by A. J. Wynter
“Oh, my God.” The words came out of my mouth involuntarily. Over Chase’s shoulder, I caught a glimpse of my panties on the kitchen floor. I must’ve been so preoccupied with the coffee that I dropped them and didn’t notice.
“It’s alright. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll go slowly.”
He thought I was shocked at the snowmobile news. “How about you get in the shower and I’ll heat up that water for some more coffee.” I gestured to the bathroom.
“Nah, I’ll have a shower when I get back. There’s no time for that.”
Oh no. “Are you sure, I mean, it would probably feel, erm...” I was panicking.
He smiled at me. It was the first of the day and he sat back and crossed one leg over the other. “It’s normal to be scared of the unknown, but you’ll have to trust me. This won’t be scary. You’ll be back in Windswan before noon.” He pushed off from the sofa and turned to walk into the kitchen.
“Don’t go in there,” I shouted.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “Are you okay?” He stared at me and then followed my gaze to the kitchen floor where the pink lace boy shorts lay crumpled on the floor like a poorly made snowball.
His body started to shake, his chest heaving as he turned to me, I’m pretty sure my face was as chalky white as my shirt. He had tears in his eyes and then the low laughter started. “You’re worried about your undies on the kitchen floor, not the snowmobile, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I scurried around him and scooped up the offending lace ball.
“Women,” he shook his head, wiping away the tears of laughter.
The snowmobile was terrifying, but the panties were truly mortifying.
“Come on, get your stuff together. It’s time to get you out of here,” he said. He grabbed an insulated coverall suit and handed it to me. It’s the best I’ve got and you’ll be swimming in it, but it will keep you warm. I took the suit and stepped into it. The well worn and patched knees sat around my ankles. I pulled on the wool socks he had lent me, and he tossed me my sweater. I pulled it on over my shirt and zipped up the one-piece mechanic’s overalls. After I laced up my boots, I pulled my messenger bag over the bulky outfit.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.” I pulled on my white hat.
“You’re going to need this.” He handed me a black helmet with a visor. I gulped and grabbed onto it. We headed to the yard where his snowmobile sat looking menacing.
“You’d never know that there were gorgeous mountain peaks out there, would you?” He looked to the horizon. Beyond the clouds stood towering mountain peaks, but all we saw was a swirling sea of gray.
“What do I have to do?” I asked as I stared at the machine.
“Hold on,” he shouted through his helmet.
My hands were shaking as I followed Chase onto the beast. He turned the key and I gripped his waist tightly, waiting for the sound of the engine.
“Shit,” I heard Chase mutter. He stepped off the snowmobile and motioned for me to get off. “I’m going to have to pull start it.” He stepped back on and grabbed onto a handle attached to a cord and pulled it. Nothing happened. He pulled it two more times and then the machine growled to life, dark smoke billowing out from the front of it. But it sputtered and sounded like it was going to stall. Chase pushed the gas and revved it up, but as soon as he let go, the machine coughed, and the yard was silent again. The smoke floated in the air around Chase as if he had just stepped onto the stage of a heavy metal concert. He kept pulling and pulling that cord, but the snowmobile never came to life again.
“Fuck.” Chase pulled the helmet off his head.
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s the first time I’ve had it out this year. Maybe the spark plugs need to be cleaned, or... ugh,” he groaned. “I don’t know, I’m not a mechanic.”
I stood there holding the helmet in my hands, wondering if this was the moment when he was going to pull out the snowshoes. The microscopic flakes of snow had doubled in size and were falling faster than any snow I’d ever seen before. Chase’s hair and beard were quickly turning from brown to white.
“Come on,” he said and turned to trudge back to the cabin.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
He raised his arms into an exaggerated shrug. “Have breakfast?”
Chapter 12 – Chase
THE BACON SIZZLED IN the pan as I kept an eye on the coffee percolator.
“Let me help you,” Emma offered.
