Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella)

by Angie Stanton

  “How are we ever going to get out of here?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here and back to your mom in one piece. Have confidence, ye of little faith.” He aimed his phone out the picture window and snapped a shot of the beautiful scene and then a quick one of Katie, in case he never saw her again.

  He put his phone away. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your scarf fell off in the shed. I tied it to the mailbox out by the road. That ought to help signal anyone out looking for us. I hope that’s okay.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Now that the snow and wind have stopped, plows should be all over these roads. Plus, my family isn’t known for staying idle. I’m sure they’re ready to send out a search team.” He could picture his dad coordinating all their friends and neighbors and spreading out over every county road.

  “My mom must be going nuts. I feel so bad.” She stared out at the pristine scene.

  Alex put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze. “It’s going to be fine. It’ll all be over soon.” He liked how Katie fit under the curve of his chin.

  “Thanks.” She put her arm around his waist for a quick hug but then removed it and let air separate them.

  He stepped away so it wouldn’t get awkward. “I know what will cheer you up. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this until now.” He went to his bags.

  “What?”

  He pulled out his laptop. “I have music on my laptop and enough battery life to last for at least a couple hours.” They were going to have fun tonight no matter what. Soon he’d be facing reality, but right now they had this magical whisper of a Christmas Eve.

  “Oh my god! That’s a great idea. Do you have any Christmas music, ‘cause I’ve got all kinds.” She rushed for her laptop, too, her face bright with excitement.

  “I don’t know, let’s see.” He turned it on. The familiar dings and hum of his computer filled the air.

  “It’s weird hearing the sounds of technology when it’s been so quiet in the cabin without power,” she said.

  “It’s music to my ears.” He clicked away at his computer. “I’ve got a lot of stuff, but I’m not finding anything Christmas.”

  Katie powered up her laptop. “My guess is you have a lot of country music.”

  He grinned. “And you have a problem with country music?”

  “No, your tastes are just a bit one dimensional.”

  “I happen to like a lot of music, but country is my favorite right now.”

  Her computer lit up, and she clicked a couple of icons. “Well, I’ve got a mother-load of holiday music. My mom collects Christmas CDs. Who knows? There might even be a couple of country Christmas songs. Oh my god, a connection to the real world. This is amazing even though we can’t get Wi-Fi. I almost want to kiss the screen.”

  And I want to kiss you again, Alex thought, but didn’t dare say.

  Chapter 12

  With Christmas tunes playing softly from her laptop and the firelight flickering, it truly felt like Christmas Eve. Katie experienced the same joy she did as a little kid, only instead of anticipating presents, this year she looked forward to a one-of-a-kind Christmas with Alex.

  “Could you please hand me the olive oil? Thanks.” She accepted the bottle and swirled the oil around the large frying pan she’d heated over the fire. Her face felt hot from working so close to the flames, but she didn’t care. She’d never had this much fun making dinner, and Alex liked helping, which made it even better.

  “Okay, now pour in the pasta.”

  Alex had been in charge of cooking the pasta, which turned out to be tricky. The water barely reached a boil, but the pasta eventually cooked. He leaned close to Katie and poured the sticky noodles into her fry pan. She enjoyed the sprinkle of hair peeking out of his t-shirt, the scent of his skin and the way his hair curled around his ears.

  “What exactly are you making?” He asked as she mixed the noodles in with the olive oil and added dried parsley flakes from a spice bottle.

  “I’ll call it stir-fry, minus most of the ingredients. If we had some chicken or onions, that would help a lot.” She sprinkled garlic and onion powder over the top and gently shook the pan to sauté the pasta. The spices in the cupboard were a bonus. “You want to turn the garlic toast again?”

  “Sure.” He used the tongs and flipped each piece of bread. She drizzled olive oil on the remaining slices of sour dough bread along with garlic powder and some red pepper flakes.

  “This smells amazing.” He flashed her a hungry smile.

