Trapped with the Blizzard (5 page)

“Sweetheart, you
saved
my life. I was totally out to sea when I first met you. Your specific brand of insanity brought me back from the brink,” he replied quickly. “From the moment you flipped me off on that bridge, I was hooked.”

I didn’t know what to say. We’d talked about it, sure, but I’d never heard him come right out and say it in so many words. I’d always carried around a burden of guilt at what my presence had done to his life. I was like the Pied Piper of bad karma, leading little rats of evil into people’s lives.

“Do you regret getting involved with me? All the fame, the attention…” he said, unable to meet my eye.

“I didn’t even know what the hell The Blizzard was,” I laughed, shaking my head. I still remembered Googling his name and being shocked at all the results. Downhill skier, his father’s death, rumors of being an abusive playboy with a substance abuse problem. “Seems almost impossible now, doesn’t it?” He snorted and nodded, still waiting for my answer. “No, absolutely not. You saved me, too. Figuratively and literally! You were there for me when I needed help, even if I fought you along the way.”

The wine, the lights, the amazing open conversation… we both gazed into each other’s eyes for a few heartbeats, truly seeing each other. In the craziness of everyday life, running the mountain, raising a kid, trying to keep the momentum going on our side projects, we didn’t get many moments where we could just sit and be.

He took my hand and threaded his fingers with mine. “Do you remember the Christmas Eve we spent in my granddad’s cabin?”

My head rocked back as I chuckled. “Nope. Not a thing about it. What happened again?”

He shifted closer and I felt that familiar flutter in my chest. “I could tell you… or I could show you,” he said, his hazel eyes lifting to mine.

“I seem to remember something happening in front of a fire…” I said with a squint, as if trying to summon a deep memory.

The corner of Bryan’s mouth curled as he slid even closer, his head dipping low to find my mouth. This was no Mommy, Daddy quick peck as we parted ways for the day. This was Bryan and Liz… hot, heavy, insistent. Our lips touched, his tongue warm and soft against mine. As he’d always done, he left me breathless and wanting more.

I watched the way the light danced across his features, looking so similar to that first night we’d spent together in front of a roaring fire. I’d completely bared my soul that night, utterly prepared for him to run and hide. I showed him the scars I’d thought would always define me. And now, I hardly remembered they were there. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have him in my life. Just as I leaned in for another kiss, he stopped short and surprised me with a question he’d never asked before.

“Do you ever think you missed out?” he asked quickly, again, not meeting my eye.

“Missed out?” I repeated, confused.

“Yeah, I mean, because I’m the only one you’ve ever been with.”

I rush of air left my nose as I leaned back, almost as if the question had knocked the breath out of me. “Honestly?” He looked up at me with a glimmer of fear in his eye that threatened to break my heart. “I’d never even thought about it.”

“I’m being serious…” he started.

“And so am I! Why would I ever,” I said as I pushed him back against the sofa, “want another man,” I continued as I straddled him, “when I have you?”

Bryan grinned despite himself as his hands slipped under my thick sweater. My body hadn’t completely bounced back from the pregnancy yet. Stretch marks, the poochy stomach… but the self-consciousness was all in my head. Bryan never made me feel like anything other than the sexiest woman in the world. The heat we’d felt back in Walt’s shop immediately reignited, just as quickly as the fire behind us.

“Is it totally weird I’m into this given everything we went through tonight?” he whispered against my neck.

“We just have a different threshold for stress compared to other people,” I replied as I reached down his pants.

Jack made a few faint cries on the monitor behind us. My hand froze an inch away from my prize. We both held our breath, hoping Jack was only stirring a little and would go right back to sleep. But the wail that echoed through the monitor, and the rest of the house, shut everything down.

I collapsed against Bryan’s shoulder. “That little guy can be such a cock-blocker,” I laughed. I slid to the side, my leg still draped across his lap.

“I’ll go take care of him. Meet you upstairs in bed?”

I stared into his eyes and thanked every bad decision and stroke of luck that had gotten me here. “It’s my turn. You go check outside ‘cause I know you want to.”

He tilted my chin up and kissed me deeply, my chest arching in response. He lifted my legs, stood, and folded me back onto the sofa.

“If I fall asleep, wake me up,” I said, biting my lip as I watched his ass as he walked away.

December 23rd

I woke up the next morning with my head resting on Bryan. Before I opened my eyes, I laid listening to the beat of his heart. The gentle rise and fall of his chest nearly lulled me back to sleep until the litany of the day’s tasks came flooding into my mind.

I have to go to the lodge and hand out presents, bake cookies… shit, I need to go to the store and get baking powder first…

And then the weight of the night before crashed down around me.
Walt.
A weary sadness threatened to derail the serene moment. It was bad enough his shop and apartment went up in flames, but having to stand there and watch it burn was insult to injury. Plus, the arsonist was growing braver. To do it in the middle of town with so many people around? Ballsy and terrifying.

