Page 23 of Snowed in with My Pucking Ex
“I’ll get the woodstove going and hunt down some coffee or something to help us warm up, too. I should probably see what we have to eat around here, as well.”
“Sounds good.” Although I know her well enough that she won’t be thrilled with just coffee. She likes the really sweet frou-frou stuff, and always has, so hopefully they have plenty of sugar stored around here as well.
I head back out into the cold and off to the left side of the cabin. There’s a small enclosed area built onto the side, and like any experienced farmer who’s lived in the mountains for far too long, it’s set up for hunting, storing meat, and stacked with plenty of wood already split for the fireplace. There’s even a dry cellar dug out in the ground to keep veggies fresh. I’ll have to come back out on the next days I have off, when the snowstorm has passed, and I’m able to chop up some more wood to refill what we end up using. I have a feeling it’ll be a lot, since it’s supposed to get colder than usual tonight with several feet of snow still heading our way.
Using a tarp I find folded, I lay it open outside the storage room, and load it with wood. Once it’s full, I pull the pile using the tarp to help it slide across the snow and up to the porch. It’s not an easy feat, but I manage because it’ll make it quicker for me when I’m going in and out of the cabin, as I bring the wood inside to last us throughout the night.
When I step inside, I’m greeted with the scent of chocolate permeating the air, along with the fresh fire that’s now blazing in the living room. “Something smells good,” I comment while bringing in my first load of chopped wood. It’s starting to warm up in the small space, too, which is exactly what we need.
“I found some hot chocolate mix. I just added it to the boiling water on the stove, so you must be smelling that.” She responds while watching as I neatly stack the new logs beside the fireplace.
“Hot chocolate sounds even more delicious than coffee at the moment.” I grin, thinking the only thing that would make it any better would be tasting it on her tongue. Rather than admit as much, I continue with my job.
I move back and forth as quickly as possible to keep as much heat in the cabin as I can. After all of the woods inside, I fold thetarp back up. Put it in the same spot I found it, then close up the small storage room, and head back inside.
The first thing I notice is that Winter has removed her gloves, hat, and jacket, and is standing in front of the wood stove. She must be feeling warmer already, which brings me a ridiculous amount of joy for some reason. Her cheeks are still pink, but it suits her, somehow making her more beautiful than she already is.
“We need to cover the windows in here with some extra blankets to keep the heat in,” I mention, already heading for the hall to search out any supplies we can use. This place is set up for mild weather, especially when it comes to winter, so I doubt our heat will stay inside for very long unless we help winterize it a bit.
I close each room’s door as I exit it, my hands overfilled with quilts her Gram must’ve made throughout the years. I set them on the couch, and then join her in the kitchen again. “The rooms won’t stay warm, so I’m thinking I should bring a mattress in and put it in front of the couch. That way, we can sleep with the fire close by. I’ll take the couch.”
She scoffs, immediately shaking her head in protest. “There’s no way you can sleep on the couch, it’s way too small. We can share the mattress and the blankets. Besides, we’ll stay warmer if we’re together, right? Body heat and all that…”
I’m silent as I nod, a bit stunned that she’s willing to share the bed with me in her family’s cabin. Maybe it’s the sign I’ve needed all along, to know she’ll be okay with me taking the next step between us and finally kissing her. God, just the thought of her mouth on mine gives me crazy zings all over. However, I don’t know if I should kiss her right now, and possibly end up making her feel awkward if I’m reading her signals wrong. Maybe I’ll wait until we’re not snowed in a small cabin together, without the option to leave suddenly…You know, just in case it doesn’t gothe way I want it to. At least with a kiss planned to happen soon, I’ll finally know if we’re headed in the direction I’m hoping for.
“I just remembered the boxes we left on the tailgate. I’m going to go grab them so your supplies don’t get ruined.”
Her face lights up, telling me she’d forgotten about them as well. “Oh yeah, good thinking. Did my dad tell you there’s a generator behind the cabin? It’s not powerful enough to run everything in here, but it’ll give us some lights since it’s getting darker outside, and we can plug in one of the space heaters to help with the storm tonight.”
“He didn’t, but I’ll check it out.”
“Thank you, Sean. What you’re doing, it means a lot.”
“I’ll always take care of you, and besides, we’ve got this. No worries.” I promise and walk outside.
I’m finally getting a second chance with the one woman I’ve always wondered about; she has no idea I’ll do just about anything for her. Hopefully, after this Christmas, she’ll realize I’m not the same young guy stepping to the side so easily. She’s making me work for her time, and I’m enjoying every minute of proving to her that I can handle whatever she throws at me. I guess that’s the difference between being a man and a boy, a man knows what he wants and is willing to do what it takes to reach the sweet reward in the end.
I’m on my way back to the door, boxes in hand, when my phone rings. I quickly set the festival supplies down inside the front door and pull my phone from my pocket, noticing I finally have a couple of service bars again.It’s my agent.We check in monthly unless he has some new sponsorship deals for me to consider. If so, then we end up talking more, so a company must’ve reached out to him.
“Hey Spencer, how’s it going?” I greet as soon as I swipe across my screen to accept the call.
“Spruce, I’m glad to catch you.” He responds, calling me by my last name like everyone in my professional life does.
“I’m in the valley right now, so my service can drop at any time,” I warn. “Did we get a new sponsorship offer? If so, I’ll have to wait at least a day; a storm is hitting right now, and I’m about to be snowed in at a cabin. Would you let Coach know what’s going on? I may need you to find me a helicopter willing to pick me up from the farm I’m staying at, so I can make it in time for the game. I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss my flight tomorrow, so we’ll have to go another route.” Not to mention the practices I’m missing, but there’s nothing I can do at the moment.
“Spruce,” he interrupts. “Hold on, man, don’t worry about a chopper right now. If I need to find a pilot to fly you out of there, I will, but some things have changed with your contract.”
I instantly stop my pacing that I didn’t realize I was doing in the first place, and stare out of the cabin’s window. I need to hurry up and cover it with a quilt to help keep the cold air out. I swear the snow looks deeper than when we came inside, but I know it can’t be possible. “What do you mean by changes to my contract?”
I hear Winter draw in a swift breath at my words, so I step outside. This way, she doesn’t hear me, in case I’m not going to like what Spencer has to say. I make my way toward the back of the cabin, easily finding the generator. I need to check the gas and see if there’s a prime button I have to press before attempting to start it.
“Look, I tried to negotiate, but the Pines, they…” He answers, trailing off.
I’m distracted as I lift the wood covering to find that the generator has a full tank of gas. Which isn’t very surprising, considering David seems to have everything well stocked out here. I grab the pull cord, giving it a good tug, and it fires rightup. The loud rumble makes me hurry to place the wood cover back over it again, and then jog back around to the front of the cabin.
Huffing out a breath from the cold, I ask, “What? I thought my contract was solid for the next few years, then we were going to revisit the retirement option.”
“Your contractwassolid, but there are always clauses in it.”