“You sit down and relax.” I pointed to the sofa with the spatula. “I’ll take care of breakfast.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I could do the dishes after.”
“Deal. Now get.” I smiled at her and pointed at the couch again. “I don’t mind if you want to get some work done. The outlets all work if you need to charge your computer.”
“I should get some words written today and charge my phone,” she said and pulled her laptop out of her messenger bag. “What about internet?”
He chuckled. “There’s no Wi-Fi here, or cell service actually.”
“Oh,” she said quietly and tucked her phone back into her bag.
I finished breakfast to the sound of lite FM radio and keyboard clicking. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to get Emma back to town, but as I watched her hunched over her laptop with Prickles curled up beside her, a feeling of peace washed over me. Dumpster was of course, at my side waiting for any potential bacon scraps, his thick tail thumping on the floor.
We ate our breakfast of bacon and tomato sandwiches, sitting on the couch with our plates perched on our laps. “This is delicious,” she exclaimed as she took a bite. The Eric Clapton song playing on the radio drew to a close and Emma started to say something, but I interrupted her. I put my fingers to my lips, listening intently to the weather forecast. The radio was listing snowfall amounts and the forecast was even more dire than last night.
“Jack, as much as your cooking is the best thing I’ve eaten in years, how am I going to get out of here?”
I gathered up our plates and washed them. “Wait, I’m supposed to be doing that,” she said as she jumped up from the sofa.
“I just cleaned as I went.”
“You’re afraid to let me near the tea towels, aren’t you?” she grinned at me.
I rubbed my right ass cheek. “I’m pretty sure there’s a welt there.” I took her mug from her hand and poured her the last of the coffee. “The logging road is cleared by front end loaders, but they won’t do it until the storm is over. I’m going to work on the snowmobile this morning and try to get it started. I will get you back to town, even if I have to hook myself and Dumpster up to a toboggan and tow you there.” At the mention of his name Dumpster looked up, his tail thumping on the leg of the wooden armchair. “Although, I think he’d end up on the toboggan with you too...”
“Can I help you?” she asked. The woman was unlike any I had met in my lifetime. Mind you, I came from the private school circuit where most of my contemporaries had an entire staff at their disposal.
“Unless you know about the inner workings of an engine, we’re both better off if you stay inside and keep the fire going. Hopefully, you can get some work done and today won’t be a total loss for your career.”
“Alright,” she smiled. “I suppose there are worse places to be snowed in.” She looked around the cabin and then back at me.
I didn’t think that I was a man to blush, but I could feel it, as sure as the road was closed, the redness spreading along my neck. I reached my hand up and rubbed my chin, hoping that the blush wasn’t visible through my beard.
Emma added another log to the fire and sat cross-legged in my reading chair with her laptop open. I turned around before I stared too long. She looked like she belonged there. I pulled on my coat and the rest of my outdoors clothes, intent on spending as much of the day as far awa
y from Emma as possible. The desire I felt last night with her in my arms hadn’t subsided. In fact, every time she touched me, even with the heat from the blazing fireplace, it sent full body shivers through to my core. If I ever decided to live with a woman, it would be one like her.
I stepped out into the deep snow and trudged across to the defiant mechanical beast that sat mocking me. As I tinkered with the spark plugs—the only mechanical trick I had up my sleeve—I imagined a woman; okay fuck, I imagined what it would be like if Emma actually lived here. I hummed Layla, the last song I heard on the radio while visions of Emma chopping wood and prancing bra-less around the cabin in wool socks ran through my mind. I’m a man. I couldn’t help but notice her nipples practically cutting through that t-shirt this morning.
After a few million more pulls, the damn thing still wouldn’t start. I knew that the logging operations wouldn’t waste any time getting the access road cleared, so I wasn’t too worried, but part of me hoped I could get one more day with her here. Of course, I wanted to fuck her, but more than that, I just liked having her around. Her laugh was a breath of fresh air in that stale cabin. I shook my head; thoughts like this were dangerous. She couldn’t stay here. Logistically, it would never work. And even if she could, I’d have to keep up this ‘Jack’ lie, because there’s no way she would ever be with Chase Titan, the man who led his parents to their fiery death.
