A Perfect Holiday

by Riley Murphy

  That was only ten minutes away. So much wasted time. She’d wound up having to stay at a hotel last night when the weather and inadequate directions forced her to give up on getting to the cabin in the dark. And visibility was no better today due to the continuing storm. Snow was still falling and she’d already gone around in a complete circle again trying to find Riker’s place. Her nerves were frazzled. It wasn’t easy driving on slippery roads and at this point she was ready to pack it in and head back to the airport. What good were Caleb’s directions of turn right at the deer sign, or left at the big rock, when all of that stuff was covered in a thick blanket of white.

  “Mom?”

  “What’s the matter? There’s something, I can tell by your tone. Did you get in an accident? Are you all right?”

  She felt like an asshole. She really did when she answered, “No. I’m lost.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in Colorado, parked at a convenience story somewhere between the airport and no man’s land. It’s been snowing since I touched down. My flight was delayed on account of the storm and the holiday rush. The rental car place had low inventory because of that so I’m driving a compact instead of the SUV I booked. I don’t drive well in the snow and I can’t figure out the defrost system. The stupid car is a basic model so there’s no GPS. There’s no heat either. I stayed at a crappy motel last night and didn’t get any sleep and this morning I’ve already stopped at the same gas station twice to ask for directions. I must be stupid or blind because when I follow them I wind up right back where I started from.”

  “Sweetheart.”

  “I think I made a mistake coming here.”

  “Why, because you don’t want to see him again?”

  She stuffed her free hand into the sleeve of her abominable snowman jacket, silently thanking Martha for the hundredth time, and said, “No, I still want to see him.”

  She wasn’t going to tell her mom how much she paid for her ticket, or about the worries she had over Brianna and what she may find, when and if she eventually arrived at the place.

  “You’re just frustrated.”

  “Wouldn’t you be?”

  “I’ll tell you a story about being frustrated, but right now let’s get you organized.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Give me the address and I’ll pull it up on the computer.”

  Sidney closed her eyes and banged her head against the headrest, saying, “Thanks, but I already did that before I left. I’ve followed those instructions to the letter and they don’t work.”

  “Sometimes they get it wrong. Just give me the address and his full name, then put me on speaker and set the phone down somewhere close. I’ll drive with you until we get you there.”

  She sat up straight. “Really?”

  “Yes, and maybe I’ll tell you about the time I skipped school to drive my sister’s car across the state to watch one of Daddy’s baseball games.”

  “No.”

  “I’m afraid it’s true, but let me get this address square first, so you can get back on the road.”

  After Sidney positioned the phone in the cup holder she leaned toward it. “Mom?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Thanks.”

  There was silence for a second and then her mom said, “You know, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing between us. Just remember Daddy and I here to help any way we can. I’d plan on going through me first, though, because if Daddy had answered the phone and you told him you were lost, he’d be sending the marines to bring you home or something.”

  That made Sid smile. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Good, now let’s go find your guy.”

  In no time at all, Sidney was heading back up the highway, laughing and so relaxed she didn’t even care that every driver to pass her by either glared or gave her the finger. So what if she was going twenty-five in a fifty-five mile an hour zone. The tires felt like they were skating over the snow-slick asphalt so she didn’t give a rat’s ass that people were cursing her while she crept along. The one and half hour drive turned into over two, but the time flew by now that she had some company.

  “Oh, hey, Mom, I hate to interrupt, but this is Canyon Blue road coming up.”

  She heard garble and then her mom said, “It is, but you’re looking for Canyon Black road. That’s another mile north.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. I Googled his address. Is that the road you’ve been turning on?”

  A car honked the whole time it went by her and she winced. She really was getting sick of the road-ragers. “Yes. His brother’s hand writing wasn’t so great. I could only make out the Canyon part and the B of the second word scribbled so when I mapped it I just assumed.”

  “Well it’s no wonder you couldn’t find the place. That road loops back down to the I-77 on-ramp.”

  Sid hit the steering wheel and then grabbed hold to strangle it again when the car swerved a little. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No.”

  Hooooonk!

  “Geez, these pickup trucks are relentless. Okay, another mile? Great. Finish telling me about the dance.”

  When her mother did, Sidney smiled and realized she was actually relaxed. This time, when a big semi passed by her and tooted his horn several times, she casually took one hand off the steering wheel and flicked him the bird.

  “Canyon Black Road. Here it is.” She turned right and was just about to ask her mom if she had to go all the way up the steep hill that looked more like a mountain to her, when the connection started breaking up. “Mom? Hello? Can you hear me?”

  She didn’t dare stop now that she was going up and when she was greeted by silence she figured in this heavily treed area phone reception was going to be spotty. “Mom?”

  Silence.

  “Damn.”

  Since there were no houses in sight and the hill was getting steeper and she feared she’d never get to the top before sliding back down it, she followed her instincts and gunned the gas, praying that she’d make it all the way to the top.

  “Come on, baby. Just a little more. More,” she whispered as she hunched over the wheel and willed even her shift in body weight to propel the sub-compact to crest. A few car lengths to go and she’d reach the top where the tree line broke and gray skies spewed relentless flakes of snow.

