Chapter 17
NICK
By the time we left the room the next morning, the inn was half an hour into its breakfast service.
We sat at a cozy table in front of the lit fireplace in the middle of a large room with high ceilings and crisscrossing exposed beams. The owner, Buddy, who had checked us in last night, poured our coffee and took our orders.
While we waited for my eggs and sausage and Cara’s French toast with berries and cream, we checked our weather apps.
Cara frowned. “It doesn’t look good.”
“Problem?” the owner asked as he approached us with nearly overflowing plates.
“The weather,” I said. “We’re supposed to get on the road in a couple of hours.”
“Bad idea.” He set our breakfasts in front of us.
Cara’s eyes lit up. “Is that freshly whipped cream?”
“Absolutely. Only kind we serve.” Buddy wiped his hands on his apron. “Now, about that storm, it’s coming in earlier and harder than predicted. But it should stop sooner, too. Probably snow itself out by late afternoon.”
“What are the odds the roads will get plowed out in time for us to get in some driving time today?” I asked.
The owner sighed and laid one hand on his pot belly. “If I had to guess, I’d say slim to none, with not much chance of slim. You should be able to get out by midday tomorrow, though.” He glanced at our cups. “Fresh pot is brewing. I’ll be back in a bit to top you off.”
So, we were stuck here for another day, at least. Cara seemed to be only half listening as she poured warm syrup from a silver chalice over what was already a sugar-fest on a plate.
If she ate all that, she’d need a nap by noon.
But if we were going to be stuck here anyway, I could think of worse things than tucking Cara into bed in the middle of the day.
She looked up at me and smiled. “That’s quite a grin for a man who just heard he’s stranded for the next day plus.”
“Am I grinning?” I hadn’t realized it. I shrugged and picked up my silverware. “It’s not all bad, being stranded with a gorgeous woman who makes me laugh and can do this amazing trick with her—”
“We’re in public,” she whisper-yelled, then added quietly, “but I’m glad you liked it.”
When Buddy came by with the coffee pot, we asked about our next pressing order of business, which was to find winter-storm-appropriate clothes so we could walk around the village to the locations Cara had identified for her Mother Tree photo shoot.
As she explained it to Buddy, he called over his wife, Sue, who’d been working the other side of the dining room.
Within minutes, they’d involved half the diners, most of whom were locals, in the conversation.
Which was how we came to be dressed in a mishmash of borrowed snow gear, trudging through the inch of snow that was already on the ground, with a gaggle of townsfolk following us.
Cara swore them to secrecy and true to everyone’s word, no one pulled out a cell phone to sneak a pic or video.
Everyone, though, had an opinion about where Cara should take pictures of Mother Tree next.
In the end, we’d spent half the day going to ten different locations.
“Sorry that took so long,” Cara said when we were back in her room, which was now officially our room, to drop off Mother Tree.
“Don’t apologize.” I clicked through her phone, checking the images. “Care, these are stunning. I especially love the black and white ones. You know, you could make a mint selling photo prints of your art work.”
She bumped her shoulder into my arm. “I don’t need a mint.”
“I meant in case you ever need more money to pay your bills.” I pulled her into my arms. “Or to feed your cat.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
I kissed my way down the side of her neck. She squirmed against me in that way I loved, but then wiggled out of my arms. “You’re going to make us late for the snowman rolling contest.”
As we’d made our way around the village with the locals, we’d gotten ourselves invited to every Christmas-themed event they had scheduled that day.
Since the kids were already out of school for the holiday and the majority of the town’s income came from tourism, every day was jam-packed with Christmas delight.
I should have hated it. But with Cara’s hand in mine as she led me across the town square to the snowman-filled park, I didn’t really mind.
I actually enjoyed losing our snowman rolling heat to a pair of seven- and nine-year-old sisters.
Next up, we had to choose between a snowmobile ride on a cleared trail in the woods and an afternoon caroling event.
She chose the event where we were the youngest participants, me by twenty years and Cara by thirty-five.
“When I said I’d sing for you, I didn’t know this was what you had in mind,” I whispered as we walked toward our first stop, which was a nursing home.
After that, we sang for the toddlers at a daycare, and finally for the staff and patients of the town’s only hospital. I was amazed at how many of the hymns and carols I remembered from being in choirs in my youth. I didn’t even need the sheet music for some of them.
As we walked back to the church to hand in our music, Cara wrapped her arm around mine. “Nick, your voice is beautiful. Seriously, it brought me to tears a few times.”
I hugged her close. “I noticed you were pretty quiet.”
“I was busy listening.”
“Next time you want me to sing, you’ll have to do it with me,” I said.
“Maybe. But while I was busy not singing, I scored the hottest invitation in town for us. Peppermint hot chocolate at Mrs. Fern’s house. Rumor has it the kids’ drinks get flavored with candy canes, and the adults’ with peppermint schnapps.”
The rumors were true. By the time we’d had a few cups of Mrs. Fern’s holiday cheer on empty stomachs, we would have been hard pressed to walk a straight line.
Because we’d skipped lunch, we went to the early seating of the fundraising dinner at the community center.
Somehow, the tickets were only five dollars per person, with the option to donate more.
But when I slipped two twenties into the collection box, Mrs. Roca, the sweet lady sitting at the check-in table, scowled at me as if I’d offended her.
“It’s too much!” she whispered loudly to the lady sitting with her.
