Trapped with the Blizzard (36 page)

I couldn’t put the clues together. We were all out. We were safe. Liz wasn’t in tears, so Jack must’ve been safe, but I needed to hear it. My head rolled to the side and I fought to stay awake. “Jack?”

“He’s perfect. He’s with Bryan, warm and safe.”

I smiled weakly, closed my eyes, and gave into the darkness once more.

For nearly an hour, we watched the lodge burn. The snow finally stopped, but as a last dying breath, the wind picked up just before dawn. It took a lot longer than I thought it would for the structure to go up in flames, but once it did, it became a thing of terrible beauty. Rivers of melting snow flowed down the path into the parking lot where we stood. Even from a distance, the overwhelming heat of the blaze warmed us. Towering flames whipped back and forth in the wind, soaring thirty feet into the dark air.

Dusty and Melinda buzzed around the crowd. As far as we could tell, apart from some bumps, burns, and a couple broken bones, everyone had escaped unscathed. Although horrified at the injury, Melinda wrapped Bryan’s left leg without a question. And despite telling him to stay off it, Bryan was already on the case, trying to figure out how we were going to get the town sheltered safely.

A haunting silence fell over the crowd as the main structure started to crack and crumble. Just as the first few beams of sunlight began to stream from behind the mountain, the center of the lodge collapsed. Watching the bizarre scene created a swirl of vastly polarized emotions within me. Though I tried to show no sign of it outwardly, and no one was any wiser, it was with glee I imagined the bodies of Chris and his father burning inside. In so many ways, this was a cleansing fire, stripping away the old to make way for the new. We had insurance and rebuilding went without question, so to see the last part of my past life turn to ash was healing in a way.

The sun gave us a false hope that we’d managed to survive the storm. With a beautiful cloudless blue sky growing brighter above, it felt like the worst was behind us. And for a few moments, we forgot we were still literally left in the cold without any real refuge. Well, everyone but Bryan forgot. He had everything under control.

Having the snowcats fueled and poised at the edge of the parking lot was a brilliant stroke of luck. I stopped Bryan just as he started to climb into one.

“Babe, your leg.”

He paused, his hand resting on the handle of the door as the giant machine idled beside us. “There’s no way I’m walking with the rest of you,” he replied calmly. “Why don’t you give me Jack? I can settle him beside me in the cab. It’s warm and you’ll be free to help anyone who needs it.”

I burst into tears, surprising the both of us. I flung myself into his chest with enough force to knock him back. I’d hit my breaking point. This man had been shot, nearly killed, and had spent the last three days doing nothing but selflessly looking out for everyone else. And now, even with a bleeding bullet wound in his leg, he kept going.

“Christ, I love you so much,” I said, muffled into his chest.

He chuckled as he nuzzled into my hair. “I love you, too, crazy woman.”

It was hard for me to let go of Jack, but without any winter clothes, he was safest in the heated cab. Like a flood of refugees, we followed the packed path the groomers created as Bryan and the other drivers led us away from the lodge. It was slow going. The snowcats weren’t designed to clear and smooth such a huge volume of snow. In a long train, we walked behind the four massive machines as they cut and pressed the snow pack.

Those who could, helped those who couldn’t. When we passed a house close enough to the road with a large gap between the trees to accommodate the snowcat, Bryan would flatten a path to the front door. The neediest in the group would peel away. Breaking down doors, shattering windows, forcing themselves inside to wait for rescue. Thirty, forty people packed into a house but it didn’t matter. After what we’d been through, it’d feel like a vacation.

Miah dragged Dani in a sled. She was awake, but the damage to her lungs left her too weak to walk for long. With the bandage still wrapped tightly around his head, the tough kid would leave her with me for a moment to help others get situated before coming back to continue our march. Marie and her parents begged him to come with them when they could no longer carry on, but he refused to leave Dani’s side. Walt stepped in and said he’d keep them company.

We stuck it out to the bitter end, until the last of the town had found refuge in their neighbor’s houses. I gingerly climbed up into the cab to talk with Bryan.

“The house is only around the corner. Do you think…”

Bryan looked at me as if he were about to deliver bad news. “Liz, you need to prepare yourself for the very real idea that it’s gone. You think they didn’t burn it down?”

I nodded and gazed down the hill. “I know. We could just go look, right? If it’s still there, we get to be home for the night. If it isn’t, we turn around and come back here.” He chewed the inside of his cheek and before he could protest, I jumped in with a plea I knew he couldn’t deny. “Please? It’s all I want for Christmas.”

“Santa already gave you his present,” he replied dryly. I think it was less him trying to protect me and more that he didn’t want to face the truth himself. I gave him a moment to mull it over before he finally nodded. “It’ll be faster if you get everyone in here.”

Miah climbed in first and pulled Dani in after, settling her onto his lap. I held Jack in mine and pressed against Bryan, careful not to nudge his leg. It took nearly a half an hour of slowly clearing, reversing, clearing, reversing to crawl around the bend in the road. I strained to see through the trees and where I expected a pile of charred rubble, stood our home. Our perfect, beautiful house nestled in the forest, intact and untouched.

