He did! He tapped to call him. After several rings, a man’s groggy voice came on the line. “Hello?”
“Knox? This is Connor Greene. I don’t know if you still remember me from when I used to skate— ”
“Connor! Of course, I still remember you.” His voice was sounding much more alive, the grogginess slowly falling from it. “Remember how I had all the jerseys from the current Glaciers’ team up on the wall in the rink?”
“I do.”
“When the Thunderstorm signed you, I was one of the first people to buy your jersey. It’s been hanging next to them ever since. I tell everyone who comes in that you used to skate here.”
“Really?” The man remembered him? And not in a bad way?
“Yep. And you better believe that I have a Glaciers one with your name on the back on pre-order already.”
“I am really touched. Thank you.” He glanced out at the white landscape and the snow that was still falling at the same relentless pace. “The reason I’m calling you is that I’m stuck in the snow.”
“Oh no. Do you need me to come rescue you?”
“No. The roads are too bad to help. I was actually driving to rescue someone else when I got stuck. A woman that I’ve realized I’m in love with, right after foolishly causing some damage to our relationship that I’m hoping isn’t irreparable. She’s not far from where I am, which is close to the rink. I’m wondering if you still keep a key outside.”
“Oh, for sure. It’s in the same place, actually.”
In the broken grout between bricks right below the window near the back?”
“That’s it. When you get her there, take her to my office. It should be unlocked. It’s the warmest place in the building, and there’s a space heater.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and Connor? I’m still rooting for you.”
Connor could tell that the man was referring to more than just hockey, and his voice came out a little choked as he said, “Thank you.”
He stuffed the pajama pants and socks into the front of his coat, put his glove back on, grabbed the shovel from his back seat, and started shoveling his way toward Katie. The snow was deep, and not only was trudging through it going to be difficult, but he needed to keep from getting so wet that he wouldn’t be as helpful to Katie.
He wanted to run to Katie, yet he was making his way toward her so slowly. To distract himself from the anxiety of needing to get to her quickly— she had been out there for hours already— he named something he loved about her with each shovelful of snow.She’s competitive. Shovel.She’s creative. Shovel.She believes family is important. Shovel.
Shovelful after shovelful, he thought about her.She is a good friend. She’s talented. She’s skilled. She helps out others. She makes me laugh. She helps me to see the good in everything. She keeps me grounded. She’s tenacious. She has strong convictions. She’s thoughtful.She’s strong-willed and persistent. I like the way her mind works. She makes me feel like I can be myself.
Why did he ever think that leaving this place was something he could possibly do? It wasn’t. If he’d gotten his head away from the negative things that had bombarded him in such quick succession, none of this would’ve happened.
Finally, he neared her car. It had slid off the road and was sitting on an angle, so it would likely take a tow truck to pull it out. And there was so much snow on top of it that she must feel like she was inside an ice box.
He went up to her door and wiped away the snow from her window. She sat in the driver’s seat, wrapped in a blanket, hunched over and shivering. She didn’t seem to notice him at first, so he knocked on the glass with the knuckle of his gloved right finger. Her head immediately spun toward the sound, and he watched as recognition and then relief washed over her face, followed by a smile. It was an exhausted smile, but that smile lifted his spirits like nothing else.
She was okay. Not great, obviously, but she couldn’t have managed a smile unless she was at least okay.
He shoveled the area in front of her door, then opened it, and she said, “Connor, you came!”
Oh. She lookedverycold. He gave her a smile he hoped was encouraging and didn’t show the worry he felt. “My car got stuck, too, but I know somewhere warm we can go to wait for help. It’s just over a block away, maybe a block and a half. Do you think you can walk?”
She nodded, then unwrapped the blanket and handed him a dog. It was a little thing, with soft creamy fur, who looked like he was very content to lay on Katie’s lap. He tucked the dog into one arm, then offered her a hand. With muscles that seemed either sore or frozen— or both— she stepped out onto the space he had shoveled.
“We are headed down this way to an ice rink I used to skate at. I’ll have to shovel the snow as we go, and you’ll need to follow behind me holding the dog.” He raised an eyebrow, asking if it was something she thought she could do in her current state.
“I’ve got this,” she said.
He nodded. “Of course you do.” He handed her the dog and then helped to get her blanket situated around herself and the dog, clutching it tight at the front. Then the two of them started making their way toward the rink. They walked with their heads down, trying to keep the falling snow off their faces.
It was cold and he was exhausted, but he had to admit that the landscape was pretty incredible. White blanketed everything, leaving only mounds indicating that a rock, or a shrub, or a mailbox was present. Even the sky was white. The kind of bluish-white that could only happen in the middle of the night during a snowstorm.