As much as I didn’t want to, I softly rolled from under Bryan’s arm and slipped from the bed. I plucked my flannel bathrobe from the corner chair and stepped into my fuzzy leopard print slippers. Hey, I never claimed to be a style icon. Before heading to the bathroom, I shuffled over to a window to check how much snow had fallen overnight.

Bryan didn’t have to go into work early, so I was looking forward to a peaceful breakfast by ourselves. The morning light streamed through the window, almost painful with the whiteness outside. The pine branches weighed heavy with a few inches of fresh snow. Everything looked picturesque and perfect, just like the Tellure Hollow I’d fallen in love with. I squinted into the brightness, rubbing my bleary eyes and searching for a point of reference. Every surface was coated with thick white powder. It wasn’t until I studied the terrain that I realized how much had actually accumulated.

“Holy shit,” I whispered harshly.

Bryan groaned and rolled over. “What is it?” he asked groggily.

I looked back into the dark room, my eyes blinded and slow to adjust. “I think we’re in for a rough couple days.”

When we opened the front door a few minutes later, we were met with at least two feet of fresh snow. The wind had drifted the fine powder against the house, leaving a perfectly straight, rigid barrier of snow. Bryan tipped over the delicate edge with his toe, frowned, and shut the door.

“That’s a lot more than I was expecting.” He sat at the counter while the smell of freshly brewing coffee filled the kitchen. I glanced over his shoulder to see he was checking the weather on his phone. “The storm totals haven’t changed since last night,” he mumbled.

A pulse of concern rippled through me. “I can’t help feeling like they don’t really know what’s happening. They like to act like they can predict down to the centimeter, but look,” I gestured. “That was supposed to be a couple inches. The real storm isn’t meant to start until later today and we were already getting snow last night.”

“Two inches to two feet, that’s quite the difference,” Bryan noted with concern.

“Can you imagine? They’re saying we’re supposed to get what… five feet total? If they got two inches wrong, we’d end up with twenty!”

“It’s not unheard of,” he shrugged. “Better get crackin’ on those cookies or we won’t have anything to eat.” He lifted his phone to his ear to listen to his voicemail.

I weaved a path around the kitchen as I got things ready for breakfast. My slippers
swished
across the stones as the coffeepot percolated with the last of the water. While looking for the pancake mix, I poked through the bottom cabinet where we also stored our liquor. I noticed a missing bottle of whiskey and a substantially lighter bottle of vodka.
Dammit,
Dani.
While I knew we had to face the issues of the day soon enough, I hoped I could at least have a quiet breakfast with Bryan first.

“Shit,” Bryan hissed. He stared at a spot in front of him, his eyebrows falling into a straight line.
So much for the quiet breakfast.

I was unaccustomed to hearing him curse anymore. “What’s up?”

His eyes flicked up to mine, worry creasing his features. “Everything is okay. No one got hurt.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What happened?” I asked as he continued to listen to messages. I feared the worst when the color rose in his cheeks. Bryan was pissed off.

He shook his head and set the phone on the table before looking back up. “I know you, Liz. Before you freak out, he’s okay,” he began.

I set the carton of eggs down on the counter, as I felt unbalanced. “Who? What happened? The fact you have to preface it with…”

“The house on Oak Drive burned down last night, but Walt got out in time.”

My hand flew to my mouth, covering my gasp. “He didn’t get hurt?” Bryan gave me a sideways look and I shook my head. “Right. Sorry. You already said that. What the hell happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Went up in the middle of the night, apparently. That was Dylan. He knows Walt doesn’t have any next-of-kin nearby so…”

“Why didn’t they call?” My voice was almost a shout. I squeezed my eyes shut, sending a silent prayer up to whoever might be listening. A serial arsonist in Tellure Hollow… it didn’t feel real.

“They did, several times. I had my phone on vibrate and just didn’t hear it.”

I braced myself against the counter as I shook my head. “Two buildings in one night? What the hell is wrong with this guy?” I couldn’t believe it. “Maybe he was at the festival last night, watching us,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “Jesus, Walt. That poor man… Oh God, our house.”

We stood in silence, both wrestling with a world flipped upside down. As the snow floated down from the sky, harmless yet dangerous, a maniac was on the loose in Tellure Hollow, hell-bent on burning it all to the ground.

Bryan could see my discomfort and came around the counter to hug me. I pressed my face against his chest, breathing his scent deep. Like so many times before, I found a little safe place wrapped in his arms, the calm amid the crazy. He kissed the side of my head and pulled away.

“I have a few calls to make.”

He didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to say it. But it was becoming more and more apparent these fires had something to do with us.

Twenty minutes later, I heard Dani stirring in her room upstairs. How I wished she were six instead of sixteen going on seventeen. Her favorite hobbies seemed to be spending time in the bedroom, skulking around the house, and generally making herself miserable to be around. All my attempts at connecting with her had been met with a brick wall. I mean, I understood the girl was angry and upset, but did she have to be so damn rude?