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Warmth enveloped him as he crossed the threshold. He hadn’t realized just how tired he was until this moment when Cooper’s couch was in sight. He hadn’t slept the night before and he’d been fighting snow all day to get to Josie.
“Thanks,” he said. “You think the snowmobile will work? There’s going to be over two feet of snow by the time this is finished,” Noah said.
“Only one way to find out,” Cooper said. “We gotta try, right? I could sure use your help with it. Getting it up on the truck and such. Then I can follow you over to the parking lot and we’ll head up to the retreat.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Noah.
The chyron on the bottom of the television screen read:Several Counties Crippled by Blizzard. The sound was on low, but Noah could hear WYEP reporter Dallas Jones’s voice reading off information about power outages, road closures, and the locations of accidents as he stood in front of the Sonestown Country Inn, snow whirling all around him. Noah had passed through Sonestown what felt like an eternity ago.
Cooper pointed to the couch. “Sit, sit. I’ll see if I can find you a pillow and blanket.”
“Wait,” said Noah. “Do you have a landline I can use?”
Stroking his beard again, Cooper shook his head. “No. Sorry, my friend. It’s out. Can’t get cell service?”
Noah shook his head. He took a step toward the couch but turned back to study Cooper.
Something tickled at the back of his mind, something down deep under the layers of exhaustion and soreness. But what was it? There was no threat here. None that he could see.
“You worried about your lady?” Cooper asked.
When Noah didn’t answer, he said, “Don’t be. She’ll be fine till we get up there. Wait here. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll get you that blanket and pillow we talked about.”
With that, he disappeared deeper into the tiny house. Noah listened to his footsteps as they carried down a hallway. A doorway near the back of the house revealed kitchen tiles. Quietly, Noah walked into the room. The only light came from over the sink, but it was enough for him to make out the shadow of a table and chairs and the shape of a phone hanging on the wall nearby. He could still hear Cooper rustling around in one of the rooms down the hall. He picked up the receiver and pressed it to his ear.
Dead air.
Why did he think Cooper had lied about the landline being out?
This was crazy. He needed sleep. There was nothing he could do for Josie at this moment except get some rest so he was ready to go as soon as the roads were passable again.
Cooper’s shadow filled the doorway. Noah felt a prickle along the back of his neck. His hand went to where his service pistol normally rested on his waist, but it wasn’t there. His off-duty pistol was in his boot, but suddenly seemed miles away. For a split second, his breath stopped. Then the overhead light snapped on and Cooper smiled. “You found the kitchen. Bathroom’s down the hall, by the way. I put your stuff on the couch. You hungry? Help yourself to anything here. There’s microwave meals in the freezer. I can heat you up one right now.”
Air whooshed back into his lungs. He was starving but he was more exhausted than anything. He walked past Cooper into the living room where, as promised, a blanket and pillow waited. “No thanks. Not right now. I think I’ll just get some sleep.”
“Sure thing.”
TWENTY-FOUR
SACRED NEW BEGINNINGS RETREAT, SULLIVAN COUNTY
Day 7
Breakfast began in silence. Even Sandrine did not bother trying to get them to talk about their feelings. Josie was grateful there was still coffee left and enough power from the generator to brew it. Near the end of the meal, Taryn suggested that they have necessary discussions about what they should do next. The task of assessing their supplies had fallen to Brian, who hadn’t found anything in the main house that might help him siphon fuel from the other generators. He estimated that the fuel in the generator serving the main house would only last them another twelve hours. By nightfall, they would be without power. At the rate they were consuming wood to heat the main house, that would likely last until the next morning. The same went for the food. There was enough to feed all of them through breakfast the next morning. But then they would be without food, heat, or power.
“What do we do?” asked Alice when Brian finished his litany of bad news.
“We have to try to stretch the food longer,” Josie said.
Taryn raised a hand. “I have some food in my cabin. I brought some snacks in case I didn’t like the food.” Blushing, she looked at Sandrine. “I didn’t know you’d be such a good cook.”
Sandrine smiled at her. “I’m not offended, Taryn. There was certainly no restriction on food. It’s lovely of you to offer it to the rest of us.”
With a sigh, Alice said, “I’ve got a few protein bars in my cabin. I can add those to the store.”
Nicola cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention. No one but Brian had spoken to her since their big lie had been revealed the evening before. She kept her eyes on the remnants of scrambled eggs on her plate. “It’s very nice of you both to offer to share your food. Brian and I have some chips and pretzels we could add.”
Brian nodded his agreement.
