Someday, I might build a shrine to Agnes, commemorating the fact that Claire thought she was a sweet old woman stuck in a snowstorm as opposed to the devil cat she actually was, thereby granting me more time with Miss Ward.
But today would not be that day because when the drive to Scotty’s cabin took almost three times longer than I expected, due to the combination of zero visibility, slick, icy roads, and blustering wind that even had me white-knuckling the steering wheel, I just wanted to get to our destination safely.
April.
It was fucking
April, and I was not okay with the storm of the century hitting Western Canada while I had to be out on the roads with a woman I didn’t really know, checking on a cat that I hated to the depths of my soul for the man who meant more to me than anyone else on the planet.
Claire was quiet in the passenger seat, and this time, I didn’t push her.
I’d hit the irrational stage of driving about an hour earlier, where you turn down the volume on the music just in case it helped you magically see the roads better.
When I caught sight of the red mailbox signaling the turnoff to Scotty’s place, I breathed out a huge sigh of relief.
“We’re here,” I told her.
She jumped a little at the sound of my voice. “Oh, good.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror, and the swirling blanket of white that obscured my vision. It had been years since I’d driven in something like that, and it occurred to me, with Scotty’s place close, that we’d probably be hunkered down for at least one night.
“You doing okay?” I asked her. If I was stressed … I couldn’t even imagine what she must be feeling.
Claire was quiet for a second, and then she exhaled shakily. “I don’t think I breathed properly for a solid hour.”
“We’re almost there,” I promised.
She nodded.
I smiled. “You can say it now.”
Claire looked over at me. Her face was pale and drawn. “Say what?”
Lifting my eyebrows, I waved a hand at the windshield.
“Ahh.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll save the
I told you so for when we’re safely inside his place.”
The back end of the Jeep fishtailed when I turned down the long driveway. Knowing not to overcorrect, because the last thing I wanted was to end up sliding off the drive and down the slight ditch that I knew lined the first fifty feet or so, I lessened the pressure of my hands on the wheel until the vehicle righted itself. Now that we were protected slightly by the trees that crowded Scotty’s property, the visibility increased to something more manageable than it had been on the roads leading us here.
“You gonna miss anything important tomorrow?” I asked her.
She rubbed her forehead. “One class but … I’ll email my professor when we’re inside.” Claire groaned. “And my family because they are probably freaking out.”
Visions of Paige bearing down on me had me shivering. But staying at Scotty’s place and risking her wrath for one night was preferable to attempting any stupid-ass drive back down to Seattle too soon.
“I can’t believe how fast this hit,” I said. The peak of his A-frame cabin came into view, and the band of tension around my chest relaxed even further. All I had to do was navigate the long, slight curve to his driveway where there were no tracks to follow. Using the bend in the trees as my guide, I pushed us forward through the snow, easily six to seven inches deep given that it was untouched. When the tires, without snow chains, spun at my acceleration, I cursed. Mightily.
“I can’t believe a world-famous snowboarder is afraid to drive in the snow,” she teased unexpectedly. Amazing how it loosened our tongues to have shelter in sight, even if we’d be stuck with freaking Agnes, who’d probably claw our eyes out the second we walked in.
“I’m not afraid to drive in the snow.” I gave her a look as I pulled up as close to the cabin as the drifting snow would allow me. “But I didn’t exactly want to slide off the road when I have you to think about.”
“You’re a closet sweetheart, Bauer.”
“I am no such thing,” I replied, completely affronted. “No one has ever called me such a terrible name.”
She giggled, and it made my sudden rush of defensiveness worth it.
“Why does that bother you so much?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say that just because I didn’t want to carry her admittedly fine ass through the snow didn’t mean I was a sweetheart. I was a badass, thank you very much. I was an inked, pierced, snowboarding badass who’d never had a woman giggle because she called me a sweetheart, and she could have that etched on my tombstone because that was how much I believed it.
Shoving the Jeep in park and exhaling heavily, I yanked the hat off my head and speared a hand in my hair. “It doesn’t bother me; it’s just not true. Ask my parents.”
She nodded slowly, tilting her head ever-so-slightly as she studied me.
I pointed a finger at her. “Nope, none of that. No psychoanalyzing. I don’t care how you look in your sleep shorts. That’s not allowed.”
Claire smiled slowly.
“Stop it.”
It spread even further, wide enough that her white, even teeth showed behind her pink lips. A dimple popped out. And against the blinding white of the snow, with her dark hair and deep blue eyes, she looked like Snow White.
I huffed. “Let’s go inside, okay?”
“Okay.”
Her agreement was too quiet, too pleased with herself, and that made me swear as much as the shitty drive had.
“The snow will be deep. Do you want me to carry you in so you don’t get your shoes wet?”
Claire’s eyes glowed. “That’s incredibly … sweet … of you.”
“Fine. Get your shoes wet, get your pants wet, get hypothermia, see if I care.” I leaned toward her in the cab of the Jeep. “Don’t come to me in the middle of the night and beg me to warm you up when your body temperature drops because you didn’t take me up on my practical, logical offer, princess.”
It was a lie because if she came to me and asked that, I’d strip so fast.
Everything.
My thoughts must have been betrayed on my face because the blush spread slowly across her cheekbones.
“I’ll risk it,” she said quietly. “But thank you for being so practical and logical and not sweet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Overkill but you’re welcome. You wait here. I’ll make sure my key works first.”
After trudging my way through the snow and up onto the equally snowy deck, I peered inside the dark cabin to make sure Agnes wasn’t sitting in waiting, claws unsheathed and fangs bared.
Underneath the overhang of the A-frame, there was a large stack of firewood, which made me breathe a bit more easily. At least we’d stay warm overnight until we could head home the next day. To the right of the wood was a heavy-duty shovel.
“God bless you, Scotty,” I murmured. Quickly, I shoveled the area by the door clear so snow wouldn’t fall into the cabin as soon as I opened it. The key worked easily, despite the metal of the lock being cold as shit. Knowing we could get in, I turned and shoveled a single strip so she’d have a clear path once she got on the deck.
And I wasn’t doing it to be sweet, but I just didn’t want her to have soaked socks when she got in. I hadn’t packed for more than one night, so I didn’t imagine she had either. And definitely not more than one night that included a record-breaking blizzard.
I turned and waved her in. While she grabbed her backpack and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her hair, I thought about why it bothered me so damn much that she’d said that.
Maybe because I didn’t want Claire to look at me like I was a sweetheart. People called Finn sweet all the time, and if that wasn’t the kiss of death to getting laid, I didn’t know what was.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.