“Yes, but it’s okay,” I said. “He’s really nice, if a bit quiet. And kind of gruff. But he’s hot too, so there’s that.”
“Wait, you found a hot mountain man who saved your life?” she asked, her tone changing radically.
“I guess. That’s not the point.”
“It would be for me,” she said.
I sighed.
“He’s really generous, and I am very grateful, but he’s pretty standoffish. I can’t really read him.”
“You think he might be an axe murderer?” Sammi asked.
As she said it, I happened to sweep my eyes over the window looking out over the woodshed, where Aiden was splitting wood to bring in. I laughed at the coincidence.
“I don’t quite get those vibes off him,” I said. “You know I’m good at reading people.”
“Agreed.”
“I might not be getting much off him, but he definitely isn’t an axe murderer,” I said. “I’m pretty sure he’s ex-military. But I should be able to get back to my car tomorrow and get home. Once my phone’s charged, I’ll call you.”
“Not a second later,” she said. “I need to see your face.”
We talked a bit more. But after Aiden came back in with a bundle of wood, I wrapped up the conversation, promising again to call her as soon as possible. When I hung up, I walked the phone back into the living room and sat it on the charger.
“Thank you,” I said.
“No problem,” he said, already back in his chair, flipping a page in his book. “I’ve got some tea on. Should be ready in a minute.”
“That sounds nice,” I said, curling up in the chair with the book I left open on the couch. “It’s a good night for tea.”
7
Aiden
As the morning arrived, I got up near dawn and started making breakfast. I wanted to get out to Desiree’s car before lunchtime so I could help her dig it out while the sun was high and warm enough to begin the melt. The roads should have been plowed by then, and hopefully they would have gotten enough up the mountain to get to the main road by where she pulled off.
When Desiree was up, she sat with me and ate breakfast at the table. She finished her book as we ate and got up to put it away, which I appreciated. I stared out of the window as we finished our food, and when we were done, she offered to do the dishes.
“So, do you still think we will be able to go down to my car today?” she asked as she came back into the living room after putting everything away.
“Actually, yeah, whenever you want to go, we can head down there,” I said. “Just give me a few minutes to warm up the truck first.”
“I’m ready to go when you are.” Excitement made her face light up in a way that I enjoyed. It had been a long, long time since I said more than a few words to a woman who wasn’t taking my order in some form or fashion. Seeing how bright her eyes got and her fantastic smile when she got excited made me want to see more of it.
Acknowledging that I wanted more of those smiles was something I was having to force myself to be okay with.
While she went to go change back into her hiking clothes, which still left her wildly unprepared for the type of weather the mountain got in winter, I used the remote start on the truck to get it going. I opened the app up and got the internal temperature warm and toasty and waited for Desiree.
We climbed into the truck a few minutes later, and she took off her gloves while I drove. It was almost too warm inside the vehicle, and I contemplated turning the heat down when I hit a patch of ice and had to slow down from a turtle-speed pace to a snail speed.
“The main roads should be much better,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
The rest of the back road wasn’t that bad either, and going slow meant I was using every advantage of the giant truck to get there safely. It wasn’t long until we made it to the main road, which looked like it had just been plowed. I drove the short distance down the mountain to where the overlook parking was, and sure enough, her car was there. Unfortunately, it was not only snowed in but blocked by the snowplow shoving snow against it.
I parked the truck near her car and hopped out. She met me around the side, and I handed her a snow brush with an ice scraper while I grabbed the snow shovel. I broke the snow down a bit before adjusting the plow on the front of my truck and pushing most of the snow out of the way. Then it was a matter of clearing enough snow to get her car out. I had a hitch if I needed it, but it looked like there was a chance of just backing it out of the parking spot.