I gave up on the snowmobile just as the clouds parted. Snow was still falling from the sky, but the sun had made an appearance. The clearing around my cabin sparkled like one of those damn vampires from Twilight; that was the last movie I saw before I ran away. I jogged to the cabin and flung open the door, “Emma, get your stuff on and come check this out.” I stepped back onto the porch waiting for her. I angled my face to let the warmth of the sun melt the snow off my beard.
The door creaked open behind me and Emma peered out, “Is it the bear?”
I turned and laughed, “He’s long gone.” She opened the door and stepped onto the porch. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” The snow was dancing in the sunbeams, the blue sky of the clearing contrasted with the dark clouds around it, and for the first time since she’d been at the cabin, the mountain peaks were visible, peeking up through scarves of cloud cover.
She gasped, “It’s beautiful. What’s that peak called?”
“The one that looks like a movie screen?” I pointed to the flat expansive peak that dominated the horizon. “That’s Mt. Magton.”
Dumpster had followed her out and was wading through the deep snow. We watched him practically swim his way to the fenced-in garden. “I get it now,” she said quietly.
I knew what she meant. I shouldn’t have done it, but I was caught up in the beauty of my surroundings and felt like my heart was swollen. I slipped my arm over her shoulder and pulled her in tightly. She stiffened but then relaxed against me before wrapping both her arms around my waist. I tried not to match her breathing, but it was tough. I could blame it on the altitude, but I knew that wasn’t it. Last night we had been kind of drunk, but today the attraction was undeniable. I felt my cock twitch in my pants and gently pressed her away. “We should take advantage of this gap in the weather before we get cabin fever,” I said.
“And do what?” she asked.
“Wait right there,” I said and hopped off the porch and waded through the snow to the shed.
Chapter 13 – Emma
THE SUN FELT AMAZING on my face. The fire and cabin had been cozy, but there was something about the warmth from the sun, and the embrace of a mountain man that warmed me through and through. I knew that I shouldn’t hug him, but it just happened. I mean, that could’ve been a platonic hug, right? But the butterflies in my stomach and tingling between my legs told me otherwise.
I watched Chase disappear into his shed, Dumpster hot on his heels. He returned wielding two pairs of snowshoes. “Couldn’t you find any older ones?” I asked as he set down the giant wooden snowshoes on the porch.
“These were supposed to be for decoration,” he laughed. “We might as well see if they work.” He gestured to my foot. “Here, put your foot in this thing.” He held up a piece of well-worn leather. I let him buckle my boot into the snowshoes.
“Hey, Jack,” I said. Calling him Jack was starting to become more natural than correcting Chase in my head. “We probably should’ve thought about the stairs.” I was still standing on his porch.
“No problem.” He jumped up and slid his gloves under my arms and effortlessly lowered me down onto the snow. He joined me and strapped the bigger pair of shoes onto his feet.
“How do we do this?” I asked.
“Beats me,” he laughed.
“Wait, you’ve never done this before?” I took a step and proceeded to walk right onto the other shoe.
“Why would I do this when I have that hunk of junk over there?” He pointed to the defunct snowmobile. “I think you just walk,” he said taking a few steps and proceeded to trip himself, falling face-first into the snow.
“Oh, my God,” I burst out laughing. “Are you okay?”
“I’m glad you asked before laughing,” he said and stood up, his beard packed with snow. “You try.”
I took a few apprehensive steps, lifting the shoes high in the air over the top of each other. “This doesn’t feel right,”
“It doesn’t look right either,” he laughed. I was going to suggest the mountain loop trail, but I think we’re going to be lucky to make it to the end of the driveway.”
