Chapter Thirteen
The sound of distant knocking startled Gabe from his sleep. He was disoriented and a weight, like a heavy blanket, was over him. He blinked, surprised to see Devlin sprawled over him, a slight snore coming from her mouth. His face bloomed into a smile as he remembered the night before. Well, he assumed it was the night before—the clock had toppled to the floor at some point in the evening.
A more insistent staccato alerted him that someone was indeed knocking, but not at Devlin’s door—his door—which propelled him into action, disentangling himself from Devlin’s tight grasp. He slipped through the bathroom, grabbing and throwing on his robe, tying it as he cracked his door.
“What the hell, I’ve been knocking for like five minutes,” Greyson accused, trying to peer around Gabe into the room. “You have a girl in there?”
Gabe opened the door to let him in, thankful that he’d thought to close his side of the bathroom door on his way into the room. Now he hoped that Greyson didn’t notice the untouched bed.
“Sorry, Mom, just a heavy sleeper.”
Greyson did indeed eye the bed but didn’t say anything.
“Have you looked outside yet?” he asked instead.
“I just got up, Grey.”
“Yes, that’s clear.”
Gabe walked to the window and pulled back the shade, a low whistle escaping him. “What the hell happened out there?”
“I think that’s the Nor’easter we’ve been promised all season. It hit overnight.”
Gabe looked out again to a winter wonderland. Heavy snow was falling and all signs of life—like roads—had been erased.
“I’m gonna go outside and assess the situation.”
“Okay, let me get dressed, I’ll be right out.”
“I’m going to let Pru know, meet you back here in a few.”
Greyson slipped out of the door and Gabe gave a longing look at the adjoining bathroom before sighing and getting dressed. He went out into the hall just as Greyson returned. They started toward the stairs when he remembered his jacket and boots in Devlin’s room.
“One sec, my boots and jacket.” He turned the knob on Devlin’s door then stopped.
“That’s not your room, bro.”
Gabe shot him a quick look. “I know,” he stated, then slipped inside and gathered his stuff, moving quietly, not wanting to wake Devlin. He looked at her for a moment. Fuck it . He moved to her side and kissed her softly on the forehead, she stirred but didn’t wake. He felt torn between wanting her to sleep and not wanting her to wake with him gone. Her peaceful slumber won out, and he moved back out the bedroom door. He avoided Greyson’s stare as they went downstairs, but their conversation was cut off as they noticed the six foot drift piled against the sliding door.
“Wow.” Greyson walked to the door and measured the drift to his height. “We’re gonna need a bigger shovel.”
“I need to be well caffeinated before I can deal with this.”
“I’ll go wake Sebastian, you start the pot.” Greyson gave Gabe another side eye glance before disappearing down the hall.
It didn’t matter that Greyson knew. He was an adult, and he wasn’t going to act like a caught child who needed to explain himself, but explain himself is what he did when Greyson returned.
“Will you please not tell anyone?” Gabe asked as he filled two cups.
“It’s none of my business.”
“Not even Pru.”
“Now that’s my business.”
“You know that all she’ll want to do is get in the middle and try to make this into more than what it is.”
“And what is it?”
Gabe was silent for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. Something to take the edge off this whole thing, something we both needed.”
Greyson appeared to contemplate what Gabe said. “You’re mixing business with pleasure. That’s never a good idea.”
“I know this. I knew this. But what’s done is done, can you please just not say anything?”
“I don’t know how long I can keep anything from Pru. She’s very intuitive and she’ll know at some point that something’s going on.”
“Not until we get out of here, I hope.”
“I don’t know when that will be, though. Remember the Christmas storm of ’97? We were stuck here for a week.”
Gabe groaned. “We can’t be here for a week, there’s no way it’ll take that long to get the roads opened.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be that long, just to plan that we won’t get out of here today.”
They sipped in silence. “How did it happen?” Greyson asked. “We just talked about it yesterday morning and you said there was nothing between the two of you.”
“I happened,” Gabe admitted. “It was all me.”
Greyson nodded in understanding. “I get it. Most of it was me, too. The ladies didn’t stand a chance against the Atwood charm.”
Gabe laughed. “I guess you can call it that.”
Sebastian walked into the room, rubbing his eyes and scowling. “What can you two find so amusing on a morning like this?”
“The old Atwood charm,” Greyson explained, “is a mysterious yet powerful thing.”
“Is Atwood charm going to get us out of this cabin today?” He waited until all signs of mirth were wiped off Greyson’s and Gabe’s faces before continuing. “Because if it’s not, let’s focus on coming up with a plan, shall we?”
“I don’t know how to plan around Mother Nature,” Gabe admitted. “She’s dumped a lot of snow out there and we’re not equipped to get rid of most of it.”
“Have we got shovels and maybe a snowblower in the shed?” Greyson asked, looking at Gabe.
“I don’t remember a snowblower, but I haven’t been out here in the winter in a long time. The caretakers could’ve gotten one.” Gabe pulled open a pantry door to take stock of the supplies. “I’m also happy they seem to keep food here. We didn’t have enough for much more than a few days.”
