Page 67 of Deck the Hauls

She jogged over to me. “Hey, sorry, I thought I’d be back before now. I’d planned to have coffee and breakfast waiting for you, but it took me longer than I expected to clear the snow. We should head out, just in case there are delays. I cleared all the way to the main road, which has also been plowed, so I think we should be okay, but I don’t want to run the risk.”

I hadn’t even thought about how much snow would be on the roads. Dana must have been up for ages, clearing the roads so I could get home. I resisted the urge to fling my arms around her and press my mouth to hers. Instead, I stood on the deck, my arms feeling awkward as they hung by my sides. Last night was over. Today we were back to platonic reality.

“I just finished making us coffee. I saw some travel mugs in your cupboard. Is it okay if I pour it into those so we can drink them on the way?”

Dana grinned. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

We quickly got ready and climbed up into the tractor with the travel mugs in hand.

“I’ve never been in a tractor before.” I peered around as Dana slowly drove down the road. “This is quite cool.”

“You should visit in fall so you can sit in the front with me while I drive the hayride around. It’s the best time of year to visit the farm, in my opinion.”

My chest warmed. Visit in fall. That would be nice. It was ten months away so surely by then the memory of last night would have faded and spending time with Dana wouldn’t feel so fraught.

I glanced over at her. Were her cheeks more flushed than they had been? Perhaps it was just the cold. Either way, it suited her. My eyes dropped to her lips. Those lips which had been so hot and wet as they worked their way down my neck last night… I yanked my gaze away.

“A visit in the fall would be lovely,” I said then focused on the rows of firs covered in snow on our right and the fields of white stretching out to our left. The blue skies and sun made the snow almost blinding. “Although, I’m not sure if it’ll be more beautiful than this. It’s hard to believe it was blizzard conditions only last night.”

I sensed Dana looking at me, but when I turned my head, her eyes were firmly focused on the road in front of us.

The truck came into view, parked off the side of the road, its roof covered in a thick coating of snow.

“How would you feel about driving the truck down to the barn so I can drop the tractor back off and then keep going?” Dana asked as she slowed the tractor. “I’d prefer not to leave it out here in case Roz needs it.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Dana killed the engine. “I already wiped the snow off the windows, so it should be good to go.”

She handed me the keys, then I awkwardly climbed down off the tractor and got into the truck.

I’d never driven a pickup truck like this before and everything felt slightly different. I followed Dana as she drove to the main road that divided the farm in two. While Dana steered the tractor into the red barn, I pulled over and climbed back into the passenger seat.

Dana jumped back into the truck a moment later. “Thanks for that.”

“Thank you for clearing the snow so I can get home.”

“I would have done it sooner or later,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, it’s better to do it quickly, before it compacts and ices over, or turns to slush.”

“Hang on…” My chest tightened. “Did you get the tractor from here?”

Dana nodded, her eyes firmly fixed on the road.

“So you walked all the way over here from your cabin and then cleared from the main road all the way back to your cabin. How long did that take?”

“A while.”

I stared at Dana, the snow-covered fields blurring behind her. “No, seriously. You must have gotten up at, like, 3 a.m. or something to do all that.”

Dana’s cheeks flushed. “Something like that.”

“Dana!” I exclaimed. “That was...so, so thoughtful.”

Dana shot me a glance. “I knew if I didn’t do it, there was no way you’d make it to the train on time.”

“You must be exhausted. We didn’t go to sleep until after 1 a.m.”

I was touched and horrified in equal measures. While I’d been sleeping, Dana had worked for hours in the pitch black to clear the roads so I could get home for Thanksgiving. It was too much.