Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Hours later, Deanna sat on her pine-framed double bed with about fifty blankets and quilts piled on top of her, and the remnants of a glass of wine on the bedside table.
She was trying to watch a rom-com movie on her tablet, but the lodge’s internet wouldn’t connect properly.
The screen was frozen on an image of Sandra Bullock’s face, looking shocked about something.
She plonked her tablet down beside her and admitted defeat. No more movie.
The snow was properly falling outside now, and the wind had picked up to a gale.
A howling noise had her sitting up straight, holding the blankets up to her chin, and the insistent banging against the roof and windows made her want to call for help.
Deanna glanced at the landline phone by her bed. Cal wasn’t far away.
Even though the rational part of her mind knew it was tree branches banging the roof in the wind, the other, believing-in-nightmares part had different ideas.
It was convinced a serial killer or some other boogeyman was using the storm as cover to claw his way inside at any moment.
And probably eat her face clean off. Reason number one why she watched rom-coms instead of horror movies.
Or she tried to. Sandra Bullock was being no help whatsoever, which was unlike her.
Deanna pulled the blankets right up over her head.
Maybe she could sleep in a blanket fort?
But the loudest, most impossible crash reverberated through the entire cabin.
She gasped and sat bolt upright, peeking out, but holding the blankets up in a death grip around her chin.
Something had thudded down hard against the roof, as if a hippopotamus was up there having a tea party, like in a kids’ book she’d read once.
The phone was in her hand before she could think twice. The number ‘1’ on the button keypad was marked ‘Office’ so she hit it hard and pressed the phone to her ear, waiting, hoping that Cal would answer. But there was no dial tone. She tried again. Still nothing.
“Oh no. Please pick up.”
Then the lights flickered and the noise from the little electric heater stopped mid-blow. Deanna’s mind just about sputtered to a stop too. The power outages Cal mentioned as ‘possible’ were not so hypothetical. A second later she was plunged into blackness when the lights went out completely.
“Help?” she called out, her voice cracking on a whimper.
No one heard her. How could they? Cal was at least ten metres away from her cabin in the main lodge, and there were no other people around. Except for any serial killers still lurking…
Wary of getting herself murdered, Deanna pushed back the bedding piled on top of her and grabbed her cell phone.
There was still no network coverage, but at least she could use it as a flashlight.
She eased herself down from the high bed, wrapping one blanket around her shoulders. For warmth. Or security.
Shining the phone’s light in front of her, Deanna made her way slowly towards the cabin’s door.
She inched her way across the room, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as the howling wind whipped past the cabin’s windows.
A scraping sound across the roof made her wince.
But she forgot about the gigantic suitcase she’d left standing near the end of the bed.
Walking straight into it, she stubbed her big toe, hard.
“Mother…forking…suitcase!” She grabbed her right foot in her hand and hopped around in a circle crying, “Ow, ow, ow!”
She shivered as a glob of icy sludge dropped from above, right on her head and then wetness dribbled down the back of her cardigan.
She squealed, then stamped her feet. Which sent a breath-stealing, shooting pain from her sore toe, right up her leg.
This time, she screamed. Like the murderer of her worst nightmares had finally got her.
Like it was her last chance to cry for help.
When Deanna looked up, she found a hole in the ceiling and the night sky winking at her through the gap along with a massive tree branch. The wind chose that moment to pick up in a furious gust, sending a flurry of snow through the hole right into her eyes.
Her scream this time was blood-curdling enough to make a horror movie heroine proud. She sank to the floor in a defeated heap. Her phone slipped from her grasp and who knew where it went.
The next thing she knew, there was a muffled banging on the door and a creak of hinges, followed by a crack of light as the door opened. She curled up into a ball.
“Deanna?” A deep voice called out.
Light spilled in from outside and outlined her saviour: Cal, holding a flashlight, looking stern and amazing, all big and knight-like and there, having come to her rescue.
Her stomach flipped and she let out a long, slow breath.
“What have we here? Quite the kerfuffle.” Cal stated, deadpan. He sighed as he stepped over her suitcase that had fallen over amid what he rightly called the kerfuffle.
He was standing over her when his expression changed from wry amusement to creases of concern. “Are you alright? I thought you were just scared by the blackout.”
