by Jaclyn Hardy
“Yes. And we should be ready by about one o’clock.” Mom took a spoon of gravy to taste. “Mmm perfect. Good job.”
Stuart turned the stove down. “I’ll go find Dad so he can carve the turkey.”
Dad and his brothers sat in the living room watching football. As soon as he saw Stuart, Dad stood. “I suppose it’s my turn now?”
“Yep.” Stuart stepped out of the way so his dad could pass, then went back to finish the gravy. When it was done, he took it into the dining room. The table was packed with potatoes, turkey, salads, vegetables, stuffing, and rolls. A few people sat there talking, while others were in the kitchen talking and washing their hands. Mom knocked a spoon up against a pan to get everyone’s attention.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s take our seats so we can bless the food.”
Stuart sat down in the middle of the table between his grandma and his younger cousin. His dad said the blessing, then everyone took a little of whatever dish was in front of them and passed it to the next person. They’d had Christmas dinner together often enough that everyone knew the routine. At least here everything remained unchanged and he didn’t have to make a fool out of himself.
Heather yawned and rested her head on the couch. She’d tried to help with lunch, but her aunt Cassie wouldn’t hear of it. It was a good thing she’d slipped her book into her purse the night before. The roads had been bad enough when they’d planned to leave the night before that they stayed at their aunt’s house. Heather put her slippers on that Janie had given her and opened her book to read.
“Hey, sweetie, have you seen the boys?” Mom stood over the couch. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were reading.”
“It’s fine. And no, I haven’t, but I can almost guarantee they’re out in the snow.”
Mom sighed. “I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, but who can blame them?”
Several inches had fallen over the night. She’d heard several times that this was the most they’d seen in years. All Heather knew was that her warm clothes and blanket were waiting at the hotel, and she was anxious to get back to them.
“Heather, come on! You have to see the snowman I built.” Janie grabbed Heather’s wrist and pulled.
It was no use. Heather laughed and set her book aside. There were too many things going on for her to actually be able to read. “Your hands are freezing. Did you wear gloves?”
“No, but I used some of Amy’s socks.”
Heather followed Janie to the window and looked out at the activity in the backyard. The ground was almost bare in places because it had been used to build forts and snowmen. Her cousins had red faces, and steam came from their mouths with every breath, but they looked like they were having the time of their lives.
“Come out with us.” Janie stood next to Heather.
“Tell you what. Let’s wait until after dinner is done, and then if the roads clear up, we can go sledding.”
Janie’s eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Sure. There’s the mountain right behind the hotel. There’s got to be a good hill around there somewhere, right? I’ll go ask.”
Janie squealed and hugged Heather before running off to put her boots on. She was most likely headed off to tell her brothers about going sledding. Aunt Cassie stood at the counter cutting up some vegetables for a veggie tray.
“Hey, do you know of any good hills to sled on around here?” Heather took the carrots from the pile and began chopping those.
“We have them all over around here. It just depends on how far up into the mountains you want to drive.”
Heather grabbed another carrot to chop. “My warm stuff is at the hotel, so it would have to be somewhere over there.”
“Oh, right. Well, the Poultons have that trail they take horses up every day. They’re bound to know of a good place. I’d ask them.” Aunt Cassie took the knife from Heather. “Now, run along. Dinner is almost done.”
She’d tried. Heather wandered off to find something else to do. The doorbell rang, and since she was the closest, she went to answer it. A young couple about her age stood at the door holding a tray of cookies.
“Oh, hey. These are for Mrs. Peterson. Could you give them to her?”
“Of course.” Heather took them. “Merry, Christmas.”
The girl smiled. “Thank you. Are you her daughter? She told me she had a few.”
“No, her niece. I’m Heather.” She held a hand out for them to shake.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Laura. This is Justin.” She stood there for a moment before clearing her throat. “Anyway, we just wanted to drop those off.”
Heather waved as they turned and left. It wasn’t until after she’d shut the door that she realized she probably should have invited them in. She took the cookies into the kitchen. “Laura and Justin brought these by for you.”
“Oh, those dears. They shouldn’t have.” She wiped her hands and took the plate. “Oh, she knew just what I wanted. Her chocolate chip cookies are divine.”
Heather took one off the plate when her aunt offered. She took a bite and the cookie almost melted in her mouth. “Wow, these really are good.”
Aunt Cassie passed them to the rest of the group. “Oh, your mom is looking for you. Something about finding tubes for your sledding trip. She’s out back.”
“Thank you.” Heather pulled off her slippers and went to find her boots. At least she’d thought of wearing those.
Mom stood out at an old shed going through shelves. “Oh, there you are. Come and help me find the tubes.”
“So you’re okay with us going sledding?”
“Are you kidding? You’re leaving the house and doing something with your siblings. I couldn’t be more thrilled.” Mom yanked on a dusty tube, and several others fell down with it. “Oops.”
Heather bent down to help inspect them for holes. “I’m just trying to get some relaxing done before my last semester. I want to be as ready as I can be for when I get my residency.”
