Page 56 of Any Girl But You
“Wait!” Quinn drops my hand, runs back to the table, and grabs the blindfold. She grips it with a devilish grin. “We aresonot done with this.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
QUINN
My fingers spread the blinds apart and I peek out the window. I close them. I peek. I close them. I peek?—
“If you do that again…” Zoey says, tugging the bed sheet up to her naked chest and rolling onto her side. She props her elbow on the mattress and rests her head in her hands. “Looking at the snow is not going to change anything.”
I exhale. I know, I know. She’s right. But we are three days away from opening day, and the snow is piling on. What if a snowplow doesn’t clear the roads, and I can’t get to the farm, and I need to check things and…
“You’re ready for opening day. Even if we get stuck in a snowstorm until then, you can open,” Zoey says, patting the mattress. “Come back to bed.”
My shoulders loosen. Just because Zoey is being logical, and I know she’s right, doesn’t mean that this message is transferring to my brain. I peek one final time, then crawl back into the warm bed sprinkled with Zoey’s sleepy, dewy scent.
What am I thinking, wanting to leave this, her, the bed? Being with Zoey is heaven. Every time I think things can’t get better, they do. The date night a few nights ago tipped things over the edge. As much as I love this, her, being with her, theanxiety of not being able to check my farm is still fierce. “I’ll lie here for a little while, then I’m going to head out to the farm.”
Zoey chews the bottom of her lip and a deep crease cuts between her brows. “The roads are too bad to drive right now. Let’s just hold tight, okay? You can hang out with me today at the store. Or rest. I can feed you cupcakes in bed.”
Normally, her smile can get me to do anything, but not today. “Okay,” I say, but I know I’m lying. We are so close to opening, and what if something happened overnight? I don’t have the luxury tonotcheck on the property.
When Zoey steps into the shower, I open up the weather app, and swallow. A blizzard is heading our way.A blizzard!Unbelievable. I press my palm against my forehead and breathe out a shaky breath. Am I prepped for a blizzard? Sure, the barn has been there fifty-plus years and has probably seen a lot in its day, but still…
Okay, I’m just going to go there, super quick, confirm things are still standing, that none of the signs knocked over in the wind, and then come back. I can spend the rest of the afternoon helping Zoey prep for her Thanksgiving pie rush, and the rest of the night snuggling with my girlfriend.
After Zoey goes to work, I take a quick shower, pack up all my winter gear, and rush outside.Jesus.A short gust of wind hurls a mound of snow at me, and I spin my back at it until it stops. A heap of snow covers Truck Norris. After I hop in and start it, I swipe the brush across the windshield and windows. The snow is heavy, flakes barreling down, and I’m blinking it away like I’m in an avalanche.
Finally, I cautiously pull out of the alley. This area hasn’t been plowed, and the piles are thick, but the truck pushes through. Snow pummels against the windshield. Even though the wipers are at the highest speed, they’re barely keeping up.
It’s okay, it’s okay. I can do this. My pulse thuds against my chest. I did learn how to drive on these roads, but it’s been probably a good fifteen years since I drove in a snowstorm. Just take it slow, easy, and if I start skidding, just turn my wheels into the direction of the skid.
Wait…right? That doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t that mean I’d end up going in a circle? The last thing I want to do is whip a shitty in the middle of an intersection. My breath shakes against my rib cage.I’m okay. I got this.
I creep to a stop at the empty intersection. The sound of a snowplow’s loud scrape against the pavement jars me. I turn and look out all the windows and finally see its blue flashing lights. This is actually perfect. If I follow this guy, I’ll have freshly plowed streets the whole way.
Sadly, the plow turns in the opposite direction.
The wind howls so loud it shakes the nearly unshakable Truck Norris. Gusts of snow whip against my truck. The light turns green, and I inch into the intersection. My knuckles have surpassed white and are moving toward nearly translucent with my death grip.
I lean as close as I can to the windshield, squinting to read the street signs. The town is gray, muted, and covered in a white blanket. I can’t make out trees, cars, houses, or much of the road. Am I over the line, in the other lane, in the right spot? Near the ditch? I think I’m close to the middle, and hope to God that if a car is coming my way, we’ll see each other and avoid a disaster.
A faint outline of a red light pops into view.Shit!I press on the brakes a little too quickly and tailspin into the street before skidding to a stop. My pulse races, tears against my chest, and I freeze. I rest my head back on the seat and exhale.
What the hell am I doing?
My heartbeat slows a little bit as I turn around. This is dumb. I’m being ridiculous. I’m putting myself at danger, at risk, forthis compulsion that’s eating away at me. Even if I got to my farm, which right now seems highly unlikely since I’ve made it less than a mile out of town, there is nothing I can do.
Slowly, I turn around and drive back to Zoey’s. When I finally pull into the alleyway and kill the engine, I release my grasp on the steering wheel and shake out my fatigued hands. I hop out of the truck, slam the door with a heavy thud, and traipse to the bakery.
The door jingles when I push it open. Zoey’s gaze snaps to me and she wrings a towel through her hand. “Hey…what are you doing?”
I tug off my gloves and shove them in my jacket pocket. “I tried to go to the farm, but…”
“Quinn,noooo.” Zoey’s voice is a cross between scolding and concern and I don’t know what’s worse. “You can’t drive in conditions like this. It’s barreling down out there. We’re supposed to get a blizzard.”
I know!Obviously, I know. My pulse has barely evened out since arriving back at the bakery. I breathe through my nose and close my eyes. The very, very last thing I want to do is snap at my perfect, sweet, delicate girlfriend, but nerves have crawled up my neck and have me locked in a chokehold. “It probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but I just needed to check on my place.”
Zoey crosses her arms. “I get it, but you have to think of safety first. Driving like this is reckless. Seriously. You can hurt yourself, or someone else. Please, please promise me you will never do this again.”
