Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

DEAN

This is fine. We have water, food, and there’s heat and wood at the cabin. The snow was picking up, but we weren’t that far. Except this is not fine. Not even a little.

It was hard enough being stuck in a vehicle with Shae, but I was driving so I had to focus on the road and my hands had to stay on the wheel. I couldn’t very well hide in the bedroom once we got to the cabin, or could I? How could I be alone with her?

The cabin had no TV, and we had to use a phone to play music if we wanted any. It was truly a rustic cabin. There was a wood-burning stove inside, not one with burners, and an oven. There was a small fridge we could put food in, but we all brought coolers to keep the drinks cold. It did have a furnace but there was only one vent so unless you wanted to freeze, you’d leave the bedroom doors open. The two bedrooms were tiny anyway with bunk beds and I usually ended up in the loft on the futon while everyone else piled onto whatever bed they could fit on. Even when some of them became couples over time, everyone still just slept where they fell.

Maybe we’d only be alone for a few hours. Nobody said they weren’t coming from what she said, just delayed. This wasn’t a big deal . I’d just build a fire in the stove, which took a little time anyway to get the embers going, and then…well that’s all there was to do. It had gotten bitterly cold fast from whatever weather front was moving in, plus we were further north, and these mountains were higher than where we lived. It was already dark from the clouds, and since it was late fall, nighttime came earlier so a walk would probably tip her off that I was trying to avoid her.

As the entrance to the long driveway leading up to the cabin came into view, my stomach twisted.

“You okay?” Shae asked, pulling me back to reality.

“What?” Why did every word I utter to her sound so snippy?

“Sorry. You did the heavy sigh.”

Clearing my throat, I said, “Oh. Just glad to finally be here. The snow’s really starting to come down. I’m pretty sure they don’t have salt trucks out here.” The small town was well off the main highway and there weren’t any schools or businesses for a few miles. People who lived there would know better than to be driving around when it’s like this.

She leaned toward the windshield. “It looks kind of cool in the lights while we’re moving. Like someone dumped a bag of cotton balls from the sky and they’re flying at us.”

Her eyes lit up as she watched with childlike wonder. The way she appreciated small things like snow looking like cotton balls was part of the reason– STOP . Can’t go down that road. Especially right now.

We made it to the top of the hill after a five-minute-long bumpy ride. We both stepped out of the SUV and stretched. She walked to the back, and I met her there, opening the tailgate so we could grab our things.

She grabbed her bag, then she reached in and grabbed one of the handles on the cooler.

“What are you doing?” I asked as my breath puffed like smoke as I spoke.

She scoffed, a cloud showing her heavy breath. “Helping you. It’s freezing out here. We can get it in one trip.”

Shaking my head, I tugged on the cooler to pull it from her. “No. Just get that small bag there if you want to help. I got this.”

“Ugh,” she grumbled before she hastily snatched the bag of non-refrigerated food and stormed off toward the small porch.

I carried the cooler up and set it by the door, then went back to get my luggage. She was dragging the cooler inside before I made it back up. “Can you stop? I got it.”

“So do I. I’m perfectly capable of moving the cooler,” she said as she grunted then slid it against the wall.

Rolling my eyes, I dropped my bag and told her to go turn the furnace on then went back outside. Chopped wood was always promised to be on the side of the cabin under a small covering.

I was still loading up as much wood as I could carry when Shae came around the side of the cabin. The moon was covered by clouds and there wasn’t a flood light. A tiny sliver of the small light inside streamed through the window above the wood pile.

My eyes adjusted and as she came closer, I noticed the pink on her nose and cheeks. “It’s freezing. Go inside and wrap up until I get the fire going.”

She walked next to me and without saying a word, leaned down and started gathering wood. Stubborn woman. As she piled it on, I stood, waiting for her to be done.

When she finally walked with an armful of firewood back inside, I followed with my armful.

“I can’t get the furnace to kick on. I figured we’d need plenty of wood,” Shae said as I kicked the door closed.

“I’ll take a look after I get this started.”

She sat on the worn sofa, pulling the handmade patch quilt from the back and wrapping up. Her teeth chattered as I worked to get the stove going. It would warm up the room well if I could get the embers going.

When the flames finally caught all the wood, I went to the small alcove that had the furnace vent in the floor with the dial above it. To one side was the bathroom and the other had a door to one of the small bedrooms.

The pilot wasn’t lit. I pulled the vent open, and the valve was already open. I went back to the stove and grabbed the box of matches. It wasn’t many steps back and forth. Shae was practically in a ball tucked into the corner of the sofa, still shivering.

My own muscles shook as I tried to light the furnace. “Fuck.”

“Www–what’s wrr–wrong?” she asked.

I put the vent back down and walked to the stove to warm up. “I think the gas is out. I can’t get it to light.”

“I’ll see if I can find some extra blankets,” she said as she stood, still wrapped up in the blanket.

I walked to her and grabbed her shoulders, guiding her to the stove. “You stay here. I’ll go look.”

There was an old buffalo plaid wingback chair near the window, so I pulled it closer to the stove and then pushed her gently to sit. The cold must have stunned her because no fighting or witty comebacks.

I sprinted upstairs first, checking under the futon since blankets were usually stored there. The other bedroom was upstairs, too, so I poked my head in and only saw the blankets on the bed. I gathered the ones from the futon and headed back downstairs, layering her with quilts.

The other bedroom had a small closet, and I found a few more blankets there so I grabbed them all. By the time the others came, hopefully the stove would be going well, and we would divvy up the blankets evenly. For now, it was freezing and just the two of us.

I went to lay another blanket over her, and she giggled. The sound made me stop and look up. Her hazel eyes shimmered from the fire behind me.

“What?” The word was barely a breath. I was just inches from her perfect lips. And she just licked them. Down boy.