“First things first, let’s see if we can get some of this cleared out,” Sebastian said, “then we can plan for everything else. If we can get to the cars, we just might make it out of here.” He noticed the look Gabe exchanged with Greyson. “We’re not making it out of here, are we?”
“I’m not going to say we’re not, but this is your first major storm, and we just happen to be in the mountains where it’s always worse.” Greyson started pulling on his winter gear. “I didn’t think to bring snow pants.”
“Those, I know we have here.” Gabe added.
“I meant it when I said I was a Boy Scout,” Sebastian said. “I have those and boots. I already brought them in from the truck yesterday just in case I couldn’t get to it.”
“When did you get snow pants? I thought you said we’d never get snow here.”
“Not never, just that I didn’t think any of the forecasts until now were accurate.”
“Now is a good time to be prepared. I don’t think any of the girls brought much in the way of survival gear.”
Gabe heard shuffling on the stairs and saw a sleepy looking Devlin making her way down to them.
“What on earth do we need survival gear for?” she asked, walking over to Gabe and standing a little too close. Gabe didn’t miss the glance that passed between Sebastian and Greyson.
Gabe pointed to the sliding doors, and he could feel Devlin’s sharp intake of breath.
“Talk about a winter wonderland,” she breathed. Gabe was mesmerized by the look of serenity on Devlin’s face. She looked as though she didn’t mind the inconvenience of being snowed in at all, and he understood what Greyson had said last week that he wouldn’t mind being stuck with Prudence. He was certain he wouldn’t mind a week snowed in at the cabin with Devlin.
“I’ll get another pot started, and breakfast when Pru and AB get up.” She moved over to the coffee pot then turned. “I don’t suppose we have enough supplies for another few days?” she asked.
“We have the leftovers and whatever was packed for breakfast. The caretakers have some canned goods, but not much, and nothing in the way of anything fresh,” Greyson replied.
“Hey, we just talked about ice fishing on the way here—do you think we can get a path to the lake so we can take a shot at some trout?” Gabe asked.
“Let’s get started on making sure the roof isn’t going to cave in and getting to the cars, we’ll work on the food later,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, sir.” Greyson saluted him. “I’ll go get Pru up so they can see what we can do about the food situation, and what to do if the power goes out.”
“I’ll go see if I can find those snow pants.” Gabe walked past Devlin to the front hall and startled when he felt the brush of her hand on his, so soft, as a half-smile lit her face. At least he’d have memories of last night to keep him warm while he braved the elements.
He was sifting through the pile of things in the front hall closet when he heard Annabelle make her way into the kitchen. He wasn’t eavesdropping, he swore he wasn’t, but his body was halfway buried in the closet when their murmur of voices turned into a crescendo.
“Oh my God, you had sex,” Annabelle exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, what?” Devlin sputtered in the way of a response.
“Sex. Doing the nasty, shagging, buttering the biscuit, doing the devil’s—”
“That’s far too many sex euphemisms for this early in the morning.”
“But you did. I can tell.”
“How can you tell, AB?”
Gabe heard a shuffling in the kitchen and decided to stay put for the moment. He didn’t need to alert them to his presence. Besides, he wanted to know what was behind Annabelle’s new superpower.
“It’s just a thing.”
Well, that was a disappointment. He’d hoped Devlin had the look of someone who had been fucked well and good, the glow of multiple mind-blowing orgasms showing on her radiant face.
“You can’t just say it’s a thing and leave it at that,” Devlin pressed.
“You have this look about you. I know it’s cliché, but your face is glowing.”
Okay, that’s a bit better.
“Whose face is glowing?” Gabe heard a third voice enter the conversation as Prudence came into the room. He needed to make his presence known. He clamored loudly as he extracted himself from the depths of the closet, grabbing onto the two items he went in there for, the snow pants.
“Ah!” Annabelle shrieked at his emergence. “The hell, Gabe!”
“Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Prudence had made her way into the kitchen along with Greyson. He held up the snow pants, trying to disguise that he’d heard their conversation. “I was in the back of the closet looking for these. We’re going to start trying to clear some paths outside and see what got piled on the roof.”
“Woah,” Prudence said in awe. “I haven’t seen this much snow in a long time. Remember the Christmas of ‘97?”
“Oh, yes,” Gabe answered, walking behind the kitchen island. “All the Atwoods were here, remember?”
Prudence’s eyes widened. “That’s right! You didn’t make it home until New Year!”
At the mention of New Year, Gabe’s eyes went to Devlin, wanting to see what her reaction was, but she’d turned herself away from the group.
“1997 was a much different time, though,” Gabe reminded her.
“I can’t even call Emma to tell her we can’t get out. You don’t think it will be a week, do you?” Devlin asked, her voice quiet. She turned around and sought out Gabe’s face. She started to take a step toward him then stopped.
He stood for a moment, not answering Devlin’s question, the silence broken by the sound of polyester rubbing against itself as Sebastian walked into the room dressed from head to toe in his winter gear.
