“What are we doing?”
“We’re going to have to wait out the storm here. We can find our way to the main cabin once the snow stops falling. Until then, visibility is so bad, we’re going to get stuck again if we try to press on. And the next time, we may not get back out.” He fixed her with a serious look. “It’s our best option.”
The idea of being stuck anywhere with Grey didn’t appeal to her at all. But being stuck with him in a cabin sounded a whole lot better than the cab of the pickup truck. She grabbed her small bag and slung it over one shoulder. “Let’s see if anyone’s home.”
Chapter Three
Grey thought he’d been prepared to come face to face with Cora again. But playing through the scenario in his mind and actually seeing her was an entirely different thing.
She looked about the same as she had before. Her long, blond hair flowed over her shoulders to cascade to the middle of her back. He used to love running his fingers through her silky hair. She complained that it was too thin—too boring. He was happy to see she hadn’t changed it because, as far as Grey was concerned, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’d always been beautiful.She’dalways been beautiful. He’d thought so since the first day he saw her in junior high. It’d only taken him a couple of years to work up the courage to ask her out, their freshman year of high school.
The first time she looked at him with love in her pretty hazel eyes, he’d been wrapped around her little finger.
Grey shook away his thoughts before he started to dwell on what had changed all of that. Instead, he watched her get out of the truck.
She may look much the same as she had five years ago, but there was something very different about her. It was the way she carried herself. Her shoulders were back and her chin high. Not in a snobbish way, more like an air of confidence.
A general lack of faith in herself was something she’d struggled with back then. Of course, with the kind of childhood she had, it was no surprise. She’d done well for herself, considering.
Maybe that need to protect her had been part of what drew him to her in the first place. It hadn’t taken long to fall hopelessly in love with her after that.
It was all in the past, though. He’d let go of his feelings for her when they divorced. They’d both moved on, and that’s the way it was supposed to be. He’d thought he’d done just that, too. Until now. Some of those old feelings tried to bubble their way back to the surface. He put a lid on them and shoved them back into the closet where they belonged.
Cora didn’t need him to protect her anymore. Probably didn’t want it. Except here they were, stuck together in the middle of a blizzard. Those instincts to watch out for her were already kicking in again.
Snowflakes blew past her with another wind gust as they picked through the snow to the front door of the cabin. It almost gave her an ethereal quality: An image he doubted he’d forget anytime soon.
He forced his attention to the cabin. He was certain it was empty, but the last thing he wanted to do was surprise anyone. He knocked several times. When no one answered, he knocked again and accompanied that with a loud, “Hello!” Nothing.
He wasn’t normally a fan of breaking and entering, but this was a different situation. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t wait long enough to see if Cora would object. Instead, he jogged as best he could through the snow to the back door with a glass window in it. As was the case at every cabin, there was a covered storage shed nearby stocked with firewood. He found a piece and easily broke one panel out of the window.
Once he’d cleared away the glass debris, he reached an arm through and unlocked the door before letting himself inside.
After knocking as much snow off his boots as he could on the mat just inside, he went through the house and opened the front door for Cora. She stared at him in surprise.
“Do I want to know how you got in?”
“Probably not.”
“I didn’t think so.” She raised her brows at him before clomping inside. She took her boots off by the door. “I’m not sure it’s much warmer in here.”
“I doubt it is, either.” He tried the light switch nearby with no success. “They must keep the power off to the cabins that aren’t rented. That or the electricity went out in the area.”
Grey took his cell phone out of his pocket and tried to call his mom. Service was so poor that the call didn’t go through. It could be an indication of the electricity being out for the cell tower, or maybe the storm itself was just messing with the service.
Cora watched over his shoulder. She pulled her own cell phone out but slipped it back into her pocket moments later.
“I’m going to try sending a text to my mom to let her know we’re okay.” Grey typed out a short note and hit send. “Sometimes texts will go through when a call can’t. It’s worth a try, anyway.”
“I’m thankful they all got here yesterday and no one else is stuck in this.”
“Me, too.” Even if the power had gone out, at least his family was safe. Although the thought of them stuck in a cabin together with no way to escape sounded like a nightmare waiting to happen.
Cora craned her neck to look through the window in the front door toward the pickup truck. “I’m going to head back out and get my luggage before it gets any worse.”
Grey surveyed the front living area until his gaze rested on the hearth. Everything they needed to make a fire had already been brought in and readied for the next guest. Just thinking about sitting around a warm hearth started a flood of memories. There was a time when a roaring fire was something he equated with Cora for many different reasons. But their relationship had gone cold, just like every fire eventually did. “You’ve already got your boots off. I’ll go get your suitcase. Do you remember how to start a fire?” The encroaching memories and the emotions behind them made his question come out much more gruffly than he’d intended.
