bad for snapping at her earlier. I didn’t want to spend Christmas with her and Not the Boyfriend.” She rolled the thin can on the counter.
“Looks like your wish might come true.” And his, too. He’d been dreading seeing Trina and breaking her heart. She wasn’t a horrible girl, but she was the wrong girl.
“You don’t think we’ll get out of here before Christmas?” Katie asked.
He wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. “Hard to say. The guy at the gas station said the storm is supposed to rage all night, and when the snow ends, the winds pick up. I think we’re going to be here for a day at least, maybe two. We might as well set up camp and hunker down.”
Katie smirked. “Did you just say hunker?”
“Yeah? You have a problem with that?” He placed both hands on the counter and leaned toward her.
“I’ve never heard a guy, let alone a tall—you know—guy like you,” she waved her hands in the air around him, “say, hunker.” She giggled.
He laughed. “And now you have. So in the process of hunkering down, I’m thinking beef stew would taste great right now.” He grabbed the beef stew can, tossed it in the air and caught it.
Katie grinned. “Okay. And we can slice up some of the sour dough bread I brought.” She pulled one of the loaves out of the paper sleeve and checked it over. “It’s kind of squished, but at least it’s dry.”
“Squished bread is better than no bread,” he said.
They worked side-by-side preparing their dinner. Before long, a covered saucepan rested on the edge of the fire. The aroma of beef stew soon filled the air. Alex’s stomach growled. Katie brought over some sliced sour dough wrapped in foil and placed it on the edge of the flames where it would warm, but not burn. A few minutes later they nestled before the fire, each with a steaming bowl of stew and warm bread.
“It’s not half bad.” Katie dipped her bread in the stew and took a bite without missing a drop.
Outside the wind howled, reminding Alex how lucky they were to find the cabin. “Being hungry definitely helps the taste.”
Another gust pushed against the windows. Cool air drafted in, preventing the cabin from holding much warmth except the area near the fireplace.
“Listen to that wind. I am so glad we aren’t out there anymore.” Katie stared out the window, mesmerized by the snow swirling past. “By the way, thank you for getting us safely inside here. I can’t imagine being stuck out in the storm.” She rested her caramel colored eyes on him.
“You don’t have to thank me. I almost gave you hypothermia. If I had slowed down or stopped when we had the chance, this never would have happened.”
Alex shoveled another spoonful of stew in his mouth to keep from admitting he’d scared the shit out of himself. There were moments he wasn’t sure if he’d get her inside and warmed up quickly enough. He knew how dangerous it was to be out in the elements. He had no right to feel protective of Katie, but he couldn’t help but feel drawn to her.
“It’s actually pretty fun. I mean, now that I know we’re both okay,” Katie said. “Plus, if I can’t have my traditional family Christmas at home in Madison, this is a much better alternative than what I was headed to. I just feel bad about you not getting home to see your family and your fiancé. That’s gotta suck. It must be really hard to be away from her.”
Not as hard as you think. “Nah, it’s fine. You want some more water?” he said to change the subject.
“Sure.” She passed her glass and he filled it. They’d transferred the melted water from the pot into a pitcher, and then added more snow to the pot, so that they would always have more water.
Katie set her bowl aside and fetched her purse. “The one thing I feel bad about is my mom. She must be going insane.” She checked her cell phone. “No signal.” She dropped it back into her bag.
“I know. It’s a crummy time to go missing, right before Christmas. Anyone else you need to reach?”
“No, not really. My dad’s busy with his new squeeze.”
“There’s no boyfriend you need to get a hold of?” He tried to say it like it was an afterthought and not a direct question he’d been itching to ask.
She picked up her bowl. “Not even close.”
Alex brightened. “Really? I’d think a girl like you would have all kinds of guys hanging around.”
Katie’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean, a girl like me?”
“You know funny, outgoing, and pretty.” Katie blushed, and he smiled at how sweet and clueless she seemed about herself.
“I don’t know what Kool-Aid you’ve been drinking, but I’m not going to complain.” She took another bite.
“So why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
She dipped bread in the bowl. “First off, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I really want to do well at school and having a boyfrie
nd would be a distraction. Plus, I figure that if it’s supposed to happen, it will.” She stretched out her long legs.
“And second, most of the guys at school are idiots.” She glanced at him with an impish smile.
