Cora frowned at him. “I can get my own bag.” She spun on her heel toward the door, but Grey caught her by the elbow.
“Seriously, Cora. There’s no need for you to get your boots on again when I can easily carry both suitcases back in one trip. If you don’t remember how to build a fire, I’ll get one going when I get back.” He’d tried to soften his voice but wasn’t sure how well he’d succeeded. He wasn’t trying to be bossy, it was just common sense for her to stay indoors when he was still dressed for the storm outside.
She jerked her arm out of his hand. “I think I can manage.” Without looking at him, she walked toward the hearth.
There were a lot of things the years might have changed about both of them, but the meaning of her walk wasn’t one of them. He’d seen her mad plenty of times, especially during the last six months of their marriage. And here it’d taken him less than an hour to make her mad. Grey wasn’t sure if the realization made him sadder or annoyed with himself.
He turned his frustration into action as he followed their footsteps through the snow to the truck. Flakes still fell hard as he got his carry-on bag and both of their suitcases. He locked the door of the pickup before heading back to the cabin.
Even with the heavy snowfall, it was clear the sun was getting lower in the sky. Staying at this cabin overnight was the right decision, even if the emotional air in the room might be as frigid as the temperatures outside.
He got the luggage in, closed the door behind him, and removed his boots. He wasn’t ready to take off his jacket yet, though. Not until there was a fire burning in the hearth and at least some of this chill was beginning to evaporate.
“How’s it going over here?” Grey crouched down beside her.
She’d gathered a lot of smaller kindling and put that in a pile. Larger pieces of kindling were in another, and finally she’d chosen a couple of logs. She turned her head to look at him. “I could get this fire started eventually, but you’ll get it going faster. I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing.” She handed him the fire starter that had been hanging near the hearth.
He accepted her peace offering. Besides, Cora was right. He’d taught her how to make a fire a long time ago, but unless she’d become a bushcrafter since then, he still had a lot more experience.
Grey took the knife he’d used to cut down branches and went to work shaving feathers of wood off a stick into a small pile. That would ignite first and hopefully give him the time he needed to get the rest of it lit.
Ten minutes later, he was carefully breathing life into the flame that flickered in the hearth. Only then did he realize how much the room had darkened.
When he thought it was hot enough, he added one of the larger logs. “There we go.” He nodded toward the back of the cabin. “There’s plenty of wood in the storage building outside. As long as we can keep this fire going, we’ll at least stay warm in here.”
Cora nodded. “That’s good.” She scooted a little closer and held her hands out toward the flame.
Grey wasn’t sure if the sigh that escaped her lips was one of contentment or relief. Most likely, it was a mixture of the two.
Once that larger log caught, he added the second one and was able to sit back for a while. Suddenly, he remembered the window in the back door that he’d broken through. The chilly air would come in quickly if he didn’t do something to block it. He stood again, and Cora joined him with a curious look.
He took his flashlight out, turned it on, and went down the hall to discover that the cabin had two bedrooms. He took a pillow from one of them.
Cora followed him and watched as he stuffed the pillow into the open panel of the window. Without a word, she opened several nearby cabinets and closets until she returned with a dust pan and broom. When she was done, she deposited the broken glass in the trash can underneath the sink.
They stood looking at each other, the only light coming from Grey’s flashlight and what little was left from the muted daylight outside.
Grey motioned toward the cabinets. “I don’t suppose you saw any food in there.”
“Not a can.”
He hadn’t expected there to be, but something to eat sounded pretty good right now.
His phone trilled, making poor Cora jump. Grey pulled it out of his pocket, relieved to see the text. “Mom got my message. She’s glad we’re somewhere safe for the night. They still have power there somehow. I’m going to let her know we got a fire started.”
They walked back to the living room where the fire had already begun to warm the cabin air. He noticed Cora finally unzipped her coat and hung it up on the coat rack by the front door. As soon as Grey sent his text, he did the same. He used the fire poker to adjust the wood and added another log. “It’s already making a big difference in here.”
“Yeah, it is.” She nodded toward his phone. “Is everyone safe and warm there?”
“Yep, they’re all good. Mom said they’ve been praying we’d find somewhere to hunker down. Flynn thinks we should try and get to the main cabin by foot tomorrow once the blizzard lets up.”
Cora’s eyes widened. “Do you think we could make it?”
“Definitely. It can’t be more than an hour or so. Even if it’s two hours, the only thing this house is offering us right now is shelter. Apparently, when Grandpa had set up reservations, he’d had the main cabin stocked with food.”
As if on cue, Cora’s stomach let loose with a low growl. The fire already cast an orange glow on her face, but he was certain a pink tinge had joined it.
Grey smiled at her. “You know, we’re going to need some water, too.” He went in search of a pan and glasses in the kitchen. He set two glasses down on a small table in the living room before stepping out on the front porch and filling the pan with snow. Once he’d returned, he put the pan near the fire so the snow would melt.
