Stuck in the Cabin (Exiled Dragons Book 8) Page 4

  Chapter Eight

  She awoke again a little more than an hour later. Something was not right here. The air around her was cold, and it felt like she was weighted down. Her arm was trapped beneath something and she struggled to turn and pull it free. As she drifted out of the darkness that held her, she realized she had been asleep in a strange place. Light was shining through the windows as she began to shake off the haze and register where she was and who was beside her.

  She had not thought too much of it earlier when she hadn’t been fully awake. Now, as the haze lifted and she blinked off the darkness, she immediately felt uneasy about the fact that she was intertwined with Neil. How was he going to react when he awoke to find himself spooned against her?

  Her best efforts to excise his arm from where it lay across her without waking him were futile. She managed to pull free just as he stirred and rolled over to blink sleepily at her. There was no denying how gorgeous he was. For a moment, she found herself overwhelmed by a desire for him to kiss her, but he only continued to look at her as if confused. She knew he had probably been completely unaware he was snuggling with her. It was just his body’s natural instinct to keep warm against her as he slept.

  “Why are you staring at me like I have a nail driven into my forehead?” she asked, her words almost cut off by a yawn.

  “I’m sorry. I just forgot where I was and woke up a little puzzled,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Wow, it is almost nine a.m. I can’t believe we slept so long in this ice box of a cabin. It doesn’t feel like the heat came back on during the night.”

  He rolled over and flipped the switch on the bedside lamp. Thankfully, the rest of the electricity was still on.

  “Yeah, doesn’t feel like it. I hope there is at least hot water in the shower,” she said, climbing out of bed and slipping on the fuzzy house shoes that sat by the bed.

  “You can’t take a shower yet,” he told her.

  “Why not?” she asked, now looking at him the same way he had been looking at her only moments ago, completely confused.

  “We have to go outside, and I don’t want you catching pneumonia from a few wet hairs or whatever. Besides, we could get pretty cold and nasty out there. You’ll appreciate a hot shower much more when we come back in. Look out the window…it’s still snowing. We aren’t leaving this mountain again today, and we have no heat and no firewood. It’s important that we do everything we can to either figure out what is wrong with the heat or find something to burn for warmth,” he told her.

  Stephanie looked at him wearily. She didn’t relish going out in this weather. It would be much better to just go downstairs and wait for Samantha to make her some breakfast, then pack and go home. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen since Samantha was as snowed out as they were in, so she had to do whatever Neil told her needed to be done. At least he had a clue what to do to survive in this mess. She would probably freeze to death without him.

  “Okay, let’s get going then,” she said. “I’ll go put on whatever warm clothes I can find to go out in this mess with you.”

  They climbed out of bed and went to their rooms to get dressed to go outside. Neil was doing something in the kitchen when she came downstairs. As he walked into the den, they each had to laugh at the hodgepodge layering of clothing they had selected to go out into the cold. Nothing matched, and everything was layered so heavily that they looked like that kid from A Christmas Story who falls down in the snow suit and can’t get up because it is so thick.

  “Well, aren’t we all the rage of Paris?” Neil said in an effeminate French accent.

  “I am rocking this outfit quite well,” Stephanie agreed. “You look…okay. A few more binge and purge sessions and you can fit into the new spring line by March.”

  “Funny. All right, enough silliness. You need something over your face,” he told her.

  “I don’t think I look that bad without makeup,” she said, feigning an offended tone.

  “You know what I mean. Here, take this scarf and wrap it around,” he told her, grabbing Mr. Johnston’s scarf from a nearby coat rack.

  “Ugh, smells like old man and scotch,” Stephanie mumbled as she wound the scarf around her face and tucked it in.

  Neil chuckled as he wrapped his own scarf around his face and handed her a serrated knife from the kitchen. He held up a small kitchen hatchet he had found and said, “Hereeeee’s Johnny” which came out a bit muffled from behind the scarf, but was loud enough for Stephanie to get a visual of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. It was nice to know he was keeping his sense of humor, no matter how unsettling and too close to home his reference might have been.

  “REDRUM” she replied, opening the door to step outside.

  The bitter wind hit them like a Mack truck. Even with all the layered clothing and a thick coat, it was like knives cutting into every inch of exposed skin. They would have to make quick work of whatever they did out here. The first order of business was to locate the central unit and see if they could figure out why it wasn’t working. If they could get the heat going, their problems were all solved. If not, they were going to have to find some wood to burn.

  Trudging through the snow, which was already up well past her knees and approaching his, they moved toward the left side of the house and found nothing there. Walking around the corner toward the back, they were shocked to find that the entire lower half of the house was packed in with snow. It looked like there had been a small avalanche down the side of the mountain behind them and it had hit the back of the house.

  They each wondered how they couldn’t have heard such a huge volume of snow hit the house. If they had made more than a cursory glance out the windows, they would have seen it. They now understood why the heat stopped working. The unit was probably buried under the weight of the snow, possibly even damaged by it and who knew where to start looking to try to dig it out.

