Chapter 13
Lacy kissed Rory and smiled at him in bed in the guest room. She caressed his hair. “They’ll be waiting for us.”
“They will be. And they’ll know what we’ve been up to.”
“We’re newly mated. It’s Christmas.”
“Agreed.”
Lacy still felt slightly embarrassed to return to the living room.
They dressed, and Rory embraced her. “You are turning red.”
She laughed.
Then they went downstairs to join Frank and Florence and saw them snuggled together on the couch, sound asleep.
“That’s so sweet,” she whispered to Rory.
Smiling, he agreed.
She snapped a photo of them. “Their first Christmas together.”
He took a picture of Lacy and himself in front of the Christmas tree. “Our first Christmas together.”
Florence stirred, then her eyes shot open. “Oh, my, you caught us asleep.”
Lacy smiled. “You deserved it after all that you did for everyone for Christmas.”
“Even the guys and I take a catnap sometimes,” Rory said.
“Oh, the 7-layer bars should have cooled down by now.” Florence got up from the couch.
Frank did too.
“Does everyone want some? Or we can have some of the cookies and candies we got for Christmas.” Florence went into the kitchen to cut up the 7-layer bars.
“I’m all in on the bars. Does anyone want milk?” Rory brought out some glasses.
“Milk for me,” Frank said, everyone agreeing.
They all took their Christmas tree plates with the magic bars and glasses of milk to the table.
As soon as Lacy took a bite of hers, she moaned with pleasure. “Now these are so good. It has to be a family tradition from now on.”
“I agree with Lacy. I’ve never had these before. They’re great.” Rory ate more of his.
“Decadent.” Frank took another bite. “And so easy to make, even I can do it.”
Lacy chuckled. “You’re a good cook. You were just not used to the coffee shop’s kitchen, oven temperature, and all the distractions.”
They finished their magic bars and then cleaned up.
They checked out the windows. It was still snowing like crazy, with whiteout conditions a few feet out from the windows, and the wind still howling like an uncontrolled icy beast.
“I’m glad we’re here,” Lacy said, cuddling with Rory.
“Yeah, me too. The guys will give me grief when I get back for taking an extended work break over Christmas, but—” Rory squeezed Lacy.
“It couldn’t be helped, and we’re thrilled you’re here,” Florence said.
“We sure are,” Frank said.
“I’m glad that no one else had to stay with us for protection. They would have been separated from their family until the blizzard ends, and we can unbury ourselves,” Rory said.
The snow was piled up on the front porch halfway up the windows. It would be a bear to clear off the driveway, the porch, even Rory’s pickup.
“Time for bed?” Rory asked.
“Yeah, it’s time.” Lacy was ready.
Frank and Florence headed for the stairs too. Florence turned off the lights downstairs, and they all went up the stairs.
“Merry Christmas,” Florence said to everyone.
A chorus of “merry Christmas,” followed.
Then they all retired to their respective bedrooms.
“That was a really great Christmas,” Rory said.
“I agree.” Lacy removed her clothes and climbed into bed.
Rory quickly joined her, and they were back to kissing and making love.
Frank woke to find Florence had left the bed. It was four in the morning, but he didn’t hear her in the bathroom or downstairs.
He put on the new green pajamas that Florence had gotten him, featuring a cougar in a Santa’s hat, and a pair of furry slippers. Then he left the room and descended the stairs.
Wearing the blue penguin pajamas and blue fluffy slippers Frank had gotten her, she was staring out the front window.
He ran his hand over her back. “What’s wrong?”
“The howling wind woke me. I…I thought I heard something else, but it was probably just the wind.”
They moved into the kitchen and looked out the kitchen window. They didn’t see anything but snow and more snow.
Then they moved to the den and peered out the windows, looking for any sign of trouble, trees or branches down, but they really couldn’t see anything.
He wrapped his arm around her waist. “We could go out there and look, but I don’t think we would see much.”