  “Ha!” She hit the flat part of the pavement, almost in awe of herself after making it up that treacherous hill, when the car fishtailed. Unlike the snow on the heavily trafficked highway, the white stuff on this road hadn’t melted. There were slushy tire tracks, some looked to be a half a foot deep in places, but she didn’t have time to think about those. She was too busy trying to recall all her what-to-do scenarios. Somewhere in the back of her head a voice screamed to turn into the skid, but her every instinct was to do the opposite. She knew enough to take her foot off the gas, but again, should she apply the brake? Yes? No?

  The car was swerving right, crossing the center line, traveling in the wrong lane. Thank the good lord there wasn’t any oncoming traffic, but then it took a hard left over the line and then a drunken turn into the right again before—Oh god—it was going sideways. Use the wheel. Turn it. Her heart jumped against her rib cage. Adrenaline soared and for the first time in nearly six hours she wasn’t freezing. Then, even though the voice of reason tried to stop her, she let fear rule her and stomped on the brakes with both feet.

  “No!” Everything went in slow motion as the car skidded sideways down the center line for what seemed like ages. Did she blink? She wasn’t sure as her view changed. She was facing the tree-line again. Then the left, only it was to the right now, and then straight ahead. That’s when everything sped up into one quick whiplash movement as the car spun out, veering off the road onto a snow bank. The vehicle literally drove up it, coming off the ground a few feet until it stopped dead. The wheels were still spinning, she heard them but she wasn’t moving. Forward that is, because she was rock
ing. The car was beached on the bank.

  “Jesus Christ.” She let out the breath she’d been holding and then nearly jumped out of her skin when her cell rang. It was her mom. She closed her eyes and decided not to answer right now as she was shaking too badly. Cutting the engine, she focused on calming her frazzled nerves.

  After a minute or two, when she felt sufficiently recovered, she grabbed the phone, stuffing it into her purse before she gingerly opened the driver’s side door. Looking down she heaved a sigh of relief. It was only a three foot drop. She’d seen the banks up ahead, no doubt created from a recent plow, and some of them were five feet or better, she guesstimated. Maybe her luck was turning. But when she slide out of the car and turned to close the door that perky thought vanished.

  Snick. She pressed the door gently to get it to lock.

  Creak. Groan.

  Uh oh, the car was moving. Shifting. Falling off kilter toward the back end of the bank.

  Bang!

  The sound was like a sonic boom. She jumped back and promptly fell on her ass. Right in the squishiest, slushiest tire treads of snow. The wet ice mushroomed up the back of her coat and slid down into her jeans. What didn’t make it in soaked what was out.

  “Aw man.” She got up and was just shaking her hands to get rid of the water when she froze. Her new suede purse. She looked down and then stomped her foot, which sent frigid water spraying everywhere. A few drops hit her cheek even. “Fuckatola!”

  Scooping up the ruined bag, she wanted to scream as she watched the ice slip off the sides even as water dripped from the bottom. That’s it. This wasn’t working. She was calling…Dad. She had her hand in her purse, her fingers wrapped around her phone when she stopped. Wow, her dad wasn’t the only one who needed to let go. She couldn’t have it both ways. Wanting her independence from him, actually demanding it as she had over the last few days, until now that life was throwing her some curve balls she was ready to invite him back into the game and make it easy for her? Oh no. All these stumbling blocks weren’t curve balls, they were learning curves and she was going to have to deal with them herself. She should be happy she was being tested this way. Yeah, she was growing up, just like Riker wanted her to.

  Albeit, stuck in a different state, practically lost and now stranded, wasn’t the most ideal time to have such an epiphany about life’s lessons, but who could predict when these things were going to happen? Not her. Otherwise she would have slept at the airport and waited for the rental company to produce a fucking SUV.

  “Sidney Capp,” she whispered as she took out her phone. “Language.”

  Dialing her mom’s cell, she started trudging forward. There was a house in the distance. Maybe it was Riker’s.

  “Sweetheart?”

  “Hi, Mom. I couldn’t answer before, sorry. Didn’t want to take my hands off the wheel, you know?”

  “You sound out of breath. Is that wind I hear?”

  “Yes, I’m just heading up Riker’s driveway and I wanted to call before I got to his door. Everything is fine.” She lied. “I’ll call you later.”

  “You’re breaking up.”

  “I’m fine. Call you later.”

  Her mother got out half a goodbye before the call was dropped. It was probably best that way. She hated lying. Especially now that she’d decided to handle things on her own. Right. Ignoring the mothball smell, she brought the hood up around her and tied it more tightly. Burrowing her chin in the front of the jacket while she shoved her hands into the cold pockets, she clutched her soggy purse under her arm and headed for that house.

  Only when she got there she wanted to scream. After brushing the snow off the address marker with her bare hands that were now numb again, she read: Smitty’s Place and on the bottom there were the numbers, 1051. Riker’s place was 1052. By the look of things, the unplowed drive, no lights and shuttered windows, Smitty wasn’t spending the holidays here. Why the heck would anyone go to the trouble of maintaining a cabin in this snow infested countryside and not spend Christmas here? Thinking about the relentless white stuff, she turned into the wind and squinted through the pelting flakes for a sign of life. Nothing. She was going to die out here. All that greeted her was a wintry wasteland.

