Chapter Eight
Cole
I’ve never seen snow like this. The flakes are big and thick, blurring the mountain out completely.
“Damn, I’m not sure I’m going to make it back up the mountain, even in this rig. It’s crazy out here.” Joe doesn’t seem to me like the type to back down easily, but he’s not wrong about this weather.
“Let’s get everyone in one place and we can decide what to do from there. I know a back way up through the balsam forest that tends to block the wind. It could cut down on white-out conditions.”
“It’d still be slow going.” He pulls over in front of the diner and glances toward me, his hand running down over his beard. “Why don’t you take the general store. I’ll grab everyone in here.”
I nod once and hop down out of the truck, tugging my coat tighter.
The wind cuts through every seam, biting at my skin, but I don’t slow.
If I do, I might lose trajectory on the store.
With no lights or path, I’m walking blind.
It’s a lot like hiking up stairs in a house fire, but a lot fucking colder.
I should be thinking about the people trapped inside, about getting them safe before the storm buries us all, but my mind is stuck on Tess. We needed time to talk after what just happened. I need to make sure she’s okay.
What I really need is to change her mind about going back to New York.
What the fuck was I thinking going so fast like that? I wasn’t thinking, that’s the problem. I was feeling. Feeling her curved body, feeling her heart, pretending that I had everything figured out when I didn’t.
I knock twice and Mr. Palmer answers right away, pulling the general store door open as snow spills in behind me. Had I known anyone was inside, I’d have knocked earlier. That said, I doubt Tess and I would’ve ended where we did tonight if I had, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
The warmth hits, faint but welcome, until I see the man whose brother I put in the hospital earlier this year. I’ve been doing my best to stay away from him and the family, but this town is small. He was bound to turn up sooner or later.
Maybe he’ll be calm considering the circumstances. We’ve all got bigger things on our minds right now. I’m sure everyone wants to get home for Christmas.
Another step inside and I realize quickly that a peaceful interaction isn’t going to be possible. His reaction to my presence is visceral and instinctive. Stiff body, tight jaw, fists balled at his sides.
Jesus Christ, I really don’t want to do this now.
“You,” he spits, voice low but sharp enough to cut through the hum of the storm outside.
I don’t flinch. Not because I want a fight, but because flinching would show weakness, and if this man wants to go in the middle of a fucking snowstorm, I’ll give him what he’s asking for.
“Yeah,” I say evenly, stepping further into the store, snow melting off my coat. “Me.”
The air shifts and the room becomes heavy. I know what’s coming. He knows what’s coming. The elderly shop clerk, Mr. Palmer, knows what’s coming.
“Come on guys.” Mr. Palmer steps between us, adjusting his loosely tied apron. “We’ve got bigger problems right now.”
This thought makes sense to me, but to the asshole sizing me up, a fight is the only thing that matters. He takes a step forward, his shoulders squared. “My brother’s still not right because of you. They aren’t sure if his jaw is ever going to stop locking up.”
“Your brother made a poor decision, and he paid the price.”
The man laughs. “My brother waisted the best years of his life with your useless sister.”
The words hang heavy and every nerve in my body explodes with a rage I haven’t felt since that night at the bar… but that one’s sending me to jail.
I take another step closer, lowering my voice so only he can hear me say, “You want to settle this? I can fuck you up too.”
His teeth grind, but he doesn’t move.
The bell rings behind us and I assume it’s Joe with the folks from the diner, but the second I hear the rasp in Tess’s voice, I know I’m in trouble. I don’t want her to see me like this. Hell, I don’t want to be like this.
“What’s going on?” Tess steps into the store further. “Joe said you were over here getting people out to follow him back up the mountain.”
“Yeah,” I say, my tone clipped, my gaze still on the asshole. “That was the plan, but I think maybe this guy wants to finish some business first.”
Tess is smart enough to know exactly what this is about, and though I don’t want her to see me fight, I know that if this piece of shit lunges, I’ll have to take him down right here and now.
He laughs. “Go ahead, hit me. Fuck me up. Let your ugly little girlfriend watch.”
My vision blurs, my eyes burn, and my fists itch to swing.
I could break this mother fucker in half.
I could make him drink through a fucking straw alongside his brother, but what the fuck would that prove?
I can’t be that guy anymore. I need Tess to see me as someone strong, someone who can hold the line and not cross it.
I back away from the asshole and glance toward Mr. Palmer. “We’re following the plow up the mountain. You can ride with me.”
Mr. Palmer nods and grabs his jacket off the back hook, leaving the quiet room, the weak instigator still grinning as I turn back toward Tess and guide her toward the door.
I don’t know if I can outrun my past, but I know fighting for a future with Tess is my top priority now.