Page 42 of The Mistletoe Bluff
Ten minutes later, after strapping the tree to the roof of the Jeep and a lengthy goodbye from Leaf, we were nice and warm in Oliver’s car, driving on the snowy roads back to Meridel. It was a good thing we left when we did because it was already slippery and difficult to see where the lanes on the road were.
Oliver appeared at ease as he drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other arm draped across the center console. His fingers tapped the rhythm of whatever electronic dance music he had turned on. I had never listened to that type of music before, but I found myself bobbing along with it, my foot tapping against the mat beneath my feet.
Thirty minutes later, the wind was whipping the snow in a thick blanket that was impossible to see through. There was no road anymore, just faint tire tracks through the snow.
“I don’t like this,” I muttered. I had always hated driving in the snow, especially on country roads that weren’t plowed. But this wasn’t just snow. This was a blizzard.
My heart pounded against my chest, and I squeezed my hands together in my lap.
Oliver looked at me, brows lowering over his eyes. Maybe I hadn’t been as quiet as I thought. His knuckles were now white on the steering wheel.
“Maya,” Oliver said, breaking my concentration from the nonexistent road.
“Eyes on the road!” I snapped, terrified that we’d swerve into a ditch if he looked at me for even a moment.
“What road?”
“Exactly!”
Oliver chuckled. How was he so calm right now? Any moment we could drive off the invisible road into a ditch and he looked unbothered by that possibility. Meanwhile, my lungs were constricting, forcing any ounce of air out, and I couldn’t breathe.
“Maya, do you trust me?” Oliver’s voice was calm, but it did nothing to soothe my fear.
“Absolutely not.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think, and they burned my tongue.
He cocked his head. “Well, I need you to trust me.”
Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.
“Why?”
Oliver sighed. “I think we should pull over and wait out the storm.”
“What?” My shout filled the Jeep, and I winced at how loud it was.
He didn’t bother to respond before slowing the car even more. Someone’s driveway appeared on the right, the path so long you couldn’t see the house in the distance through the snow, and he pulled onto it before putting the car into park.
“We’re off the main road, so hopefully no one will slide into us. We’ll stay here until it lightens up enough to drive back to town.”
Then Oliver turned the car off. I swear my heart stuttered to a stop in my chest.
“Oh my gosh.” My breaths were short gasps and it felt like there was a hive of bees in my chest. “We’re going to freeze to death. We’re going to die on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and no one will ever find our bodies and—”
Oliver pressed a finger to my lips, silencing me. I blinked at him.
“Maya, everything’s okay.”
“Okay?” I asked against his finger. “How is being stuck on the side of the road in a blizzard remotely close to okay?”
Oliver pulled his hand away, and I fought the urge to grab it and hold on for dear life.
“We’re not stuck, we’re just choosing to wait out the storm. We’re fine. I have blankets in the back and a bag of emergency supplies. I’ve got it covered.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, wishing the pressure would ease the ache settling in like a bone-numbing cold.
“I’ll keep driving if you want me to, Maya, but I think it’s better if we wait it out.”
As much as I hated the idea of being stranded on the side of the road for hours in a snowstorm with Oliver, driving on these treacherous roads when we couldn’t see even a few feet in front of the car was foolish.
