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A while later, she answered emails and took care of reservations and appointments. It was early December and getting colder every day. A snowstorm would move in tonight. She prayed the electricity didn’t go out. She got up from the couch and went out to get firewood. She wanted to ensure she had enough because she planned to sleep there with the doors closed.
Dan brought wood in for her, but she needed to do it herself. Lucinda knew he loved doing it, but he wasn’t a young man and didn’t need to be out in the cold. She couldn’t expect him to drop what he was doing to do things for her. She was more than capable of carrying wood inside, but she tried to bring too many and kept dropping logs as she walked.
She got to the living room and dropped what she had left on the floor. Anytime she bent over to pick one up, another would fall. One landed on her toe, making her scream in pain, grab her foot and hop around. The air had to turn blue with the words coming from her mouth.
Lucinda hopped to the couch, sat down, and peeled her sock off slowly. Her big toe was already black and blue. She tried to move it but couldn’t without pain shooting through it. She glared at the log.Stupid log!She shook her head.Yeah, it’s the log’s fault.
She knew she needed to get ice on it, so she hobbled to the kitchen, opened the freezer, got some ice, and put it in a baggie.
Taking a deep breath, she hopped to the bathroom off the kitchen to get some aspirin and returned to the sofa in the living room. She flopped down on it and put the bag of ice against her toe. At first, it hurt more because of the cold, but after a minute, it was helping.
As she contemplated going up the stairs to her room, her toe reminded her to go slowly and take it easy. She climbed them one step at a time and was sweating when she reached the landing.
After she took the aspirin, she took a bath, and then she would hit the sack. It’d been a long day. She was tired. She put the ice bag and aspirin on her nightstand and headed for the bathroom.
Who would’ve thought her toe would keep her up all night? She got up around four a.m. What a ridiculous time to get up. It was still dark. She should be snuggled under blankets, nice and warm, and sound asleep. But her toe was throbbing. She entered the bathroom to find the pain pills she had taken when she broke her finger eight months ago. She went one way, and a dog went the other with her finger wrapped in a chain leash.
After getting the pill, she slowly went downstairs to the kitchen and got a glass of water. She’d sleep in the living room so she didn’t have to climb the stairs again. She hobbled to the couch and sat down, elevating her foot on a pillow. She was glad she’d gotten the blankets and pillow earlier.
With a yawn, she knew the pill was working. She slid down and pulled the blanket over her and fell asleep.
When Lucinda woke up, it was dark. She turned the table lamp on and saw it was only ten a.m., but with the snow, it was dark and made her shiver.
Getting up, she maneuvered her way to the fireplace and added logs, careful not to drop any of them. After adding the wood, she returned to the couch and sat down. She couldn’t imagine the pain if one hit her toe. It looked like she had a long day ahead of her.
****
Rhett shouldn’t have stopped to see Landry and Kay. The snow was getting deeper as they stood on the porch, and he knew he had to get going.
“You could always stop at Cinda’s.” Kay smiled.
Rhett laughed. “I could do that, I suppose. But after what I said last time, she’d throw my ass out in the snow.”
Landry chuckled. “She probably would. What the hell were you thinking?”
Rhett smiled. “I thought I wanted to rattle her cage. Now I’m afraid it’s payback time, and we all know what they say about payback.”
Kay slipped her arm through his. “I think you should stay here, Rhett.” She looked at her husband. “Talk him into it.”
Landry shook his head. “I’d want to get home too. Or, at least to a beautiful woman.” He smiled at Rhett. “All that’s here.”
Kay wrapped her arms around Landry’s waist and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Rhett laughed as he walked down the steps, then turned back to his cousin.
“If I don’t get very far, I’ll turn around. If I can make it to Cin’s place, I’ll see if she’ll take me in.”
Landry grinned. “Good luck with that.”
Rhett touched the brim of his hat, got into his truck, and headed down the driveway. The four-wheel drive got him through the snow on the road, but there was also freezing rain mixed with it. It would be rough, but Cin’s place was only a few miles.
Rhett pulled into the driveway of the kennels and let out a sigh. The roads were awful. Since the sun set, they would get worse without the sun shining. No doubt there would be black ice. He took out his cell and called Calder, telling him where he was and to do his best to make it to work tomorrow. His boss told him not to worry. They’d take care of everything. Rhett hung up, smiling. He was happy with his job, and Calder was a great boss.
When Rhett gave the truck gas, it fishtailed on the ice, making him let off the gas and drive to the porch. He exited the vehicle, tilted his head down, and tugged his coat collar up to block the snow and ice from hitting him.
He walked up the steps, across the porch and knocked. When there was no answer, he tried the doorknob, although he knew she locked it since she lived alone. He pounded on the door, rang the doorbell, and heard her dog barking from out back. He looked through the glass and saw the fire glow from the living room, but Cin wasn’t answering the door.
Huffing out a breath, he knew he would have to walk around to the back door. He’d drive the truck around the back. Easier said than done. The vehicle spun on the ice.
