Page 11 of A Cozy Holiday
“Oh, I have thick skin, believe me—”
“I see that. For someone named Joy, you’re not really—”
“Joyful,” I finish with a fake laugh. “Haven’t heard that one since middle school.”
I hear his girls giggling from inside the main house.
I glance at his hands. No ring. But that doesn’t mean much. Plenty of people don’t wear rings. He has kids, so he’s probably married or in a serious partnership. And even if he isn’t, what am I going to do? Hook up with a single dad who runs an animal murder plant while his kids make snow angels in the driveway?
I could just—
No.
Except…
With the clinic being closed, I unfortunately have all the time in the world.
No, no, no!
I think I need to suck it up and just go to Miriam’s house in Jersey. I can hide away there, maybe even put up a YouTube background video of New York, so it feels like I’m at home.
“Thank you for your time, Jamie Wilder. But after careful consideration, I’ve decided I can no longer do this.”
“Don’t you want to at least meet the animals?”
“No. I’d like you to fill up the snowmobile with gas and point me to town and the closest hotel.”
“What happened to the canister I left for you in the back of the sled?”
“I took it out.”
“Why?”
I narrow my eyes at him, a challenge in every inch of my posture as I gesture toward the sled. “I had to cram my essentials into that thing.”
“Well, you need that canister to fill up the tank.” His gaze sweeps over the suitcases, now heaped with snow. “And that was my only gas canister.” He clucks his tongue, a sound so infuriatingly smug.
“Of course it was.”
My frustration bubbles up, almost spilling over into a full-blown tantrum. I’m cold. I’m tired. I haven’t eaten since that stale airport croissant. And I’m stranded in a winter hellscape with a man who is exasperatingly cheery.
Reading my distress, his expression softens.
“It’s nearly nightfall, and town is a good fifteen minutes away. I get it, this day’s been a catastrophe, but at least stay the night, avoid any snowmobile accidents during the storm, and maybe check out the animals? It’d mean a lot to me.”
“Can’t you use that pickup truck of yours and take me now?”
“I know better than to drive on these stormy roads at night, and the forecast says it’ll only be getting worse. Blizzard is coming through tonight.”
“Wonderful.” The snow is pouring down now. The universe is clearly having a field day at my expense.“Fine, I’ll stay. But only because I have to!”
One night. I can survive.
“Great.” He claps his hands. “I can make you pancakes in the morning. Maybe you’ll reconsider the quality of my customer service then.”
I arch an eyebrow. That is definitely not the kind of morning after I envisioned, even if my body briefly wonders if that was some sort of invitation. “I’ll pass on breakfast. One night here, and at the crack of dawn, you drive me back. The very crack.”
“The deepest crack of dawn. Yes, ma’am.”