Cara leaned down and whispered to the offended woman. Mrs. Roca looked at me, smiled, then giggled. When Cara stepped away from her, the woman waved to us.
“Enjoy your dinner!”
I put my arm around Cara’s shoulder as we walked toward our table. “What did you say to make her hate me less?”
Cara grinned. “I told her you need to do a lot of good deeds because you’re trying to get off the naughty list. And that it’s not going well.”
I squeezed her closer. “You’re the reason I’m on the naughty list.”
“I told her that, too.”
After dinner, we headed back across town and climbed up the steepest hill in the area.
At the top, there were saucer sleds for rent for singles, and toboggan style sleds for couples.
We waited in line for five minutes for our turn while a teenager explained the course and how to navigate it.
“It’s a long one. It will take you about two minutes,” he told the crowd.
“That’s the perfect amount of time,” I told Cara.
She glanced up at me. “For what?”
“For singing a couple of verses of a song.” I took a toboggan from another teenager.
“No.”
“We’re going to stand here holding up the line until you agree,” I said.
She huffed, then said, “Fine. What song?”
I positioned the sled and we climbed on to it. “Given your weird eighties’ love, I know you know the words to The Bangles’ Eternal Flame.”
We sang at the top of our lungs. Horrible vocal technique, but great fun.
“An eternaaaal flaaaame!” we yelled in unison as we reached the end of the course.
The couples who had come down parallel paths on either side of us jumped off their sleds and clapped for us, the applause muted by their heavy gloves.
“You’re fun!” one of the women said. “You should come to karaoke with us tonight.”
I handed the sled to yet another teenager, then put up my hands in surrender. “This is where I throw the old man card. I’m beat.”
“Sorry guys.” Cara grinned and winked at me. “I’m with grandpa, so I’m out. But have fun!” She sighed when we were alone and walking home. “I’m glad you said no to karaoke because I can’t do one more group activity tonight.”
“First of all, thanks for making grandpa your fall guy, and second, are we considered a group, because...”
“We’re not a group, so consensual adult activities are not only allowed, they’re encouraged.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I took her hand and led her off the sidewalk and onto a path into the woods. “I want to show you something.”
“And I look forward to seeing it again, but I’m not sure this is the place for it.”
“Not that. Well, yes that, but...” I led her through a thick ring of trees and then to a small clearing. “I saw this on the snowmobile trail map earlier today. It’s very hidden. Very private.”
“It is. And why are we here?”
I leaned down and kissed her. “Have you ever had sex in the snow?”
The way her eyes widened told me she was interested. “No. Sounds cold, though.”
“We’ll have to keep most of our clothes on and get creative. Are you in?”
She kissed me back. “Absolutely. What do we do?”
“First, lie down like you’re a snow angel.”
Iwoke up with a warm, soft woman in my arms. I buried my face in her long hair and sighed in contentment.
I could get used to this. I wanted to explore my budding relationship with Cara.
I no longer gave any fucks whether I was too old for her because that was for her to decide.
And after the last two days and nights together, I felt comfortable saying she’d made her choice.
She turned in my arms to face me and ran her hand down my naked chest and belly, then lower. This was sheer heaven. I would never tire of the way she touched me.
A God-awful sound blared around us. We both bolted upright and surveyed the room. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and hit a red X to make it stop.
“Is that a tornado warning or something?” Cara asked. She was out of breath from the panic the damn noise had caused.
“Worse. It’s Pasco.” Since I’d never received that kind of message from him, and in fact I hadn’t known he could send that kind of signal to my phone, I immediately called him. “What the fuck, Pasco? It’s 0630 here.”
“You’ve been breached. You need to move.”
I leapt out of bed and motioned for Cara to do the same. When she turned pale with fear, I regretted it. “Everything’s going to be all right, but I need you to make a pit stop, then get dressed. We’re leaving in 10 minutes.”
She ran to the bathroom and I turned my attention back to the call.
“What’s going on?” I asked Pasco
“It was a geolocation tag breach. I’ll explain the details later. What you need to know now is your location has been IDed by the group that’s been tracking you and the others with your skillset. We’re also monitoring chatter, which is how we know they’re sending firepower.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” I pulled on my pants and a tee shirt. “How close could they have a team with firepower?”
“A couple hundred miles, give or take. These kinds of groups have ties to mercenaries throughout the country. Two unregistered helicopters went up a minute ago in your general vicinity. I estimate they’ll be on top of you in less than an hour.”
“Fuck me. You have any suggestions about where we should go?”
“You’re twenty minutes by car from a military base, but the roads are closed. It’ll take a hell of a lot longer on foot.”
“Send me the coordinates of the base and alert them htat we’re coming,” I said. “I have a plan.”
“Roger that. I sent a comms unit along with your secure phone. Get it in your ear so we can be in constant contact.”
“Roger that,” I said, reaching for the small case inside my toolbox where I’d packed the comms unit. I also unfolded my canvas weapons bag I’d stored there in case of emergency, hoping to hell I’d never have to use it.
I disconnected from the call, but I heard Pasco and the rest of the team through my earpiece.
Apparently, this emergency situation had elevated me to important enough status for the team to be allowed to commandeer a military plane to come for me.
“About fucking time,” I mumbled as I assembled a long rifle and pulled out two pistols from the bottom of the toolbox.
I never should have been in this position. Lang’s organization putting me in it was unacceptable. But getting Cara mixed up in it was un-fucking-forgivable. I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to keep her safe. And if anything happened to her, it would all be my fault.