Jolene
A subtle light flooded the room.
Guess we survived the night.
I was still curled up next to Dakota, his strong, tattooed arms holding me firmly against his chest.
How do I free myself without waking him?
I tried inching my way out of his grasp, but he only gripped me tighter. I wriggled a little hoping he would take the hint and release me. His eyes flew open and then widened in surprise.
You were expecting a slutty, hot brunette, huh?
“Lena.” He loosened his hold.
“Yeah… good morning.” I slid back to my side of the bed.
“Mornin’,” he responded, rubbing his slight five o’clock shadow.
“Still no power,” I pointed out lamely.
“I see that.”
Of course he sees it, Lena. Not to mention, it’s fuckin’ freezing in here.
We lay there in silence.
“I’m gonna try to go into town and grab some groceries,” he announced. “The roads are likely already too shitty to drive back to Creek’s Edge – not that we wanted to anyways – but my truck can probably make it to town.”
“Can I go?” I asked quietly.
He nodded. “We need to grab your bag so you can get something warm to wear that doesn’t swallow you, though. I’ll go get it.”
I smiled. “Thanks, pal.”
I watched as he climbed out of bed. He was doing his best to conceal the fact that every part of him knew that it was morning.
Giggling, I shook my head.
Pain radiated from one temple to the other.
That would be a direct consequence of Jack Daniels and a jackass.
I dragged myself out of bed, already dreading going downstairs where the temperature would definitely be much cooler. Our fire, even now at barely a smolder, had kept the room at somewhat of a comfortable temperature throughout the night.
It wasn’t the fire. It was the 6’4” firefighter that’s built sturdier than a brick shithouse.
I made my way downstairs, the frigid air slicing right through my borrowed, threadbare t-shirt. No sooner than I hit the bottom step, Dakota walked in the front door.
“It’s fuckin’ freezing and I had to walk over the river, through the woods, and clean past Grandmama’s house to get to your damn car!”
I laughed so hard I snorted.
“I’m glad it’s funny. Get dressed.” He sat my bag down.
Rolling my eyes, I picked it up. “Cool your nuts. I’m goin’.”
“My nuts froze and fell off somewhere between the front porch and where you parked your car in bum fuck Egypt.”
Giggling, I closed the bathroom door.
Please tell me I packed something warm.
Technically, this was supposed to be my honeymoon, and I had planned on being naked for most of it. Thankfully, I had packed my thick sweatpants and my favorite Georgia Bulldogs hoodie. After dressing in record time, I glanced at myself in the mirror to survey the damage.
You actually don’t look half bad, girlfriend. You’d never know that your life fell the fuck apart yesterday.
Opening the bathroom door, I hollered his name.
He stepped out from behind the wall. “I’m right here. Why are you carryin’ on with all that hollerin’?”
“Because I can,” I grinned. “Let’s go.”
Dakota
The drive into town was easier than I expected.
Maybe the storm side swiped us.
I turned in the parking lot of Mr. Paul’s General Store, my truck bouncing over a pothole in the old gravel.
“Jeez!” Lena exclaimed, dramatically grabbing the Oh Shit Handle.
I rolled my eyes. “Damn, you almost overreacted to something.”
Laughing, she let go of the handle. “Maybe the storm skipped us,” she remarked. “There’s nobody here.”
“I was thinkin’ that on the way here when I saw how normal the roads seem.”
We climbed out in unison and headed for the door. I opened it and held it, gesturing for her to go on inside. “Demons, first.”
Another hearty laugh.
Why is that sound like a fuckin’ drug for me today?
“Lena! Dakota!” a familiar voice called out.
Mrs. Rosie, the owner’s wife, barreled at us from behind the wooden counter. She embraced Lena first, hugging her neck tightly before releasing her to do the same to me.
“It’s been a minute!” She looked behind us. “Where’s Jace and Cassie?”
Lena and I exchanged glances.
“That’s a good question,” Lena responded.
Mrs. Rosie shot me a worried glance. She and Mr. Paul have known me since I was a little boy. They bought the general store when I was about two years old, renovating and reopening it for all the locals. Since it’s the only store in town, I’d been in here a few thousand times over the last thirty years.
“Oh, dear. I hope everything is alright!” Her voice was full of concern.
“It is!” Lena responded a little too cheerfully.
We came to get some groceries for the house because of the winter storm warning but it seems like it may have passed right by us,” I explained, glancing out the front door.
Mrs. Rosie looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Dollbaby, those new, fancy phones y’all kids tote around don’t tell you ‘bout the weather? It hasn’t even hit us yet!”
“My phone is dead, and I forgot my charger,” I fibbed.
She nodded. “I gotcha. Well, we have some chargers back there and we are pretty well stocked – food wise – but we are clean out of flashlights and candles. Apparently, the wind knocked down a tree on the north side of the mountain last night and caused some power outages.”
“Belleview was one of them,” Lena explained. “I can do the dark, but I don’t do hungry!”
Mrs. Rosie gave us a warm chuckle. “You kids grab a buggy and go find what you need. If you need me, I’ll be watching my programs.”
“Yes, ma’am, thank you!”
I love that woman.
Lena and I walked towards the other side of the building.
“Her programs,” she mused. “You think she’s a Young and the Restless girlie or an All My Children fanatic?”
“Definitely, Young and the Restless.” I thought back to my childhood, remembering the unmistakable sound of the Y&R theme song playing when Dad would bring me in for a bag of candy.
“Can’t blame her. Victor Newman could scramble my eggs.”
The laugh that got out of me was so deep that it felt like it came from my ankles.
“You’re insane,” I told her. “Seriously. A fuckin’ loon.”
She grinned at me as she tossed a package of cookies into the buggy.
This shopping trip is going to be like someone turned a bunch of twelve-year-olds loose and told them to pick their favorite things.
An hour later, we were standing at the counter, a couple weeks’ worth of food gliding up the conveyor belt.
How long are we planning to hide out up here?
As Mrs. Rosie finished ringing everything up, Lena pulled her card from the pocket of her sweatpants. Quicker than a ninja, I snatched it out of her hand.
“Yeah, right,” I told her as I pulled out my wallet and passed Mrs. Rosie my card.
Lena rolled her eyes. “I picked out most of that so let me pay for it!”
“Yeah, no. I’m paying.”
From across the counter, Mrs. Rosie smiled. “You forgot a charger!” She reminded me before hurrying away from the register. She returned a moment later with an electric orange cord. “This one works for all the phones!”
All the phones…
“Thank you for remembering!”
I finished paying and we said our goodbyes, but not before Mrs. Rosie made us promise to come back while we were here so Mr. Paul could see us.
The air was even colder when we stepped out the front door. Fetching my keys from my pocket, I pressed my remote start button.
“Get in, Loo. I’ll load up.”
Surprisingly, she obeyed my request.
Only because she doesn’t like the cold.
Five minutes later, everything was loaded in the bed of my truck except for the phone charger I really didn’t need for a phone that I really didn’t give a fuck to turn on.