“It’s snowing,” I informed him of the obvious.
“This is why I’m tellin’ you, you best get on the road.”
I stared at him for a second that turned into about ten of them.
Then I whispered, “I can’t believe this.”
Then I didn’t have to wonder if I was getting angry. This was because I knew I was livid and I was too tired to think about what I said next.
I shoved the papers in my purse, snatched up my grocery bags, walked directly to him, stopped, and tilted my head back to glare at him.
“So, who’s going to refund the money for the gas for the car?” I asked.
“Miss Sheridan—”
“Ms.,” I hissed, leaning toward him, and then I continued. “And who’s going to refund my plane ticket all the way from England where I live but my passport is blue?” I didn’t let him respond before I went on. “And who’s going to pay me back for my holiday in a beautiful A-frame in the Colorado mountains, which I’ve spent seventeen-plus hours traveling to reach, traveling, I might add, to a destination I paid for in full but didn’t get to enjoy at all?” He opened his mouth but I kept right on talking. “I didn’t fly over an ocean and most of a continent to stay in a clean hotel with nice views. I did it to stay here.”
“Listen—”
“No, you listen to me. I’m tired, my sinuses hurt, and it’s snowing. I haven’t driven in snow in years, not like that.” I pointed into the darkness, extending my grocery-bag-laden arm. “And you’re sending me on my way, well past nine o’clock at night, after reneging on a contract.”
As I was talking, his face changed from looking annoyed to something I couldn’t decipher, then suddenly he grinned and it irritated me to see he had perfect, white, even teeth.
“Your sinuses hurt?” he asked.
“Yes,” I snapped. “My sinuses hurt, a lot,” I told him, then shook my head again. This time they were short, angry shakes. “Forget it. What do you care? I’m too tired for this.”
And I was. Way too tired. I’d figure out what I was going to do tomorrow.
Then I stomped somewhat dramatically (and I was of the opinion I could be forgiven for that, too) into the night, thinking this was my answer. This was the universe telling me I should play it safe. Marry Niles. Embrace security even if it was mostly boring, and deep down if I admitted it to myself, it made me feel lonelier than I’ve ever felt in my life.
Paralyzingly lonely.
Who cared?
If this was an adventure, it stunk.
I’d rather be sitting in front of a TV with Niles (kind of).
I opened the boot and put the bags back in and when I tried to close it, it wouldn’t move.
This was because Unfriendly, Amazing-Looking Man was now outside, standing by my car and he had a firm hand on it.
“Let go,” I demanded.
“Come back into the house. We’ll work somethin’ out, least for tonight.”
Was he mad? Work something out? As in, him and me staying in the A-frame together? I didn’t even know his name and, furthermore, he was a jerk.
“Thank you,” I said snottily. “No. Let go.”
“Come into the house,” he repeated.
“Let go,” I repeated right back at him.
He leaned close to me. “Listen, Duchess, it’s cold. It’s snowing. We’re both standin’ outside like idiots arguing over what you wanted in the first place. Come into the damned house. You can sleep on the couch.”
“I am not going to sleep on a couch.” Then my head jerked and I asked, “Duchess?”
“My couch is comfortable and beggars can’t be choosers.”
I let that slide and repeated, “Duchess?”
He threw his other hand out, his gaze drifting the length of me as he said, “Fancy-ass clothes, fancy-ass purse, fancy-ass boots, fancy-ass accent.” His eyes came to my face and he finished firmly. “Duchess.”
“I’m American!” I shouted.
“Right,” he replied.
“They don’t have duchesses in America,” I educated him.
“Well, that’s the truth.”
Why was I explaining about aristocracy? I returned to target.
“Let go!” I shouted again.
He completely ignored me shouting and looked into the boot.
Then he asked what I thought was insanely, “Groceries?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “I bought them in Denver.”
He looked at me and grinned again, and again I thought it was insanely before he muttered, “Rookie mistake.”
“Would you let go so I can close the boot and be on my way?”
“Boot?”
“Trunk!”
“English.”
I think at that point I might have growled but being as I was alarmed at seeing only red, I didn’t really take note.
“Mr…” I hesitated, then said, “whoever-you-are—”
“Max.”
“Mr. Max—”
“No, just Max.”
I leaned toward him and snapped, “Whatever.” Then demanded, “Let go of the car.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” I bit out. “Seriously. Let. Go. Of. The. Car.”
He let go of the car and said, “Suit yourself.”
“It would suit me if I could travel back in time and not click ‘book now’ on that stupid Web page,” I muttered as I slammed the boot and stomped to the driver’s-side door. “Idyllic A-frame in the Colorado Mountains, not even bloody close. More like Your Worst Snowstorm Nightmare in the Colorado Mountains.”
I was in the car and had slammed the door but I was pretty certain before I did it I heard him chuckling.
Even angry, I wasn’t stupid and I carefully reversed out of his drive, probably looking like a granny driver, and I didn’t care. I wanted out of his sight, away from the glorious yet denied A-frame, and in closer proximity to a bed that I could actually sleep in and I didn’t want that bed to be in a hospital.
I turned out of his drive and drove a lot faster (but still not very fast) and I kept driving and I didn’t once look into my mirrors to see the lost A-frame.
Adrenalin was still rushing through my system and I was still angry as I think I’d ever been when I was what I figured was close to the main road but I couldn’t be sure and I hit a patch of snow shrouded ice, lost control of the rental, and slid into a ditch.
When my heart stopped tripping over itself and the lump in my throat stopped threatening to kill me, I looked at the snow in front of my car and mumbled, “Beautiful.” Then I went on to mumble, “Brilliant.”
Then I burst out crying.
I woke up, or at least I thought I woke up.
I could see brightness, a lot of it, and a soft, beige pillowcase.
But my eyeballs felt like they were three times their normal size. My eyelids actually felt swollen. My head felt stuffed with cotton wool. My ears felt funny, like they were tunnels big enough to fit a train through. My throat hurt like hell. And lastly, my body felt leaden like it would take every effort just to move an inch.
I made that effort and managed to get up on a forearm. Then I made more of an effort and pulled my hair out of my eyes.
What I saw was a bright, sunshiny day out of the top of an A-frame window through a railing. I could see snow and lots of it and pine trees and lots of those, too. If I didn’t feel so terrible, I would have realized how beautiful it was.
Cautiously, because my stuffed up head was also swimming, I looked around and saw the loft bedroom from the A-frame website.
“I’m dreaming,” I muttered. My voice was raspy and speaking made my throat hurt.