Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
EMILY
My hands stiff with cold, I fumbled in my handbag and pulled out my phone. I stared at it, willing the bars on the screen to reappear. Still no signal. It was almost out of power too. Shit. Why did I think this was a good idea?
I’d been so sure I knew where we’d left the trap, but it was nowhere to be found.
Even if Dana did come to meet me, the chances of her finding me out here were low.
I’d turned around a couple of times looking for the trap and now I wasn’t sure which way I’d come and snow was falling heavier by the minute, covering my tracks.
There was no chance of following my footprints back to safety.
I scanned the trees, trying to get my bearings. They all looked the same in the fading light. I wiped snow off my face and took a deep breath of frigid air.
If I followed a row of trees, I’d eventually get out of the forest. Once I was out, I’d surely be able to work out where I was and then I could find my way back to the barn.
If I was lucky, I’d end up back on the path I’d started on.
If I was even luckier, at some point I’d get cell reception and be able to call for help before my phone ran out of power.
I peered each way down the row of trees. Which way felt more likely to have been the way I came? Shit. I didn’t have a clue.
Tears welled in my eyes. I shouldn’t have left without Dana. Enough had happened today without adding being lost in a snowstorm to the mix.
A tiny black-and-white bird hopped onto the snow a few feet from me, pecked at the ground and then flew onto a branch.
I blinked away my tears and looked up at him.
“Hello little fellow. Do you know which way the barn is?”
“Chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” The bird flapped its wings and took flight, heading down the row of trees.
Was that a sign? In any event, I had to start moving fast, before it was so dark I couldn’t see. If I was lost out here all night, there was a real risk I’d freeze to death. I was already so cold. A biting chill stung my toes.
I hurried down the row in the direction the bird had flown.
A news headline flashed into my mind. Emily Rossi perishes in snowstorm following last ditch attempt to revive her failed career.
I shivered. I did not want to die. I had so much to live for. My family. My career. Dana.
“Emily!”
I blinked.
While faint, that sounded like Dana.
Was I hallucinating? Was this the first stage of hypothermia?
I slowed, looking around. Just trees and snow.
It probably was wishful thinking, conjured by the thought of Dana, but it wouldn’t hurt to call back. Just in case.
“Dana!” I yelled.
“Emily! Keep calling!” Her voice was louder now and there was a flicker of light between the trees.
My chest expanded.
“Dana! I’m here!”
And then there she was, stepping out from behind a Christmas tree, snow dusting her ponytail and the shoulders of her jacket.
Her face broke into a huge smile.
I blinked away tears.
Thank god.
Dana rushed forward, enveloping me in her arms.
“Oh my god. I’ve never been happier to see someone in my life,” I murmured into her neck.by
I leaned into her warmth, a huge weight lifting off my shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Dana asked, pulling back to look at me.
My hands dropped to her waist, not wanting to let go.
“I am now,” I said smiling.
God, she was beautiful. Slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed, lips red. Lips that were inches away from mine. Her breath was warm and sweet.
I swallowed.
I wanted to close the gap between us so badly.
I raised my gaze from her lips to her deep-brown eyes, and a jolt of electricity surged through my body.
She wants it too.
I leaned forward, my body shaking with adrenaline and anticipation.
A gust of wind rushed through the trees.
I slammed my eyes shut as a cloud of biting snow crystals blasted my face and my body swayed.
Dana reached out, grabbing my hips to steady me.
I blinked, pushing down the disappointment rising in my stomach. It was for the best. Kissing Dana would have just made my life even more complex than it already was. Between the distance and my career… No, it just wouldn’t work.
“We’d better find some shelter before we completely lose visibility,” Dana murmured. “I think we’re closer to my cabin than the truck now, so we’ll go there, and then I can grab my flashlight and go get the truck.”
“Okay,” I said, slightly dazed.
Had we almost just kissed, or had it all been in my head? Dana was acting like nothing had happened. Then again, we were in the middle of a snowstorm as night fell around us. Not exactly the time or place to ponder the situation.
She let her hands fall from my hips, but instead of disconnecting entirely she grasped my hand in hers. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”
Even though we were still officially lost and the light had almost disappeared from the sky, any worries about perishing in the snowstorm had vanished.
Dana was here. I would be okay—physically, at least. Mentally, I wasn’t sure.
Phillip, Austin, my career… and then what had possibly almost just happened with Dana. It was a lot to process.
Just focus on getting to safety.
“Aha!” Dana pointed through the trees a few minutes later. “That looks promising.”
I followed her finger. A light shone in the distance.
Another gust of snow hit us, reducing visibility to almost zero.
I screwed up my face, squinting to protect my eyes from the ice, and kept going.
“Thank god I forgot to turn off the lights in the front room,” Dana said as we stumbled out of the firs and into the clearing in front of Dana’s cabin.
Without the protection of the trees, gusts of snow seemed to increase two-fold.
It was a full-on blizzard. There was no way Dana was going out in these conditions to get her truck.
We stumbled up the steps to the cabin. Dana fumbled with the door, and we fell inside.
I released a breath, letting my shoulders relax. We were safe. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been bracing my body against the cold and the wind.
Dana flicked on the light, illuminating the living room, and stepped forward, studying my face. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I whispered, taking her in.
Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, icicles dangling from wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail.
My heart pounded in my chest.
I wanted to kiss her so badly.
Our eyes locked, and the electricity zapped through me again, lighting me up from head to toe.
I leaned in as Dana’s hands grabbed my hips, pulling me snug against her. Oh god.
And then our mouths met and everything else melted away.