“Oh, really?”
“That’s not true. There are lots of nice guys, but the only thing most of them want to do is go out, get loaded, and hook up with some random girl. That’s not me. There was a guy across the hall I really liked. I thought he liked me too, but then he slept with my roommate.”
Katie deserved better than those freshman assholes. “Ouch. That sucks. I’m afraid that’s freshman year for you. Everyone gets to college and wants to do all the things they could never get away with at home. I spent most of my first semester drunk.”
“Ah, you’re a party boy.”
He read the judgment on her face. “Not anymore.” He laughed. “I paid my dues big time. After almost flunking two of my classes, I decided to clean up my act or be sent home, which is the last thing I wanted.”
“You must have been popular with the ladies.” She scraped her bowl clean and set it aside.
“No, I wasn’t.” He laughed. “I was the perfect boyfriend to Trina. I got plowed every Thursday to Sunday, but I never cheated on her. Ever.”
“You must love her very much to want to get married this young.”
He really didn’t want to talk about his doomed relationship. Things had been over for a long time, but Trina wouldn’t let him go. “That’s a whole other story that I’d rather not go into tonight.”
Trina had changed. A lot. She manipulated people to get what she wanted in life. He couldn’t stay with a girl like that.
“Oh. Okay,” she said, sounding chastised, and he felt a little bad. She didn’t know about his problems with Trina.
He still needed to figure out how to get Trina to understand that they would not, under any circumstance, get married.
~ ~ ~
Katie yawned and covered her mouth. The long day had finally caught up with her. “Sorry. The fire must be making me tired.”
“That or the fact you had a near death experience, fell into a river, and walked two miles in a blizzard,” Alex teased and then smiled in the sweetest of ways that showed off his dimples.
Trina was one lucky girl. Katie wished she had a chance with Alex. She instantly scolded herself. Wasn’t it some sort of sin to lust after someone else’s boyfriend?
“What time is it anyway, do you know?”
Alex checked his watch. “Quarter after twelve. It’s officially December twenty-fourth, Christmas Eve.”
“It is late. No wonder I’m so tired.” She looked around the room, wondering how they were going to handle the sleeping arrangements. They sure couldn’t use the bedroom with the gaping window. Alex must have read her thoughts or at least noticed the uncertainty on her face.
“Let’s move the coffee table out of the way. You can sleep on the couch and I’ll take the floor.”
Katie knew she should offer him the couch, but she ached all over and sleeping on the cold floor sounded horrible. “Are you sure? I feel terrible making you sleep on the floor.” But the couch wouldn’t hold two people unless they were twisted together like red licorice.
“It’s fine. Unless—” He eyed the brown sofa with the leaf patterned upholstery. He lifted up the center cushion. “—it’s a hide-a-bed!” He removed the other cushions to reveal a handle and mattress hidden within. He turned to Katie with a naughty smile and asked. “Want to sleep with me?”
Chapter 8
For a second, Katie thought he meant something more, but then saw the devilish twinkle in his eye and realized he was teasing again. She couldn’t imagine sleeping right next to Alex with his dark, sexy eyes and gorgeous face. But she couldn’t exactly ask him to sleep on the floor when there was a comfortable bed available. This was stupid. Why was she hesitating?
“I thought you’d never ask,” she answered.
Alex grinned. “See, Christmas wishes do come true.”
He was way too happy about the sleeping arrangements. She smiled and shook her head.
“Want to give me a hand moving the coffee table and then we’ll get this bad boy pulled out.”
After moving the table, Katie could no longer ignore the pressing urge to use the bathroom. She put on her coat. “I’m going outside to get more wood.”
Alex eyed the good-sized pile of logs. The corner of his mouth turned up into his familiar smirk. “I was wondering how long you could hold it. If you go around the house to the right, the wind has kept the snow drifts to a minimum.”
Katie felt her face turned red. “Thanks.” She quickly slipped on her shoes and made for the door.
“One more thing,” he called.
“Yeah?” She looked back, wanting to escape.
“Watch out for yellow snow.”
She rolled her eyes and left him alone with his laughter. Outside, the storm raged. She wished she had a TV or the internet so she could watch radar and know how soon the storm would end. The wind whipped right through her baggy sweat pants.