“I agree. We wouldn’t see anything out there, and if we could even navigate the piles of snow, we could actually get lost in this mess.”
“Do you want to go back to bed?”
Florence sighed. “Yeah, sure.”
But he knew she was feeling unsettled about whatever she had heard. “You didn’t hear reindeer on the roof, did you?”
She smiled at him. “No. As high as the wind has been, a branch could have torn loose and hit the house, then blown off, or been buried in the snow.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
Then they went back to bed and snuggled in their PJs. “Love your PJs,” she said.
“Love yours too.”
“They’re perfect for wandering around the house when I think I’m hearing things.”
“I must have just been sleeping really heavily,” Frank said.
“Like I was when you heard the reindeer on the roof.”
Florence wished she’d been more awake when she’d heard whatever she’d heard. Then she was wide awake, like Frank had been when he’d heard the cougars on the roof. Could the brothers navigate this blizzard and break into the home?
She couldn’t fall asleep. She just kept listening to the wind blowing against the windows.
Frank was caressing her back, and she figured he was trying to help her fall asleep, or maybe he couldn’t sleep now either. But she loved how compassionate he was, and his touch was heaven.
Then she must have fallen asleep when she smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. “I think the kids are up.”
Frank kissed her cheek. “Yeah, smells like the coffee is ready.”
They dressed and then headed downstairs.
Only Lacy was in the kitchen.
“Is Rory sleeping in?” Florence was incredulous.
“He’s coming. He swore he heard something around four this morning outside the house.”
“Oh, I did too.” Florence couldn’t believe it.
“Oh, no. I didn’t hear a thing. I was sleeping too heavily.”
“Me either,” Frank said. “We looked out all the windows but couldn’t see anything at all.”
“The snow is still falling, and the wind is still blowing like crazy.” Lacy poured them all mugs of coffee while Rory came down the stairs and joined them.
“Did anyone hear anything around four this morning?” Rory added sugar and cream to his coffee.
“I did. Frank didn’t,” Florence said. “What do you think it was?”
“A branch hitting the window?” Rory asked.
“I thought of it. We couldn’t see anything.”
“I went downstairs to check, but didn’t see anything. I must have missed the two of you,” Rory said.
“Yeah, we went back to bed.”
“I did too, but couldn’t get back to sleep,” Rory said.
“Neither could we.” Frank got them refills on their coffee.
“What do you want to eat for breakfast?” Florence asked.
“Ham and cheese omelets?” Lacy asked.
“That’ll work.” Florence got up to go into the kitchen, and Lacy hurried after her.
They ate their breakfast, then cleaned up the dishes.
Rory said, “I’m feeling housebound.”
“I’m not sure we can get outside.” Lacy gingerly opened the front door. The amassed pile of snow began to fall into the house, and Lacy quickly shut the door. “Sorry.”
Florence and Frank came over and wiped up the melting snow.
“I’ll check the back door,” Rory said.
They all went that way, but the snow was packed up even higher against that door. It was so packed, it didn’t fall into the house like the snow at the front door. He quickly shut the door and locked it.
“As high as the snow is, we could probably jump out of the second-story window and land safely,” Rory said.
“And sink in it over our heads if the snow is too powdery soft. Then we would need a rescue team, and nobody is probably going to be able to get out in this weather for anything,” Lacy said.
“What about the garage door? Snow will probably block it the same as the front door, but we can try it,” Frank said.
They all headed out to the garage door.
Florence knew it would be just like the front door. Sure enough, as soon as Frank opened the garage door, they were faced with a wall of snow. Everyone got their phones out and took pictures for posterity.
“You can send that to Ted and Hal to show them how stuck we are,” Lacy told Rory.
He smiled. “I imagine the ranch is in a similar situation. The guys are going to have a time feeding the animals, though the animals will all be in the barns for protection.”
Frank closed the garage door. “I guess we’re stuck here for a while. At least we have plenty of food and drink.”
Rory hated showing his vulnerability in front of Lacy and the others, admitting he felt claustrophobic.