  Giving herself a shake, she came up with a backup plan. First she’d call information for a tow service and then she’d walk for five more minutes. If she didn’t see his cabin, she’d turn back and wait with the car.

  “Are you kidding me!” She almost threw her iPhone into the nearest snowbank. Of course it was dead after talking with her mom so long. “Idiot. You should have stopped and gotten your charger out of your bag.”

  She closed her eyes and faced the sky, letting the flurries melt on her skin in a moment of quiet contemplation. She either did this or screamed at the top of her lungs, which could alert some of the native wildlife to start circling or something. Don’t think about that. Think positive thoughts while you get your shit together.

  The only positive thought to surface was her favorite fantasy she’d been having. A scenario about how things were going to work out between her and Riker. It was the one where they’d make up on Christmas Eve and go skinny dipping in the complex pool after Martha watched her British comedies and went to bed. Sid had even bought vodka and pomegranate juice to make martinis. But that wasn’t going to happen because all that was what she’d left behind to come to this below-freezing clime. Wow, that thought brought her right back down to earth as she glared up at the daunting landscape ahead. What the hell was she doing here? Riker’s cabin could be miles up this road for all she knew. She’d heard the stories about people dying in snow storms. It happened all the time. They got turned around and then confused. Was she confused? Maybe she was already suffering from hypothermia.

  “My name is Sidney Capp. I’m a kindergarten teacher who—” Wait, was that smoke or were her eyes playing tricks on her? They could be because they were aching from the cold. No one ever told you about that. No one ever mentioned how snow landed and stayed in place either. It covered everything, burying things until the landscape all looked the same. She didn’t know why but she’d always thought of snow like rain when it wasn’t. Rain washed away so you could see deer signs, rocks and address markers. All those cozy commercials lied too. She hadn’t curled up in front of one blazing fire since she’d been here. The closest she’d come to that was fantasizing about tossing all her store receipts onto the passenger side floor and putting a match to them after her feet went numb.

  She quickened her trudge, and once she was able to see around the grouping of colossal trees, she smiled. It was smoke. It was puffing out of a red brick chimney that sat on top of log cabin. A real log cabin. That had to be Riker’s place. It was butch, woodsy and nice, it just had to be.

  She was so excited to get to it that she forgot about the cold. Forgot about the parts of her that were wet and quickly turning to ice, and slipped and slid her way down the road until she reached the drive. It was quite a long distance from the street to door as the cabin sat back in the woods, but thankfully the entrance had been plowed and the quaint place was his, thank god. The address marker with the name Mitchell and the number 1052 on it was the best thing she’d seen all day. But then she saw the worst thing ever and her heart sank.

  A car was parked in front of the free standing garage that matched the style of the cabin. Riker only ever drove a truck and, as to that, he always parked it under the carport when he was at the complex because he was particular about his vehicle. So that car? It couldn’t be his.

  The wind whipped around her, tugging on her hood, making her eyes water and her nose numb and still she stood there, unsure about what do now. She couldn’t go back, but the question was, did she want to go forward?

  What choice do you have?

  The closer she got to the front steps, the more she talked herself into believing that it was someone else’s car. Someone other than Brianna’s. But then she knocked on the door and heard rustling. Sh
e knocked again and was treated to a sound like a woman’s moan.

  Oh, no.

  Then she heard Riker growl something about Grand Central station and she wanted to run. She didn’t want to do this. She—

  The door swung open and there he was.

  “Sidney.”

  Drinking in his bed-sexy hair, stubble-darkened cheeks and firmly set jaw she wanted to punch him. He was shirtless and those abs of his were all tight and stacked like large rolling pins down either side of his torso, tapering into a pair of loose fitting sweat pants—she gasped—not that loose. They were tight enough for her to see the sizable bulge there. Forget punch. He deserved to be shot. And…and damn it all to hell, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight.

  He tilted his head, bending to get her attention. “Okay, you caught me.”

  He was admitting it? Her gaze slowly lifted and she stared into his sparkling eyes but she didn’t know what to say. Especially when the corner of his mouth tipped up in a grin as he asked, “You want to come in and watch?”

  She was shocked into silence. Did he have no shame?

  “Jesus, it’s cold. You must be freezing.” He stepped back, clearly he wanted her to go inside, when he added, “I’m glad to see you, darlin’.”

  She took one look at the glowing room behind him, lit by golden tones from a raging fire, and felt the rush of warm air breeze over her and decided she’d rather freeze to death in her damn compact.

  “Sid? Whoa, where are you going?”

  “Back to my car.” She tried to fight off his hold and wound up slipping. “Ugh.”

  “Your car? Where is it?”

  By the time he had her turned around she was fuming. He was so calm and she was, well, ready to go ballistic was a phrase that came to mind.

  He smiled down at her in such a patronizing way she knew for sure if he said one more wrong thing she was going to explode. She tried to think of all the reasons she’d come here, she really did so she didn’t make more of a fool of herself, but she drew a blank.