Page 2 of A Season of Second Chances
"I remember, you have to concentrate to drive in the snow."
He grins over at me. "Oh so you do remember something about me?"
"Of course, we were together for five years," I say the words like he shouldn't be surprised.
There's a tension in the cab of the truck, almost as if there's a string pulled taut between us. "You'd never know considering you didn't reach out once after you left Pine Ridge."
I don't have anything to say to that accusation, so I look out the window and press my lips together. Best for me to say nothing than to say something that might make us argue. Instead of speaking, I grab my phone out of my purse and start checking messages.
"Service sucks out here. Good luck."
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" I cut my gaze over at him.
"Lost that sense of humor I used to have when you stood me up the night before you left Pine Ridge."
There's nothing for us to say to one another, so I turn back to my phone, and try to live with the molasses speed with which my messages are loading.
"Hang on," he says as he grips the steering wheel and hangs a left into a driveway.
The back end slides, fishtailing on us, but he gathers it up, then hesitantly presses on the gas. When the tires grip, we slowly head into the darkness. I want desperately to ask where we're going, but I don't dare.
As we pass under a wooden sign that reads Cedar Lodge, I realize where we are.
The place where Winter and I fell in love so many Christmases ago. The place I swore I'd never go back to again.
Two
Winter
This night has turned into a clusterfuck if there ever was one. I'd had to go into Pine Ridge to make a last-minute supply run because of this storm that's bearing down on us. It's not like it doesn't normally snow in mid-December here, it's just that the storm developed quickly and is dumping a lot more than we're used to this early in the season.
My chest squeezes with pride as I park outside of main lodge, in a parking spot that proclaims I'm the manager.
"Winter," her soft voice questions in the stillness of the truck. "Do you run this place?"
It would be easy for me to lie to her and downplay my role here, but I'm proud of it. I've worked hard; pulled this place out of what was going to be bankruptcy, and made it a destination that many want to visit. "I do," I answer, not sure of how to put all of that into words. Glancing over at her in the light of my dashboard, I give her a grin. "Not too bad for a juvenile delinquent who couldn't get a job at Burger King our senior year of high school, huh?"
She opens her mouth twice, and then shuts it before saying anything. "A lot seems to have changed around here."
"It has," I agree, but I don't give her anymore than that. She lost that right when she left and didn't bother to check in even once. "C'mon, let's get inside. I have one room left, and it's got your name on it."
She looks tired as she glances back at her suitcase. "Do you think anyone will able to come and pull me out tomorrow?"
A chuckle works its way out of my chest. "Honey, they're forecasting this storm might last up to four days, and then we're gonna have to dig out. You aren't going anywhere, anytime soon."
She almost looks like she might cry, but shakes her head, and then gives me a small smile. "Thank you for all your help. I really appreciate this."
"No matter how we left things, Joy. I'm not about to leave you out in a snowstorm when I have the means to give you a place to stay." I drum my thumbs on the steering wheel. "Sit tight, I'll grab your bags, and then come over and get you. No sense in both of us getting soaked and cold."
Wrapping my coat tightly around my body, I tug my beanie further down on my forehead, and duck out into the whipping wind. It's a fight to get the door open and grab her luggage, but I manage before trudging around to her side, and help her out. Together we fight through the snow, and end up in the lobby of Cedar Lodge.
We stand there, panting, trying to push the snow off our jackets.
"You okay, Winter?" I recognize the voice of my night manager, Carol. "The storm's really starting to pick up out there."
"Yeah," I agree. "We should have one more room left, right?"
"We do, last one," she confirms.