  “It’s the garlic. I love garlic. Okay, I think it’s done.” She dumped the stir-fried pasta into a large bowl and set it on the coffee table that she’d decorated for their Christmas dinner. A white sheet from the linen closet served as a tablecloth. She found a basket of pinecones in the corner and arranged them with pine boughs from outside. Their nearly burned out candle nestled in the center.

  “Where do you want the bread?”

  “Here.” She held out a small plate and he slid the slices onto it.

  “This looks so good,” Alex said, and she couldn’t agree more.

  They both sat down and looked at their small feast. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She grabbed the can of Parmesan cheese and rattled it until the cheese loosened up. She sprinkled it over the pasta. “There.”

  Katie leaned back as Josh Groban’s Christmas song, “Believe” played. Not a bad sentiment considering their situation.

  Alex poured them each a glass of wine from a freshly opened bottle. “This is one of the coolest Christmases I’ve ever had. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. I’ll probably be telling my grandkids someday about the Christmas Eve I was holed up in a cabin with a beautiful girl, and we cooked our holiday dinner over a fire.”

  Katie’s face flushed, and it wasn’t from the heat of the fire. “Here’s to the cabin owners. Thank you for leaving us food.” They raised their glasses.

  “I’ll drink to that.” Alex took a sip. “I’m starved.”

  They filled up their plates with Katie’s creative dinner. The crunchy toast tasted warm and garlicky. The pasta was a little sticky, but the combination of olive oil and spices worked well.

  “Katie, this tastes great,” Alex said, swirling pasta on his fork.

  “It’s because you’re really hungry. But I agree, it turned out pretty good, considering we didn’t have an actual stove.”

  “If this were a normal Christmas Eve, what would you be doing?” he asked, taking another bite.

  She wiped her mouth on a dishtowel. “It would be only my immediate family. We don’t see my grandparents and cousins until Christmas Day. That’s when we’d have the big ham dinner.”

  “Mom would put out appetizers around four-thirty in the afternoon and we’d play games. When we were little, we played spoons. The last few years we’ve played Oh, Hell.”

  “Oh, Hell!” Alex laughed and his eyes danced. “What kind of game is that to play on Christmas?”

  “It’s a card game.” She smiled, remembering all the hours her family played games. “It can be a very frustrating game, hence the name.” And then she realized her family would never celebrate Christmas like that again.

  “You’re frowning. What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

  “It’s nothing. I was thinking about how all my family traditions are gone forever.”

  He set his fork down and reached over to take her hand. “I know it sucks that everything’s changed, but it won’t always feel this horrible.” He gave her hand a squeeze and released it. She wished he hadn’t.

  “Thanks.” She forced a smile, but didn’t really believe him. She missed her dad, but didn’t want to. She was pretty sure he was behind her parents’ sudden break up.

  “And you can start new traditions. Like cooking over an open fire and sleeping with some strange guy you just met.”

  The mischievous glint in his eyes made her laugh. “That might be a little tricky to arrange every year
.” She shook her head, imagining a repeat of this every year.

  “So, what does your family do Christmas Eve?” Katie asked, to get her mind off crawling in bed with Alex tonight. Now that he’d kissed her, and she knew he wasn’t planning to get married, she wasn’t sure how she felt about crawling under the sheets with him.

  “We watch the Muppet Christmas Carol and pig out on cookies. My mom bakes like crazy all season, but we only get to eat the Christmas cookies at a holiday party or once Christmas actually arrives. That always makes me crazy.”

  Katie picked up another piece of bread. “My mom makes a gingerbread house every year. They’re super tacky looking, but she tries hard. I used to make one too, but I haven’t the past couple of years. Not sure why.”

  “We have this tradition called hide the pickle.”

  Katie eyed him skeptically. “This is a joke, right?”

  “No.” He laughed. “It’s some old German tradition on my dad’s side of the family. We have this ornament shaped like a pickle, and my dad hides it deep in the branches of the tree. On Christmas morning, whoever finds the pickle first gets an extra present.”

  “That’s fun.”

  “It is, except my brother almost always finds it. He’s a sneaky bastard.”