  “There’s a small shed on the other side of the house. Let’s walk back around and see if the unit is on that side. If not, it’s buried under all that snow, and we’ll need some shovels or something to try to dig it out,” he yelled at her through the howling wind around them. She nodded and they turned back to walk around the house. Both of their faces fell as they rounded the other corner and saw that there was no unit visible there, either. They continued on to the shed.

  Inside, they found a large snow shovel, a regular shovel, and a wheelbarrow, but no other tools of any use. They really needed a chainsaw or even a hacksaw, but there was nothing like that in there. Neil was guessing that Mr. Johnston had someone that came up and did that for him. He probably only had shovels because someone left them there or because he was forced to clear away the walkway himself from time to time. There were some scrap pieces of wood and they took quick note of them in case they weren’t able to free the unit.

  Armed with their shovels, they began at the corner of the house, throwing shovels of snow off behind them in an effort to work their way around the house and find the unit. They were making pretty good headway for a while, but then there was a loud crunch as a large tree branch fell and narrowly missed them. Neil instinctively grabbed Stephanie and pulled her into his arms protectively, letting her go only after he saw the danger had passed.

  They stood there and looked at each other for a moment before turning back around to see that the branch had pushed another pile of snow down toward the house, filling the empty space they had been creating with a fresh load that had buried their quickly abandoned shovels beneath it. They stared at the now heavier load of snow that was pushed up against the back of the house. They were already half frozen and were back at square one.

  “Screw it,” Neil muttered. “Come on, Stephanie.

  Stephanie followed him back to the shed where he began picking up every piece of loose wood he could find. There were a lot of remnants from where work had been done around the house, and it was all about to become firewood. Stephanie pulled the wheelbarrow out of the corner and they started
loading it down with everything they could find. By the time they were done, they had it full of everything that would fit in the fireplace. They attempted to chop up some longer pieces with the knife and hatchet, but succeeded only in breaking the tools.

  Armed with what they could find, they headed back to the house and began unloading the wheelbarrow into the house, stacking it in the wood tray by the fireplace. It wasn’t nearly enough to get them through the night. They sat down to assess the situation for a moment as they attempted to thaw their frozen digits in a house only slightly warmer than it was outside.

  “What about the swing on the front porch?” Stephanie suggested. “I saw that it was screwed and bolted together. I think the sections would be short enough to fit in the fireplace if we took it apart.”

  “No, we can’t. Its green…means it has been treated with chemicals. It would be toxic if we burned it inside of the house,” he told her. “We are going to have to make do with what we have, and if it comes to it, we’ll start burning whatever we can find in this house to burn. Mr. Johnston will be livid, I’m sure, but the hell with him. It’s cold, and we’re stranded.”

  “The stove, it’s electric. We can turn it on broil and turn the eyes on. My mom was always complaining about how cooking heated up the house so much. It’s not going to heat this whole place, but it will heat enough to take the chill off part of the area that surrounds it,” Stephanie said, pleased with her sudden epiphany.

  “Great idea. Let’s make ourselves something to eat and then we’ll leave it all on when we are done,” he said.

  Still in their layered clothing, they went to the kitchen to make themselves some lunch. They had been outside way too long and the exertion had left both of them starving. Both of them wanted to get a fire going, but they needed to conserve it for night when the sun dropped, along with the temperature. After a quick lunch of some grilled cheese sandwiches and reheated soup that Samantha must have made and froze ahead of time, they left the stove on and began taking inventory around the house of everything that could be burned for warmth.

  Neil dumped a couple of indoor wooden planters, along with the plants they held, out by the front porch, and they began breaking them apart with a ball peen hammer that Stephanie found in a small toolbox in the pantry. They went their separate ways, making notes on what they could burn if needed once they ran out of the wood they had already gathered. Along with that information, they had gathered candles and flashlights that they found around the house just in case they lost electricity on top of their current predicament.

  The real prize in their search was an FM radio so they could actually hear the weather and see how bad things might get. For all of the electronics in the cabin and the ones they had brought with them, there was absolutely nothing that would reach the outside world in current circumstances except this old, eighties-style boombox Stephanie found in the back of a closet. They could only hope it actually worked and would get reception.

  Chapter Nine

  “This snowstorm is a killer, folks. We urge everyone to stay indoors. With temperatures only getting up to the lower twenties during the day and dipping just below zero at night, we are experiencing record lows with this freak blizzard. It shows no signs of slowing down for at least another day or so, and then crews will get out and work on clearing off some roads for travel...” the voice on the radio crackled. Stephanie looked at Neil and frowned.

  “We’re going to be stuck here during Christmas, Neil,” she said woefully.

  “Maybe not, Stephanie. If it starts clearing tomorrow, maybe they’ll get the roads cleared enough for us to get out of here.

  “You know that’s not going to happen, Neil. I appreciate you trying to keep me on the positive side. Unfortunately, what I am positive about is that we are going to spend Christmas in this cabin burning Mr. Johnston’s possessions to keep warm. I just hope we have enough to keep us from freezing to death before it clears,” she said dejectedly.