“So which locations did you request?” Mom had hoped Heather would go somewhere close to them in Wyoming, but what was the point in a residency close to home?
“I just wrote in a few names that came to mind.” Heather set the tubes aside that looked promising and set the rest on the shelf.
“Just as long as you don’t end up across the country from us.” Mom grabbed a pump and they took that and the tubes to their car.
Heather was personally hoping for southern California, but she figured she’d keep that to herself. Three more months and she’d know where she’d be going. It couldn’t come fast enough.
Heather trudged up the hill dragging a tube behind her. This would be about the tenth time, and her legs were screaming at her. But she had to admit that this was the first time in a long time that she’d allowed herself to actually relax and have fun. Reading her book in her room wasn’t quite the same. She waited for Eric to move before sitting in her tube.
Janie scrambled up the last few feet. “Wait! Let’s race.”
“Only if you’re ready to lose.”
“Sure. I’m smaller than you. I’ll fly.” Janie climbed onto her tube. “Ready? Go!”
Heather laughed and pushed off. Trust Janie to take off before she said go. The wind was cold as she flew down the slope. Every bump jarred her, but it only made her laugh harder. By the time she came to rest at the bottom of the hill, Heather was frozen, but she felt refreshed. She’d have to go sledding again the next day if they had time.
“You lost. You owe me your dessert.” Janie stood above her with a hand on her hip.
“That wasn’t the agreement.” Heather rolled off her tube and stood. Her legs were jelly from climbing so many times. “I’m going to head back to the car. You guys can go a few more times if you’d like.”
Janie turned and ran. “Okay!”
The wind whipped her words away as it grew colder and stronger. Heather climbed in the car and turned it on to get the heat flowing. She should
have told Janie to only go one more time. It was only a couple of miles back to the hotel, but the snow was beginning to drift.
When another fifteen minutes passed, Heather decided it was time to go. The sky had darkened with snow clouds, and the wind was getting worse. She tried to open the door, but a drift had blown up against their car. Great.
Laughter sounded just outside the door on the other side of the car and the doors opened. Janie threw her tube in the back of the car. “You should have seen it. Eric and Sam totally collided at the bottom of the hill.”
“Did they get hurt?” Heather turned in her seat to check them as they climbed in. They both had goose eggs on their foreheads, but otherwise they looked fine. “Did you get everything? Gloves, scarves?”
“Yes, Mom.” Janie rolled her eyes. “Let’s go. I’m dying for some hot chocolate.”
Heather turned back around and pulled on her seat belt. “Buckle up. The roads aren’t going to be very fun.”
That was an understatement. It was a white-out from the blowing snow. She had to focus just in front of her so she could tell where the road was. If she tried to accelerate at all, the tires slid. Heather held her breath as she slowed to turn the corner. The car turned and slid, but she turned the steering wheel into the skid and managed to gain control.
“Whoa.” Sam’s voice came from the back of the car.
“Do that again,” Eric said, laughing.
“I’d rather not. Hold on and pray we get there.” Heather continued on, careful not to touch the gas pedal. This road wasn’t quite as bad because of the direction of the wind, but it was still slick. Heather sped up a little, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel. “Almost there.”
They turned the corner and stopped suddenly. Heather had hit something. She put the car in park and climbed out. A drift had blown across the road and she was stuck. How had she not seen it? Heather got back in the car and found her phone.
“Hey, Dad? We’re stuck.”
“How far out?”
Heather glanced around, but all she could see was white. “I don’t know. Pretty sure we’re just down the road. I don’t even know how I hit a drift. I didn’t see anything.”
“The wind is bad enough everything blends together. I’ll see if I can find someone to help. Keep the heater on and grab the blankets from the back.”
“Okay.” Heather hung up and turned to Janie. “Grab the blankets. Dad’s going to get some help.”
Janie nodded and reached for them. “They’re wet from the tubes.”
“They’re better than nothing. I’m going to see if I can dig us out.” Heather climbed back out before anyone could say anything and looked for something to use. All she could find was a huge branch. That would have to do.
Her fingers stung as she worked, but she needed to get out of there before the weather got worse. This wasn’t how she’d planned to spend Christmas. The beach sounded better all the time.
A truck pulled up and Heather leaned against her car, thankful for a short break. Her heart thumped hard in her chest from exertion, but it almost stopped when Stuart climbed out of the truck.
He pulled his coat close to him and leaned into the wind as he walked over to her. “Need some help?”
“No, I like being stuck in the middle of a blizzard.” Heather cringed. Why did her smart mouth have to show up at the worst times? “I didn’t see the drift.”
“They do that.” Stuart went back to his truck and grabbed some rope. “Climb inside so you can steer. We’ll have you out of there in no time.”
Heather nodded, not trusting herself to say something somewhat decent. After he’d secured the rope to the hitch of her car, he walked back to his truck and Heather climbed in her car. It took several tries before the car finally budged. Stuart stopped and came back to untie the rope.
“Thanks for your help.” Heather shivered in the icy wind.
“No problem. I’ll follow you back to the hotel to make sure no more drifts jump out at you.”