  “That’s a bummer.”

  “Nah, the present always ends up being something for the whole family, so everyone wins out in the end.”

  Katie chewed on her garlic bread and swallowed. “What did you get Trina for Christmas?”

  He aimed a sarcastic glare at her.

  “What? I’m supposed to guess?” She sipped her wine, and a second later, realization dawned. “Oh my God. You didn’t get her anything.”

  He grimaced. “I’m about to ask for the ring back. I think giving her a gift would be counterproductive.”

  “You’re going to make her give the ring back?” Her mouth dropped open. “You’re a real hard-ass.”

  “No. She lied to me about being pregnant. Plus, the ring belonged to my grandmother. There is no way I’m letting her keep it.”

  She poured them both more wine. “That’s true. I think you need more to drink. I thought my Christmas was going to suck, but yours sounds way worse.” He smiled and took a sip. Katie set the bottle down. “Do you really think we’ll get out of here tomorrow?”

  “I do. It’ll take time to plow the roads, and because it got dark soon after the snow stopped, it’ll be tough to spot my truck or your scarf. Hopefully tomorrow, when it’s light, it won’t take too long. I know my family, and I guarantee they’ll be out looking for us. But to make sure, we should hike out to the road and try to flag someone down.”

  Katie hoped her mom would be out looking for her too, but considering she wouldn’t know where to start, she’d probably be sitting home by the phone. Standing out in the cold by the road was probably a good idea, but she didn’t look forward to it. However, getting back to civilization and her family would be worth it. “Okay. We have a plan,” she said.

  Alex tipped his glass toward hers and she clinked it. And then she remembered something. “Oh! I have a surprise! It’s dessert! I almost forgot.”

  “Don’t tell me you found Christmas cookies in the fridge too.”

  “What I’ve got is way better.” Katie left her warm spot by the fire and dug through her bags. She returned with a beautifully wrapped package and held it out to Alex.

  He eyed the silver and white colored paper. “I’m pretty sure that isn’t really for me, because two days ago, we’d never even met.”

  “It was supposed to be for Not the Boyfriend, but since it’s Christmas Eve and I need an excuse not to give him anything, I think you should open it.”

  “Are you sure?” He eyed the package, and she knew he wanted to open it.

  “Positive. And it will bring me great joy.” She smirked.

  “If it brings you joy, then by all means, I’ll open it.” He snatched the gift from her hand and tore through the paper, revealing a gold foil box. He lifted the cover and grinned. “Chocolate. I love you.”

  Katie’s heart did a flip, even though she knew the words didn’t mean anything. “I figure we need a treat more than he does. They’re truffles.”

  “What’s a truffle?” He lifted out a chocolate ball.

  “It’s rich, chocolate ganache, dipped in more chocolate.”

  Alex sunk his teeth into the decadent treat. “I don’t know what you just said, but this is amazing.” He tilted his head back and savored the taste.

  Katie grabbed one, plopped next to him on the couch, and took a bite. “God I love these things.”

  “If you don’t like this guy, Tom, why did you get him such a great gift?”

  “I had to. What if he ends up being my new daddy?” She rolled her eyes. “Plus, I was counting on him to share.”

  “I like your thinking. It never occurred to me to give food for Christmas, but now I think it’s brilliant.” He went to his backpack and brought back a small package wrapped in newspaper.

  “This isn’t wrapped nearly as nice as yours, but it’s the thought that counts.” He offered her the gift.

  “I didn’t give you the chocolates to make you feel guilty. Plus I’m making you share them. Who is this supposed to be for?” She eyed the gift.

  “I bought it for my mom, but she won’t mind. As soon as I’m home, she’ll be so happy, she will care less. Here, open it.”

  Katie accepted the small, heavy package. “Is this wrapped in the school newspaper?”

  He shrugged and smiled in a way that made her happy all over. “I’m going green.” He sat back down with only the box of chocolates between them.

  Katie tore at the paper. “I feel terrible opening your mom’s gift.”

