Dire

Gage pushed our bags aside and opened the back. I rolled my tongue around trying to get that gross morning taste out of my mouth. Unpacking my toothbrush seemed silly considering the bigger problems we had, so I fought the urge and accepted Gage’s hand when he went to help me down from the truck. As I jumped, he moved his hands to my waist, so when my feet met the cold hard snow, he was holding me in his arms. The snow had momentarily stopped, so I didn’t bother with my hood.

He didn’t release me for a moment, he just studied my face. Finally I had to break the silence that set in. “See anything you like?”

“Yes.” He kissed my forehead in a surprisingly affectionate gesture and took my hand. “But I figure I can’t just look at you all day.”

I bit back a smile and looked around. “That’s a lot of snow.”

Although the active snow fall had stopped, the snow on the ground was heavy and had blown around into drifts. Essentially the truck was in what looked and felt like a mountain of snow.

“You don’t happen to have a shovel back there, do you?”

“No.” He looked at the front of the truck. “Want to walk to the front of the cab or should I carry you?”

“I can manage.” Despite everything that had happened between us, I refused to look dependent on him.

“Ok, just be careful, and I think you should go through my side.”

“Lead the way.”

Gage carefully walked through the snow to the front of the truck. I followed, wincing as I sunk into the snow up to my knees.

“Frozen over.” He pounded on the door to break through some of the ice and frozen snow.

“Wonderful. You wouldn’t happen to have a scraper?”

“It’s in the cab.”

“Of course.” I shivered as another big gust of wind came through. I pulled on my hood. My ears were freezing and probably bright red.

I searched the snow for a rock or a stick to help us break through the frozen door handle. After my hands had turned red, I finally returned to the back of the truck for my gloves. They weren’t waterproof, but they’d at least offer some protection. Walking back was easier because I stepped in my sunken foot prints. I slipped on my leather gloves. I’d picked them out because you could still drive with them on. That wasn’t going to do me any good at the moment.

By the time I returned to the front of the truck Gage was already wrenching the door open. I hopped in first, carefully stepping over the center console to the passenger seat. The cab was cold, but it at least broke the wind.

Gage took his seat and tried to start the engine. It sputtered. “I’m going to take a look under the hood again.”

I put a hand on his arm to stop him. It felt so much more natural now to touch him. “Don’t bother. Even if we can get the car to start, it’s not like we can get it over these drifts.”

“We can get some warmth out of it though.”

I thought about it. The tank had been over half full, and it would be helpful to have some time to warm up.

“All right, let’s check the food supply first.”

I opened my bag. “I’ve got M&Ms, peanut butter cups, and two frozen Coke’s.”

“Frozen?” He pulled one from my bag and lightly shook the bottle. “I’d probably call it slushy. Which candy do you want?”

“The M&Ms, I don’t like peanut butter.”

“Then why do you have it?” He took the peanut butter cups from me.

“Add it to the stalker list.”

“You mean the good memory list.” He unwrapped the candy.

“I’m done pretending.” The candy was hard and cold, but at least it was something. I tried to savor each bite, wishing I’d spent the extra fifty cents on the king sized version.

Gage twisted the top on the coke. “I guess this counts as our morning coffee.”

“I guess so.” I tried to get some of the frozen slush out.

I crumpled up my candy wrapper and put it in one of the cup holder spots before putting the soda bottle on top of it. I wanted to at least try to keep his truck clean.

“Do you think you’re ready to try to get over the drift and check the road?”

“I don’t see any other choice. Afterward we can try the engine again.” I figured we should save it until we really needed it; that is if it even worked. “I’m going to have to get out your side again.”

“Come on over.” He held open his arms.

“Yeah, you get down first.”

“You know you want to sit on my lap.”

“As much as I appreciate that you still have your sense of humor, we need to stay serious.”

“I have to try.”

I put on a coat of chapstick, at least my lips would be comfortable. “I know.”

Gage put his hands around my waist and helped me down again. The motion was more natural this time.

“Thanks.”

“Any time.”

I looked at the thick snow. “I think the drift is slightly lower over there.” I pointed at a spot behind the truck.

“Agreed.” Gage took my hand firmly in his, and we clomped through the snow to reach it.

“What if I boosted you up there? Or I could toss you. Want me to do that? That’s what we do with the dogs back home.”

“Are you seriously going to compare me to your dogs?”

“I’m not comparing, I’m simply stating it might be easier than either of us exerting the effort to climb. It’s going to take a while to dig this out, and for all we know our cell phones will work up on the road.”

“Okay. Do it.”

He put his hands on my waist again. “Try to land on your feet.”

“Gee, thanks.”

I knew Gage was strong, but I was still surprised to find myself catapulted up on top of the drift. The snow started to collapse under me so I crawled further toward the road. The cold snow seeped through my jeans.

“You okay?” Gage called up.

“Wet, but fine.”

“Wet again already?”

“Shut up Gage!”

He laughed. “Just keeping it light. I’m going to take a look at the truck again. I’m not giving up on Bessy quite yet.”

If it weren’t for the tree line, it would have been impossible to tell where the road started. Everything was coated with heavy snow, and the snow drifts were crazy. But it wasn’t the snow that made everything seem so otherworldly, it was the silence. Aside from the sound of Gage struggling with the truck, I heard nothing. I took out my cell. No service. The emergency numbers still weren’t working either. I switched to roaming, but nothing. I tried my Wi Fi and texting just to be sure, but nothing for either.