Maybe he would feel better if he talked about it.
“My issue with feeling claustrophobic gripped me when I was stuck in a cabin during a blizzard for a week. My parents were supposed to join me. I was eighteen at the time. They couldn’t get to me, and I couldn’t leave the cabin.
I had no phone service during the ordeal. They were frantic about reaching me.”
“Oh, that’s horrible!” Lacy said as they went back to the living room and sat down on the couches. “What happened?”
“I had brought food I liked to eat, so I had enough food. I was fortunate that none of the pipes froze, or I wouldn’t have had water.
I was always used to being around people.
I started working for Hal and Tracey when I was sixteen.
And before that, I lived at home. So this was a vacation to spend with my family.
It was Valentine’s Day, and I didn’t have a sweetheart.
But we had the worst blizzard that year. ”
“Like this year?” Lacy asked.
“If this keeps up, it might be just as bad as that year,” Florence said. “I was housebound for five days until some of the townspeople could clear the roads and my driveway. The snow had stopped, but the piles were so high, and it continued to be cloudy and cold, so it just wasn’t melting.”
“Exactly.” Rory ran his hands through his hair. “The cabin was even farther out so it took work crews longer to reach me. Though everyone was trying to get to me.”
“You have us this time,” Lacy said.
Rory smiled. “Yeah, and I’m glad for that. I just figured if I could get out for a breath of fresh air, I would feel better.”
“You could open one of the upstairs windows and just breathe in the fresh air until you feel less confined,” Florence said.
“I’ll go with you.” Lacy took hold of Rory’s hand. “Ready?”
“Sure.” Even though they had opened doors and breathed in the fresh air, snow still walled them in, lending to that claustrophobic feeling. He didn’t mind snow; he just didn’t like confinement.
They headed up the stairs, and Florence said to Frank, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Being from Florida, I’m not used to it, but I’m here with you, and I feel fine.”
“Good.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I can manage anything for a couple of weeks.”
Lacy walked into the guest room that they weren’t using so they wouldn’t make their bedroom cold. Rory opened the window and breathed in the fresh, cold air, the wind still blowing, whistling through the trees, the snowflakes collecting on their hair, eyelashes, and his beard.
“Do you feel better?”
“Yeah,” he said. “This feels great.” He pulled her under his arm and just enjoyed the “freedom.” Looking at the mountains of snow below them was a lot different than looking at it from the ground floor, seeing a wall of it keeping them from going anywhere.
He thought he heard something in their guest room, but he was surprised Florence or Frank would go in there instead of their own bedroom. He and Lacy hadn’t picked up their clothes from undressing last night and hadn’t made their bed, just being lazy. But he didn’t want them to see that.
Lacy snuggled with him closer.
He knew he had closed the door before he went downstairs, but he didn’t hear anyone open the door to the room to enter it.
He figured he was being paranoid. If the brothers were in their guest room, that meant trouble.
Though if they’d broken the window again, surely, they would have heard it even from downstairs.
Rory and the others couldn’t call for help.
They didn’t have any signal on their phones.
No one could help them in these conditions anyway. And his guns were in the living room.
“What’s wrong?” Lacy asked him.
“I thought I heard someone in our guest room.”
Lacy frowned. “I doubt Florence or Frank would have gone in there.”
Rory closed the window as quietly as he could. Then he crossed the floor to the door. “I don’t want to leave you here if the brothers are in our guest room. I want you downstairs with your grandfather and Mrs. Fitz.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.” Even though Lacy told Rory that she knew how to shoot a gun, she wasn’t law enforcement. At least he was deputized, and Florence and Frank were retired FBI agents who had done lots of fieldwork.
“When you reach the living room, turn into your cougar.”
Lacy hugged him. They didn’t even know whether the brothers were in the guest room. But they had to prepare for the worst.
“They might not be there,” he whispered to her.
She nodded. Then he opened the guest room door and instantly faced two men with guns—Timothy and Manning.