Prudence let out a snort of laughter and Annabelle walked over to Sebastian, reaching out her hand, apparently trying to test out the puffiness of his very oversized jacket.
“You look like a marshmallow,” she said as she gave him a small shove. “I could knock you over and you’d bounce right back.”
“Hey, I’m going to be toasty warm if we have to walk anywhere.” He eyed her. “You, however, won’t make it any farther than the driveway. I’ve seen what you call winter clothes.”
“I just have to get as far as your overcompensating truck.”
“I’m not overcompensating for anything, thank you very much, but I’m not sure even that’ll get us home at this point.”
“Let’s not be all gloom and doom, at least not yet.” Greyson grabbed a pair of snow pants. “If we can get to the main road, we have a good chance of getting out of here still today, or tomorrow, depending on when the main road gets plowed.”
Greyson kept talking but Gabe tuned him out, instead focusing on Devlin, who had made a slow meander until she was close to him. While the others were now gathered around Sebastian toward the living room, just Gabe and Devlin were in the kitchen and his mind flashed back to the previous night. She set a mug of coffee in front of him. He started to thank her but went rigid when he felt Devlin’s hand on his back side, caressing his ass.
“Don’t get too cold out there,” she whispered. Her breath was warm, and it tickled his ear as she leaned closer to him, her hand now running up his back under his shirt, her nails scoring his skin, all while he tried not to react in front of the others.
One tilt and his lips were right at her temple, and he fought every urge to place a kiss just there. At this point, he both cursed and thanked the weather. It seemed more likely that they’d get to spend at least one more night together and he couldn’t wait until they were alone again, but that meant he wasn’t able to let this just be what they agreed on—one night—then they’d be back in reality, back in Amber Falls and able to keep their distance from each other.
I’m not ready to let her go .
The unbidden thought appeared, and he realized it wasn’t an unwelcome one.
“Hey, Gabe,” Sebastian called from the front door. Startled out of his reverie, he fumbled the coffee cup and it clattered onto the countertop, spilling hot liquid over his hand. He hissed in pain, waving his hand through the air. Gabe saw that the rest of the group had made their way to the door, with Greyson now all dressed for snow removal.
“Oh no!” Devlin moved him to the sink and started to run cold water over where the coffee had landed. “Here, hold it under the water, it’ll stop the burning from getting any worse.” She gave him a rueful smile. “I know a thing or two about hot coffee burns.”
“Sorry, man,” Sebastian apologized, “but I’m roasting in this getup. We’re going to go out and see if we can get to the driveway.”
“I’ll meet you out there in a few minutes,” Gabe called over his shoulder. The burn wasn’t that bad. It seemed like the coffee had been in the cup for a while and was lukewarm at best. He didn’t tell this to Devlin, however, and reveled in her holding his hand, feeling foolish that he was this content with just being near her, the simple touch of her hand on his skin grounded him in a way he’d never felt before.
“The trick is to keep it under the water until your finger is almost too cold. That’ll stop the skin from getting any worse.” A smile crossed her face. “I remember the worst burn I had.”
“Now, why would you be smiling so much at the memory of your worst burn?”
“Because it was the dumbest way to get burned and I laugh every time I think about it. I was working in this restaurant, and I’d bent over to plug something in next to the fryers.” She’d turned the water off at this point but kept his hand in hers as she continued the story. “I was wearing a high ponytail and when I bent over I didn’t realize that the tip of it dipped into the hot grease. When I stood my hair whipped across my face and left a Nike Swoosh symbol on my forehead.”
He stared at her, speechless for a moment. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Hand to my heart I’m serious. That’s how it happened.”
“No offense, but that’s the dumbest story of getting a burn that I’ve heard.”
“Believe me, you’re not the first person to react like that. Can you see why I laugh every time I think about it? I either laugh or cry at my own ridiculousness.”
Gabe chuckled at the imagery. “I can see why you chose to laugh about it.”
They both jumped at the sound of a clearing throat behind them and turned to see Prudence and Annabelle standing and staring.
“Oh, sorry,” Devlin said. “You’ve got to go.” She let go of his hand and he felt bereft of her presence already.
“That’s okay.” He shot a look at the other two ladies. “They’re fine without me for a few minutes.”
“Don’t mind us,” Prudence breezed. “We were just discussing how fortunate we were that the pipes didn’t freeze overnight, but I can see that there’s plenty of heat in those old pipes, uh, flowing.”
Annabelle snickered at this as she started clearing away the mess on the counter.
Gabe was not amused. “My hand is fine, by the way, thanks for asking.”
“I’m sure it is, dear,” Annabelle said.
He rolled his eyes. “Thanks for your help, I should be fine to go and shovel.”
They all turned toward the front of the house when they heard the unmistakable sound of a snowblower turning on.
“Thank the sweet lord,” Annabelle praised. “I won’t have to be stuck here with Sebastian for much longer.”
As Gabe started to get dressed to go outside, he felt a pang and wished that he’d have more time with Devlin.