Heather opened her mouth to snap back, but she forced it closed. She put her car in reverse and drove around the offending drift before continuing on.
“Was that the guy from the dance the other night?” Janie asked.
“Yeah.”
“Wow. It’s a good thing he came and found us.”
Heather pursed her lips but kept quiet. She would have preferred waiting for her dad. The road had gotten worse, and by the time they got back to the hotel, Heather had decided she never wanted to drive in the snow again.
She was surprised to see Stuart pull in behind her. Surely he could have just gone home after helping her. She left the tubes in the car, but made sure to grab the blankets, scarves, and gloves her brothers and sister had left. She turned and almost ran into Stuart.
“Sorry, I just wanted to see if you needed help. Your hands are full.”
“I’ve got it.” Heather used her hip to slam the car door shut. “Thanks again for pulling us out. Are the roads always like this in the winter?”
Stuart shrugged. “Sometimes. It’s not the snow that’s the problem. It’s the wind that makes things so bad out there.”
“I noticed.” They hurried into the hotel and Heather took all of their coats up to her parents’ room. She was surprised when they didn’t answer their door. They must have already gone down to dinner. She set everything in her room instead and went back downstairs to find her family.
The dining room was full of people. Heather found her mom and siblings at one of the tables, so she made her way over to them, then stopped short when she realized that Stuart was sitting there with them.
“Hey.” She sat down and picked up her menu. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s going to let Patrick and the others know that you made it here, thanks to Stuart.” Mom beamed.
Stuart chuckled. “I’m glad I could help.”
“I thought you would have headed home by now.”
“I’m not going anywhere on these roads tonight. It’s not safe.” Stuart set his menu down. “Besides, I didn’t want to miss Rachel’s fried chicken. It’s the best around.”
“Do a lot of people eat out here? I’d think it’s a ways out just to go to dinner.”
Stuart raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but nothing is close by. We have to go into Twin to do most of our shopping, so a lot of people will come here for lunch. I’m only around because I’d just finished working on my house and knew I wouldn’t get into town in this storm.”
Heather raised her eyebrows. “Your house?”
“Yeah, I’m building a house just up the road from here. The framing is done, and we were able to get plastic over it so it would be protected from the snow. I just hope it works.” Stuart smiled up at the waitress. “Hey, Laura. Could I get some chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli?”
“Perfect.” The waitress—Laura—turned to Heather.
“I’ll have the chef salad and steamed veggies.” Heather handed her the menu.
Laura wrote down the order. “Anything to drink?”
Heather shook her head. “I’ll have water.”
“Perfect.”
“I thought you were doing the marketing side of working here.” Stuart smiled up at Laura.
Laura smiled. “I am, but Rachel asked me to work tonight. The storm is preventing some of her other employees from getting here.”
Heather shook her head. It was amazing how well everyone knew each other here. But then she’d only been here for a couple of days and had run into Laura at her aunt’s house and kept meeting up with Stuart. Getting to know everyone well seemed to be pretty easy here.
“So, Stuart, tell us about yourself.” Heather’s mom smiled. “All I know is that you’re building a house and you saved my kids from the storm.”
Stuart paled and looked down at his table. Great. He was probably some kind of criminal and Heather had spent all this time with him. Go figure.
He fi
nally cleared his throat. “Well, I grew up here. Graduated a few years ago and now I’m building a house so I can start my own ranch.”
“Heather’s dad is a builder. He’s built half the houses in our city.”
Here she goes again. Heather pushed down the urge to roll her eyes. Not that it wasn’t true. Dad had snagged a major account a few years back and Heather was thrilled for him, but Mom loved to brag about it.
Stuart seemed to relax a little. “That’s awesome. This has been slow going because of work and the weather, but I’m hoping to have it done by spring.”
“Well, I’m sure glad you were working on it today so you could be around to help pull Heather out.” Mom brightened and waved. “Here’s her dad now.”
Dad set a hand on Heather’s shoulder as he moved around her. “Hey, sweetie. Is this the guy who saved the day?”
“Sure. Dad, this is Stuart.” Heather wanted to hide her face as he looked between her and Stuart. He remembered faces better than anyone, which meant he probably remembered the fact that Stuart was the one she’d yelled at just a few days before.
“Nice to meet you.” Dad sat next to Mom and picked up his menu. “How was sledding?”
“Awesome!” Eric leaned forward and had to talk over the top of his brother and Janie as they told stories of what had happened on the hill.
Heather turned to Stuart and kept her voice low. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, why?” Stuart wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Because as soon as my mom asked about you, I saw a look of panic. Should I be worried? Did you . . . rob a bank or something?”
Stuart burst out laughing. “No, nothing like that. I just . . . don’t like to talk about myself. I’m just a small-town guy who chose not to go to college.”
Heather tipped her head to the side. “Why would that be bad? Do you really think I’m that big of a snob?”
“No. Nothing like that.” Stuart paused. “It’s just—”
“Is that true, Stuart?” Dad interrupted Stuart. “You’re building your own house?”
Again, Stuart breathed a sigh of relief as he turned his attention to Heather’s dad. “Yes it is.”
