Chapter 17
Seventeen
Johnny
We finished eating and wandered around the small but very well stocked store carrying a basket that was soon packed. “You can put that here if you’d like,” an older man at the counter said. “You look like you’re getting ready for the storm.”
“Yes. We just wanted to make sure we had enough supplies for a few days. We didn’t realize a storm was coming in,” I said as he unloaded the basket and handed it back to me.
“Are you renting one of the cabins?” he asked.
“Yes,” Devon said and gave him the name of the couple he’d rented from.
“They used to spend most of the summer here, but as they got older it got tougher on them. It’s not easy living up here once you hit a certain age,” he said with a chuckle.
“You mean your age?” the woman from the restaurant said.
“Hey, quit telling my secrets,” he said. “This is my daughter Jen. We’ve lived up here for years.”
“Let them shop, Dad,” she chided him before grinning at us.
We gathered a few more items and put them with everything else on the counter. “We want to buy some of your ready-made meals too,” I said.
“Just let Jen know what you want and she’ll wrap it up for you.” Devon walked over to the counter next to the kitchen and chose a few things while I watched the man ring everything up and put it in a bag.
“Ever been snowed in before?” he asked.
“Hell no, I’m from Sacramento,” I said.
He shook his head in amusement and met my eyes. “Flatlander huh,” he said.
“Pretty much.” He told me the total, and I dug out my card before Devon could show up and pay.
“Hey, I was going to get that,” he said, right on cue.
“You two should be set up pretty good, but if you have any problems just call me. We live just out back and we’re more than prepared for anything.” He ran my card and handed it back to me.
“Thanks. Oh, what’s your name?” I asked as he wrote down his phone number.
“Virgil Ochoa,” he said and handed back the card.
“I’m Johnny and this is Devon, nice to meet you. We’re here for two weeks so I’m sure we’ll see you a few more times.”
“Sounds good. You boys have a nice day,” he said before helping another customer who had come in behind us.
“Think we got enough?” Devon asked as we loaded it all into the back of the car.
“For a few days anyway,” I said and took an apple out of one of the bags.
“Still hungry?”
“Nope, but these apples look amazing,” I said and took a bite as I slid behind the wheel. “Ready?”
“Always,” Devon said and stole my apple and a bite.
“Do you really think we’ll get that much snow?”
“Let me look.” He took out his phone and opened the weather app. “That’s what it says. I guess we just need to be ready. Hopefully it melts fast.”
“Or it snows heavier. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in a cabin with you,” I said and fluttered my eyelashes at him.
“Okay, loverboy, let’s get this unloaded and then we’ll figure out what we’ll do to keep ourselves occupied today,” Devon said. “It’s a good day for a movie marathon.”
“That sounds great. Maybe we could start a stew and let it cook while we relax.”
“Perfect, I can’t wait to try that bread.”
The store also had a variety of baked goods, and we couldn’t resist getting a round of sourdough. “That place was great. Nice people too,” I said just as we pulled up to the cabin.
Both of us grabbed a bag and hurried inside. It wasn’t quite as foggy out, but the rain had turned into a steady downpour, and I would have sworn it was even colder now. We hurried inside and left our coats out on the porch since they were soaked. “So, what do we need to do for stew?” Devon asked.
“Chop everything up and throw it in a pot. It’s easy. Plus, the seasoning packet makes it a lot easier. Have you driven your car in the snow before?” I asked, and Devon looked at me like I had grown another ear on top of my head.
“I’ve never driven in snow so I have no clue how my car would do. It has all-wheel drive so it could drive in the snow.”
“That’s good to know. I’ve only driven in snow one time, and it ended with me in a ditch waiting for a tow truck.
So, let’s just hope if it does snow it’s either after we leave, or it melts fast and we don’t need to leave for anything,” I said.
I didn’t want to scare him, but he needed to know the truth.
If we got deep snow, well, we were stuck.
“Mateo should know how. He’s driven the van over the grapevine a few times when the weather was bad,” Devon said.
“Did he? I didn’t know that.”
“Jeremy was in Sacramento and needed a ride back to LA for a show. He couldn’t afford to fly so Mateo went to get him. Another time he went to Jeremy’s house for Thanksgiving.”
“They’re a lot closer than I realized,” I said.
“Oh yeah,” Devon said and finished pulling everything out of the bag he’d carried in.
“So, no more detail than that?”
“Nope, they’ll tell you when they’re ready, or they won’t.”
“I’m always the last one to know,” I grumbled. Devon pressed me back against the counter and kissed me.
“It’s not my story to tell. They’ll tell you when they’re ready,” he repeated. “Now tell me what to do.”
“Wash your hands and get ready to cut up some vegetables.”
He rolled up his sleeves and turned on the faucet. “Whatever you say boss.”