“Oh, that was nothing,” she lied, smoothly, “but I tripped over my suitcase and hurt my foot, and then that happened.” She pointed up to the ceiling while holding his gaze. “The huge gaping hole. With all the snow falling through.”
He blinked then craned his neck up to stare at the hole. “Ah, bollocks. Sorry about that.” When he met her gaze again he held it for a long moment before he spoke. “Let’s get you up to the main lodge. At least we have the fire in there to keep us warm.”
Cal extended his hand to her. She took it, of course she did, with only a split-second of hesitation.
Maybe the same reason he hesitated. Because now, she’d be stuck with him in the main lodge with no privacy whatsoever.
But, as he said, they needed to keep warm.
His hand was warm, incredibly so, like a pocket-sized furnace.
His palms were a little rough, probably from the wood-chopping or wolf-wrangling or whatever.
Deanna couldn’t help it when a barrage of inappropriate images flooded her brain of all the ways they could keep warm. If they really wanted to do things properly, they should strip off their clothes and zip themselves into one sleeping bag. Skin to skin. To share body heat.
Her face burned as Cal grasped her hand tightly. She let him help her up. Then she gasped as he hauled her right up and flopped her over his shoulder.
“Hey, I can walk, you know.”
“Can you, indeed? I thought this may be safer for us both.” The sarcasm was strong with Cal.
She grumbled about bossy men while clinging on, enjoying the strength of him, and weirdly, the chance to sniff his neck. He was wrapped in the essence of pine trees and woodsmoke, a delicious, outdoorsy scent.
He stomped out of the cabin, shutting the door behind them before continuing in a brisk march to the lodge.
The air was freezing, and Deanna’s nose felt like a little icicle. Snow continued falling in great white drifts that made it hard to see far ahead.
They made it to the front door of the lodge and Cal pushed it open, while balancing her in his arms. Deanna fought the urge to swoon.
Once inside, he shoved the door shut behind them and gently placed her down on the floor like he didn’t want to break her.
“Sorry about the manhandling.” Cal tore off his hat and shoved his fingers through his hair.
“It’s alright. Thanks for coming to my rescue. Again.” Deanna dusted herself off and unwrapped the now-damp blanket from the cabin. She hung it on a hook near the door while Cal took off his boots.
She glanced around the lodge, which was lit by loads of tea-light candles and the roaring fire. The orange glow in the otherwise dim room was gorgeous and inviting. She’d wanted cosy, and this scene fit the bill.
Deanna walked straight across to the fireside. Standing right in front of the leaping flames, she warmed her butt through her flannelette pyjama pants and watched Cal come closer. Watched him hesitate to stand nearby.
She shot him a smile. “It’s lucky you heard me scream. I was worried about axe murderers coming to get me. You can stand by me. Here,” When he simply stood there, still as a statue, she reached out for his hand and tugged him closer.
Deanna grinned at him. When she realised she still had a firm grip on Cal’s large hand, she let go. Reluctantly. His large hand felt right wrapped around her smaller one.
Cal’s lips tipped up at one corner. “There are no axe murderers around here that I’m aware of.
But I was worried about you freezing out there in the cabin.
I expected power outages. The new back-up generators are bloody expensive.
It’ll be a couple more weeks before they’re installed. The timing sucks.”
Deanna wrapped her arms around herself, stuffing her hands under her armpits.
Her soft cardigan usually kept her warm, but tonight the temperature had really dropped.
She was stuck here in the main lodge for the night, that much was obvious.
“Well, we’re okay in the lodge I guess. Do we have enough firewood, food and water, and stuff? ”
“Yes. I stocked up on essentials since I’m living here full-time now.”
She nodded. “Good. Did you always work as the manager here? I mean, did you used to work for your father?”
Cal cleared his throat. “No. I worked in IT. Still do, on contract. Network architecture consulting. I usually work remotely, but I visit clients in the city sometimes.”
That sounded like a good balance. To live somewhere so pretty, so quiet, but to visit the metropolis every now and then for work or fun. “So, you’re hella smart, hey? Impressive.”
Cal chuckled, glancing at her from under his long, luxurious eyelashes. “Didn’t think a nerd like me would impress a glamorous girl like you.”