Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella) (6 page)

She opened the top drawer of the dresser to find 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.

“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.