We set off waddling into the forest, Dumpster following behind us, taking advance of the tear shapes we were packing into the snow. We both held our arms out for balance and while neither of us fell again, we had some close calls. When Chase started picking up speed, he lowered his arms. “I think I’ve got it,” he turned and shouted. “Just try and walk normally. Don’t try to pick them up.”
I nodded and watched him take a couple of steps. I tried to mirror what he was doing, and to my surprise, it worked! I let down my arms and even jogged a couple of steps to catch up with him.
“You plowed this last night?” I looked at the foot-deep depression that wound its way through the forest.
“I did. Wait until you see the service road.” The forest was silent except for the swoosh and crunch of the snow as it compressed underneath our shoes. Chase pointed out the different kinds of trees and talked about the various animals he had seen in the different spots. “Recognize this baby?” he slapped the gnarled tree.
“Is that your turning landmark?” I asked. I had been holding on for dear life when we passed the tree yesterday.
“Yep,” he nodded and stepped up onto a snowbank. Perched from the top he pointed. “That’s the road.” He reached his hand down and helped me up onto the bank. For as far as I could see, there was just, well, snow.
“They’ll be able to clear this?” I asked.
“Of course, they have bigger machinery than that old plow truck rigs that can handle this rough road.” I found it hard to imagine that there was a road underneath all that snow. I hadn’t worked on the ‘off-grid story’ this morning, because it didn’t exist, but I also hadn’t worked on the Chase exposé either. It felt wrong to be spying on him. Let alone writing his tell-all story from the man’s living room. Instead, I had opened up a blank document and started something I’d always wanted to write – a novel.
“Do you ever feel trapped out here?” My chest grew tight as I looked at the snowed-over road. If I wasn’t falling in love with Jack, seeing the road like that would’ve made me want to cry.
He was staring into the forest and didn’t look at me. “I feel free out here.”
His broad back was in front of me, and I reached my arms up under his and pulled his back to my cheek. I squeezed him tightly to me. It was then that I realized, Jack wasn’t hiding because he was selfish. He was hiding because he was hurting. Still. All these years later. His huge chest softened as he exhaled, and I felt his big lea
ther gloves wrap around my hands.
I held him tightly and he let me... until we both started shivering. “We should get back,” he whispered and squeezed my hands tightly, a signal for me to release him from the bear hug. He tossed a snowball for Dumpster and then took my hand. It felt natural and right, snowshoeing hand in hand with Jack, all the way back to his cabin.
Once we were settled inside free from our multiple layers, Jack put the kettle on to boil and stoked the fire.
“What’s that noise?” I could hear a mechanical sound in the distance and my heart sank. Could it be the machines clearing the road?
“I started the generator,” Chase said as he poured a pot of tea. “I thought you might want to have a bath or a shower that’s longer than eight minutes,” he chuckled.
“Really?” The thought of relaxing into Chase’s clawfoot bathtub sounded like heaven. “It’s okay. I can have a fast shower,” I replied, feeling guilty about the energy it was going to heat the water for a bath.
“I saw your eyes light up as soon as I said bath,” he laughed and disappeared into the bathroom. I could hear the water rushing into the bathtub and a corresponding pump start to run from somewhere in the cabin.
While Chase ran the bath for me, I clicked open my laptop and read what I had written earlier. It was a story that had been percolating in my brain for years, a fiction piece about a young girl who has to work on a ranch. A modern-day City Slickers, but with a woman. I couldn’t believe the words on the screen were my own. The story was good.
“What are you working on?”
I jumped as I felt Chase’s hot breath on my ear and I reflexively closed the laptop. “It’s a novel.” I ran my hand over the closed cover of my computer. “I started it this morning.”
He draped his arms over the sofa, “What’s it about?”
I set the computer on the coffee table and turned to face him. “A girl who’s out of her element.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Sounds good.” He rested his hand on mine and then patted it. “Your bath is ready, Miss.”