I’d managed to hold it together for days but for the second time, I burst into tears. I’d fully prepared myself for the worst, but watching that house come into view was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen. Our beds, our clothes, wood stacked for the fire, Jack’s crib and toys, the tree… we were home.
Home.

Dani patted my leg as I sniffled and tried to get a grip. When I flashed her a smile, she snorted a quick laugh. “Of course, you do realize you packed the entire pantry when we went up to the lodge. The five of us are gonna have to live off a sleeve of crackers and rancid eggnog.”

“You’re probably right,” I laughed. “And it’ll be freakin’ delicious.”

The moment we walked into the house, I was hit with a burst of energy. I settled Bryan on the sofa, insisting he keep his leg elevated and stationary like Dusty had instructed. Miah got the fire going while I inspected the generator
,
which kicked on fine. I’m not ashamed to admit I did a little happy dance when it turned on. We had plenty of diesel to see us through a day, maybe two if we conserved. If help hadn’t arrived by then, we still had nearly a full cord of wood in the back. I’d just have to go all pioneer woman and cook by flame.

I flew around the house, multi-tasking like a motherfucker… at least, that’s what I said to myself. I found a fresh change of clothes for Bryan and Miah, the first aid kit, and set up Jack’s camping crib by the sofa. After getting oatmeal cooking on the stove, I boiled water for tea and began defrosting a mystery piece of meat I’d managed to dig up from the bottom of the chest freezer.

Bryan grabbed my wrist as I set down a cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal. “Stop. Liz, sit here for a second and…”

“I’ll be right back, I just have to…”

His grip tightened and I had no choice. With a huff and roll of the eyes that would’ve rivaled any of Dani’s, I sat on the coffee table. “What?”

“Your arm,” he whispered as he leaned forward.

I’d hoped he’d forgotten about it. The damn thing pulsed with pain every time it moved. When no one was looking, I had to slip it into my shirt as a makeshift sling just to keep it stabilized. With Bryan out of commission, I didn’t want him worrying about me. Once we were safe and settled, I’d worry about it. Unfortunately, I knew that look and I wasn’t going to get away.

“I’m fine, seriously.”

“Can I just check?”

He felt along my arm from the shoulder down. I tried to hide my grimace when he reached my elbow, but he knew me too well for that. Plus, the shirt was torn and caked with dried blood from the impact.

“You broke your elbow,” he said simply. “Why didn’t you tell Dusty or Melinda?”

“Because there’s nothing they can do,” I said, pulling away. My secret injury out in the open, I was free to tuck my arm into my shirt for support, but I wasn’t about to slow down. “Considering the alternative to what could’ve happened, I would’ve gladly broken both.”

We both looked to Jack who was happily sleeping in the cot, wrapped in fresh clean clothes and blissfully unaware of the danger he’d just escaped. I wanted to hold him close to me, check his hearing, but thought food and rest were more important.

I glanced over to the stove where the oatmeal was steaming and bubbling. “We’re all starving. Am I free to go, Doctor?” I asked with a half-smile.

Bryan slipped his hand behind my head and brought my forehead down to his mouth. “I love you.”

I kissed his cheek before pulling away, the bristles of his beard scratching my skin. “I love you, too.”

It wasn’t the cold that kept the four of us together in the living room. After so many days trapped inside with so many people, it felt unnatural to be alone. I’m sure a psychologist would have a term or syndrome to describe it, but we needed to decompress together. The things we’d been through were too much for a person to try to understand on their own. We read, talked here and there, but I think we craved the normality so we could slide back into our lives again. To be honest, it was simply a relief to worry about only five people, not fifty.

Hours later, Miah stood to stoke the fire. “That’s the last log,” he whispered, glancing at Bryan asleep behind me on the sofa. I set my book down and moved to stand up. “No, please. Just tell me where the wood is and I’ll get it.”

“I’ve been reading the same page for the last ten minutes,” I quietly protested.

“Go down the hall, last door on the left to the basement, axe should be by the back door,” Dani cut in. “Want me to come with you?”

He collected the wood carrier and stooped to give her a kiss. “You stay put, too. I’ll just be a minute.”

I kept my eye on her as she watched him disappear down the hall. I knew that look. Even though she was too young to be having it, there it was regardless. Relationships forged under high stress are the strongest of all. Whether she realized it or not, she’d fallen hard for that one.

“He’s cute,” I whispered.

When our eyes met, I expected the usual anger, maybe a nasty comment. I wasn’t sure where our relationship stood, but now was as good a time as any to test it. Much to my surprise, Dani looked down bashfully.

“He’s pretty frickin’ great, actually.”

“I’d say so. Fair warning, though. It’s easy to fall for a guy who saves your life,” I smirked as I nodded toward Bryan.

A genuine smile curled her lips as she went from bashful to downright embarrassed. The roar of a snowmobile zoomed by outside, one of dozens we’d heard after settling into the house. Another sign that the world was digging out from under the weight of the snow.

“I wish I could call my mom. I’m sure she’s been having a near-constant panic attack since the last email I sent her.”