  “Would you feel better if I said it was Trina’s?” He tilted his head at her quizzically.

  “No! Well, maybe. She sounds horrible. Sorry. I guess that’s the wine talking.”

  “If it takes a couple glasses of wine to get you to speak your mind, I’ll keep it coming.”

  “No. I wouldn’t want another girl’s present. That would be weird.” She wanted something he picked out especially for her.

  “Then it’s a good thing I didn’t get her one.”

  She unwrapped the gift and discovered a scented candle. “This is great. I love candles! I bet your mom does too!” she teased, and took a sniff. “Oh that smells great. Just like Christmas.”

  “It’s cinnamon. My mom loves it. I get her one every year.”

  “Thank you, and thank you to your mom.”

  “You’re welcome. Are you gonna light it?”

  “Absolutely.” She grabbed the matches from the fireplace mantle, lit the candle, and soon a cinnamon scent wafted throughout the room. Combined with the fire and the fresh pine boughs, the air smelled pretty darn nice.

  “I hear that chocolate goes great with red wine.” She stretched her legs out onto the coffee table, happier than she’d been in a long time.

  “Doesn’t sound like a bad combination. Let me try it.” Alex took a bite of truffle and then a sip of wine. He moaned. “Yeah, it’s good stuff.”

  Katie tried it too. The creamy ganache melted in her mouth and the smooth wine added a combination of flavors she couldn’t describe. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  Beautiful strains of Christmas music floated from her laptop as they ate truffles and sipped wine. Her candle flickered, the fire crackled. Everything was perfect, except that she couldn’t get Alex’s situation out of her mind. “I’m sorry things are so bad with you and Trina,” she said.

  “It’s my own fault. I should have made it clear from the beginning. I’ll get things straightened out and can start living my life again. It’s been so long since I’ve been near a girl, I’m afraid I forgot how.”

  “Oh, I doubt that.” Based on his earlier kiss, she’d say he knew exactly what he was doing. “Weren’t there girls at school?”

  “In Madison? No. I have
always been faithful to Trina. That is, up until this afternoon in the shed. I’m sorry about that.” He peeked at her with an impish smile. He didn’t look sorry.

  “It’s okay.” She dipped her head. “It was nice.” She bit her lip. She shouldn’t have said that. She reached for a truffle to fill her mouth with something and stop saying stupid things.

  Alex’s hand covered hers. He gazed at her with something more than casual interest. She gulped, wanting him, but knowing she shouldn’t.

  He leaned across the box of chocolates and kissed her. He tasted of red wine and sweetness, a combination she would never forget and would always associate with Christmas.

  “I know it’s not official yet, but in my mind, I’m single. All that’s left is the formality of telling the rest of the world.”

  Katie nodded. She did understand, but still felt she was crossing a line she shouldn’t. But she didn’t care. Alex was here, the most handsome guy she’d ever met. He smelled like the outdoors and a campfire. He tasted like a miracle.

  “If you don’t mind, I’m going to kiss you again.” He brushed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  “I don’t mind,” she whispered, unable to say anything more coherent.

  Alex moved the chocolates and eased her into his arms. He kissed her with such tenderness and hunger she thought she’d burst.

  He wrapped his arms around her like satin ribbon on a priceless gift and gently caressed her back. He curled a hand under her hair and tickled the nape of her neck, all the while kissing her mindless. She sighed in his mouth and felt him smile.

  “You taste so good,” he breathed in her ear.

  “Like garlic and onion?” she asked.

  “No, not that I’d mind, as I happen to love garlic and onion. You taste like dessert. Sweet and tangy and decadent.” He captured her mouth again and Katie lost track of time.

  Chapter 13

  A loud rumbling disturbed Katie’s slumber. She hated mornings, and she hated waking up early, especially when enjoying such a great dream. Her head ached from too much wine, and her mouth tasted fuzzy and gross. She reached up to scratch her nose. Cold air chilled her face. She tucked her hand back under the covers and snuggled into the comfort of soft covers and a warm, firm body next to her.