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“The snow has started to fall again, they will be completely covered soon if not already.”
“What about your car? Somebody is bound to see it parked alongside the road and realize you're in danger.”
He shook his head, the smallest hint of irritation creeping into his face. “No. No one will, because you see, you used a road not used during the winter months.”
Laura's face went pale. In a small voice, she muttered, “The fork in the road. I should have turned right, not left.”
He simply nodded. “And there is no way I will be able to get us up the ravine in the dark. It would be like going blindfold.”
“But we can’t stay down here. We’ll freeze to death.” Her eyes grew with alarm, hysteria beginning to bubble back to life once more, as she reached out and clutched his coat lapels in earnest.
He studied her distraught face and was annoyed by that same emotion which had surfaced earlier with his mother. Perturbed, he thrust her hands away. “We have the shelter of the vehicle, our coats and each other if need be. Do you have an emergency box in the hatch?”
She shook her head, her voice still unsteady as she replied, “No, but there’s a blanket on the back seat.”
The panic in her eyes had only eased slightly. But it was really in the revealing tremble of her bottom lip that gave her away. It wouldn’t stop quivering fiercely as if she were sitting in a meat cooler, which wasn’t far from how it felt. He wouldn’t admit it, but her concerns were probably warranted. It was horribly cold and the broken window only made it even worse. His eyes shifted back to her face and noticed her chin was beginning to join her bottom lip in trembles. She didn’t even attempt to control her fears.
He sighed, turning away. “I'm going to try and get some sleep. The sooner morning arrives, the better. I suggest you do the same.”
He threw himself into the back seat and stretched his taut muscles on the cramped bench. Retrieving the blanket she mentioned, he tossed it to her in the front seat. She snatched it but continued to stare at him with her eyes wide and distressed. That foreign emotion nagged at him again. He hated any show of emotion and this woman certainly produced a lot of them and had no qualms openly showcasing them. The quicker he got out of there, the better. He was beginning to regret his decision to come down the ravine. Aggravated, he squelched the little voice that told him otherwise.
Laura turned away at last, huddling deep into the front seat, pulling the blanket around her and drawing her knees up to her chest. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she silently shivered, listening to the breathing of her rescuer. She was frightfully cold and horrid visions of dying in her sleep had her sitting with her eyes wide open in the front compartment of the vehicle.
She had no idea how long she sat there. So many thoughts began running through her head; she lost track of time. Here she was on Christmas Eve, virtually on the edge of her deathbed, and she had the Grinch himself as her hero. Though the evening could have ended horrifically different, she could not shake the feel of self-pity.
It was her first Christmas alone. She wanted so badly for everything to go just right. But how could anything go right when everything was so wrong.
She should have been at home with her parent celebrating the festive season. She should never have had to face spending the holiday alone. And she most certainly should never have found herself on death’s door. But she had. And the feeling left her completely frightened and vulnerable.
Tears rolled unchecked down her cold cheeks. The desire to have her father there beside her was so great she let out a tiny sob. It was Christmas Eve and she was alone. She feared this greatly. Tried to prevent it, but alas the solitary loneliness of her world could not be evaded.
She raised her eyes to the twinkling stars. They winked at her and she felt as if she was being mocked. Try and change the course of the stars and only disaster lay in your path. She caught sight of the Christmas star and uttered in sorrow. What I would wish for, you could never grant, she thought, casting her eyes away instead.
She shivered, realizing the open window was leaving her numb with cold. Shaking herself out of yet another spasm of self-pity, she pulled her blanket closer and rubbed her nearly naked legs, trying to put some stimulation back in them.
Shivering horribly in the front seat, she glanced behind to her rescuer. He was huddled into the warm tweed coat he wore, curled up in the small confinement of the back seat. His large body appeared cramped and uncomfortable, yet his breathing indicated he had fallen asleep. She momentarily marveled at his ability to act calm under such horrific circumstances. Then she remembered he wasn’t the one who actually hurdled over Suicide Point.
At last she was relieved to feel sleep creep into her bones. She allowed her eyelids to droop until at last exhaustion took over and darkness closed in.
In her nightmare she is falling. Down, down into a black abyss. She is screaming, her arms and legs flaring. No one is there to hear her cries. She is alone. Fear is coursing her veins at a swift pace. And then. . . .
Her eyes flew open. Laura stared frozen up at the bleak ceiling of her car. A startling fear so intense had a tight grasp on her heart. She was incapable of moving. Gradually, her chest began to rise and fall as reality slowly penetrated her senses. I'm still alive, she acknowledged to herself with relief. Reaching over to the back seat, she touched another human arm. And, thank goodness, not alone.
Her hand stilled. I'm not alone, she repeated to herself. The acknowledgement startled her. Rolling over, she looked down at him. He was still asleep. Except for the rising of his chest, he lay completely still. The man was as cold and rough as the night around her, and yet made of flesh and bone as any other human.
A certain promise echoed in her brain. “You won't be alone.” Her father kept his promise, even tonight when the impossible seemed unlikely. He brought her someone to share this first Christmas without him. She actually smiled. True, he was no Santa Claus, but he was her very own Scrooge.
Below her, the man of her thoughts released a sudden and violent shiver. The cold had finally crept beneath his warm tweed coat, reminding Laura how terribly cold she was also. Without hesitating, she crawled over the back seat and lied next to him, pulling her blanket over them both as she did. She couldn’t bear the cold any longer, desperately needing the warmth of another human being.
He let out a groan as her weight nudged him accidently in the side. Still partially asleep, he gruffly mumbled something incoherent.
She raised her chin and whispered, “It’s gotten very cold.”
He grumbled again, shifting slightly to allow her body a more comfortable fit against his, and then went back to sleep. Laura smiled to herself as she rested her cheek against his chest and felt his shivers subside. At that moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of safety and warmth, thanks partly to the cold man beneath her.
CHAPTER 2
She was woken the following morning by a rough voice somewhere above her head. “Do you mind getting off me?”