Alex was right. If she stayed close to the side of the cabin, there was a lot less snow. She edged around the corner and looked around for prying eyes. Duh. There was no one up here in the middle of no man’s land to watch her go to the bathroom.
She grabbed her waistband and pulled down the sweats and her panties in one quick swoop. She squatted and tried to relax and go, but arctic air blew against her privates, a sensation she had surely never experienced before. The air felt so cold she wondered if her pee would freeze before it hit the snow. She noticed the surrounding woods. What wild animals were out there? Deer? Bear? Coyote? She tried to hurry and get back inside before some large furry creature attacked her.
Back in the cabin, Katie kicked off her snow-covered boots. “Holy cripes, it’s cold out there.”
Alex stood next to the couch that he’d made up with blankets and pillows from the bedroom and throw blankets off the couch. The scene looked like something out of a cheesy romance movie.
“Okay, this is weird, right?” he asked.
“That’s putting it mildly.” She laid her coat on a chair and rubbed her cold hands together by the fire.
“I’m going to step outside for a minute. I’ll be right back.” He slipped on his coat.
Alex disappeared, giving Katie a minute to let it soak in. It was only a bed. She sat on the side and touched the soft, woven throw blanket. She bit back a grin. She was going to sleep in a bed with Alex. Her roommate, Lindsey, was going to love this. She crawled in and pulled the blankets over her, careful not to hog. A metal bar crossed the middle of her back, reminding her that this was a cheap fold-out bed.
Alex reappeared and shook the snow from his coat. “Honey, I’m home.”
Katie hid her smile. “You’re late!” she called.
He added more wood to the fire and placed a large metal screen in front of it. “I figure we don’t need to burn the place down.”
Alex sat on his side of the bed with his back to her. Katie chewed on the inside of her lip. He pulled back the covers and slipped in next to her.
Katie lay with her arms at her sides, trying not to breathe too loud. She sensed Alex watching her. She turned her head. His handsome face was only two feet from hers.
“You doing okay?” he asked, sincerity in his voice.
“I’m good.” She smiled and relaxed, wiggling to get comfortable on the thin mattress.
“Good.” He turned his head toward the ceiling.
Katie looked up and noticed, for the first time, a chandelier made from deer antlers.
They lay in silence and watched the firelight dance on the ceiling.
“Will Trina be mad that you slept with someone else? Even though we’re only sleeping?”
“Trina won’t be mad. She will freak out.”
Oh crap. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not your fault. Trina is the world’s biggest
drama queen. She freaks out when she breaks a nail or it’s raining outside. She’s always freaking out.”
“Oh.” Katie couldn’t imagine why he was with a girl like that.
“You don’t need to worry about Trina. I’ve got it under control. Or at least I will soon.”
She wondered what he meant. Would they have a big fight? Would he shower her with kisses and apologize? Would he give in to her tantrum? Katie realized she’d finally discovered a trait of Alex’s that she didn’t like, being with a girl who wasn’t good enough for him.
Another minute passed before Alex spoke. “Is it just me, or are our feet higher than our heads? It’s like I’m laying downhill. I think I’m getting a headache from the blood rushing to my brain.”
Katie laughed. “I noticed that, too.”
They looked at each other across the pillows. “Want to switch directions?” he asked, like a little kid on an adventure.
“Yeah.”
They hopped out of bed and tossed their pillows to the floor. Together they pulled the sheets out and slid the blankets and everything down and tucked them in at the sofa end. They tossed the pillows back and hopped in at the foot of the bed. Their heads were closer to the fire now instead of their feet.
“I feel like I’m at a slumber party.” Katie puffed up her pillow and nestled her head down.
Alex turned over a couple times, the bed squeaking with each movement, and settled facing her. “This is the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.”
“The fire is really warm.” Katie tossed the top two blankets to the side.
“Hey, I don’t want ‘em! I’m sweating over here!” He pushed the covers toward their feet.
“Sorry.” She sat up and removed her flannel shirt, leaving her in a t-shirt and sweat pants.
“I built the fire up so it would last through the night. I didn’t realize I would be creating a sauna.”
Katie lay on her stomach, watching the fire. She yawned. The flames licked up high. The wood burned with a soft roar and an occasional crackle. Light flickered throughout the room. “That’s okay. The fire looks nice.”
Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella) Page 5