  “We won’t freeze, Stephanie. I promise. If all else fails, we’ll burrow up in all those blankets in the middle of the kitchen floor near the stove,” he told her.

  “If anyone had told me that I would be relying on you for body heat someday, I’d have thought they were crazy.”

  “Come on, Stephanie. It’s just all part of being as hot as I am. I’m the perfect man to keep your body temperature nice and toasty,” he told her.

  “Even in a crisis, you are damned cocky,” she told him, smiling.

  “There are worse people you could be stuck on a mountain with, Stephanie,” he said. His tone was light, but there was something in it that told her she had struck a nerve somehow.

  “Yes, I would imagine that vampires and zombies would be less fortunate,” she said, not really understanding where her sudden venom toward him was coming from.

  “I don’t think they like other cold-blooded creatures,” he said quietly, his voice sounded more hurt even as he retaliated.

  “Neil, I’m sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess, and stress makes me behave badly,” she said. It was very unlike her to apologize, but she felt he deserved one. No matter how she felt about him as co-worker, she had seen a different side of him since they had been here. He had done nothing to deserve her little barbs.

  “It’s okay. I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you build the fire. The sun is already starting to set, and it’s getting colder in here, even with the oven on. Maybe a little pyromania will make you feel better. Just think about how Johnston got us stuck up here and get even with him by burning his stuff to keep us warm,” he said with a half-smile.

  “I don’t know how to build a fire, Neil,” she told him. She stood biting her lower lip for a moment and looking at the floor before looking back up at him. “I’m really glad you are here. How about I go start us some dinner while you do the hard work?” she said, feeling very emotional all of a sudden.

  The day had passed quickly, with them both absorbed in taking inventory of everything useful in the cabin. As she began to walk away, she felt tears already rolling down her face. She was cold, tired, and scared. It seemed like it was all catching up with her at once.

  “Stephanie,” he began, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her back around to face him. Tears were falling down her face, and he reached up to wipe them away before pulling her to him and hugging her close to his chest. “I won’t let anything happen to you. We’re going to be okay. Just let it out of your system. I won’t tell a soul.”

  That’s exactly what she did, sobbing against him as he held her and stroked her hair. She wasn’t sure how long they stood together like that, but she finally managed to get herself together and pull away. She looked up at him, knowing her face must be blotchy and puffy from crying, and he smiled down at her. It was that same smile that she had come to loathe at the office, his perfectly spaced, sparkling white teeth shining brilliantly like a beacon to anyone that looked his way. Somehow – this time – she understood why it brought return smiles from everyone in its path.

  Then, he was kissing her. She lost all sense of every bad thing she had ever thought about him. His mouth was hot against hers, leaving her suddenly feeling much warmer all over. Her toes tingled as the surge of electricity he sparked ran down her center and split along each of her legs until it reached the point where it had nowhere left to go. A familiar ache rose from within, something she hadn’t felt in a long time, and she melted into him, enjoying the unexpected kiss until it was disrupted.

  “I’m sorry, Stephanie,” he said, pulling away. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why not?” she asked, no longer thinking about anything other than how he had tasted and felt inside her mouth. She found herself wondering how he would feel inside of her.

  “We’re co-workers. When we leave this place, we will be going back to our lives at the office, and I don’t want it to be awkward between us because we crossed any lines we shouldn’t have,” he said, studying her face.

 
; “I see. Of course, you’re right. It was just a reaction to our situation,” she said, not believing it for one moment, but knowing he was right. Perhaps if they kept it platonic and just got to know one another while they were here, then they could consider more once they returned to normal circumstances. The fact that she was suddenly so into him told her that it was best to back away. It didn’t make sense to loathe someone for months and then want them so badly all of a sudden. She told herself once again that he was right.

  “Good. Now let’s get a fire and a meal going. We can listen to the radio and talk about all the things we’d like to do to Mr. Johnston when we get home,” he said.

  Stephanie went to the kitchen to make dinner and found that she still couldn’t get the kiss off of her mind. It was intense. There was a definite chemistry there that couldn’t be denied, even though they were trying to do just that. She wondered if perhaps he hadn’t felt it like she did. He seemed all too content to back away and let it go. Perhaps it had been one-sided and she was the only one feeling so aroused that she might explode if he touched her even the slightest bit.

  She heated a roasted chicken that was in the fridge and made some rice pilaf she found in a box in the pantry, serving it with a side of fresh zucchini that she sliced in half and threw on the indoor grill just long enough to sear each side before tossing it with a bit of olive oil and spices. It was a simple meal, but appeared much more sophisticated than it had been for her to make. Thank goodness for Samantha and her shortcuts she had left behind.

  “Wow, this is amazing. I can’t believe you tossed this together so quick,” Neil told her as they sat at the table eating their dinner. “You know what would make it even better? A nice bottle of wine, and I just happened to notice that there is plenty of it in the cellar when I was looking for things earlier. I’m going to run down and grab us a bottle. It should already be chilled to perfection in this weather.”