Page 57 of Christmas Cove

As soon as the sun went down, she knew she was in trouble. Within minutes, the damp roads had frozen in the areas that received little to no warmth throughout the day. Icy roads weren’t something she ever had to contend with in the city.

Her tires ran between wet patches and icy slicks. The car didn’t seem to know what to do with the lack of traction, and neither did America. It wasn’t until the wheels spun one direction, and the car traveled in the opposite direction that she realized how wholly unequipped for country life she truly was. She turned the steering wheel in the direction that the car was going like she had witnessed someone do in a movie once.

The jostling stirred her parents. “Watch out!” her dad said.

America tried to do what she could, but the car had a destination of its own, right into the gravel shoulder. Regaining a sliver of control, she slammed her foot on the brakes and put the gear into park.

Her dad’s hand fell on her knee. “It’s ok. We’re all right.”

“It was just a patch of ice. Once I hit it, there was nothing I could do. But I need a minute.” America grabbed her coat from the backseat and got out of the car.

Running off the road had her shaking, or perhaps it was the cold that had arrived as though on cue to ruin her chance of getting to Leo before it was too late. She rolled her sleeve back and checked the time. Two days, and the fate of Christmas Cove would be sealed one way or another. Behind her, her mother tapped on the window and rolled it halfway down.

“Whoa! It’s freezing out there. I guess you’re getting your winter after all,” Mom said. “You ready to get back in and get going? The roads aren’t getting any less icy with all this drizzle, and your father says we’re nearly there. He’ll drive if you want.”

America nodded to both questions, though she seriously considered walking the rest of the way. If it weren’t for the freezing rain and fog encapsulating her in winter’s prison, and her lack of arctic hiking gear at that moment, she might have taken to walking across the empty fields to get to the cabin.

She walked to the passenger side, passing her father on the way around. She opened the passenger side door, and the glass reflected oncoming headlights into her eyes. The vehicle slowed as it approached her location, but she was unable to see beyond the blinding lights. The vehicle swerved on the road and came to a stop facing America head on, the way one would do if having to jump a car battery.

“Everything all right over there?” a voice called out from the driver’s side window.

America’s dad waved. “Hit a bit of ice, but we’re just getting on our way now. Thanks, neighbor.”

America’s ears had already pricked up. The voice was too much like Leo’s smooth baritone to be anyone else. She was half inside the passenger side door when he called out to her.

“America? Is that you?”

Flipping up the hood of her coat, she stepped carefully over the slick gravel towards him. As her pace increased, so did the pounding in her chest and the flutter returned to her belly.

He matched her speed with deliberate steps. His breath, ragged and visible in the cold. “What are you doing here?”

America looked around—for what exactly, she wasn’t certain. A way out perhaps? “How did you know where to find us?”

Leo looked around her towards the SUV with a brow raised as if he was wondering who she was with but didn’t want to ask. He took another step closer.

“My parents are with me.” She pointed and looked over her shoulder, where her parents were waving out of the windows. She bit her lips and squashed a giggle as she turned back to Leo, who had taken one more step towards her. He was dangerously close. If she wanted, she could reach out and touch him. She could wrap her arms around his neck and say all the things she had practiced in her mind during the drive. Instead, America buried her hands in her pockets. “How did you find me?”

“I was on my way to the cabin to meet with a new guest when I saw the swerving headlights. I didn’t know it was you.”

“Would that have changed your mind about coming to my aid?” America’s heart hammered against her ribs, and she was glad her puffy coat was big enough to hide her nerves.

“America, of course I would help you. Just as I would help anyone in need. I would hope that was clear about me.”

She could hear the hurt in his voice. The wound that she had caused with her accusations of him not caring about the people in Christmas Cove was still open and oozing.

“Why are you here, America?”

“I came back to see you. To apologize...” She blinked away a cold tear. “For so many things.”

Leo kicked the gravel and shrugged. “I don’t know whether I should be pleased to see you or irritated that you think you can just roll up to town and make everything OK.”

“I have a whole speech prepared,” she said and closed the space between them. “I didn’t know what I was talking about that last time we spent together. Everything seemed too good, and I assumed the worst about you.”

Leo stood only inches away now and his heat radiated off of him. Her belly tightened and her cheeks warmed at the proximity. She wanted to kiss him, to feel his strong, supple lips against hers, and to close her eyes and forget the wintry world around her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and he leaned in.

Leo’s eyes closed, and the air stilled around them. He breathed in through his nose and hesitated for a moment. Energy scattered like a million pieces of confetti in her chest in the tense silence. She licked her lips.

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