“I wouldn’t know, but I think it’s possible. They're just as solitary as my kind.”
“You don’t seem like the solitary type.”
“I wasn’t given a choice in that matter. Snowwomen leave their children very young. I feel like I barely got the time to learn anything before she left.” There’s a dull ache in my chest as I tell her about my mother.
“Did your father leave too?” She scoots a little closer, throwing a blanket over our laps before grabbing my hand.
“He wasn’t ever really there.”
“My dad left us, right before I got taken away. Their breakup made Mom relapse. I don’t know where she is, but I don’t think I need her in my life enough to look for her either.” She chews her lip for a moment before continuing. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate her, if that’s what that sounded like. I just can’t try to negotiate her problems when I’m still trying to figure out my own life. I hope she’s doing well, I really do…but I can’t risk my own mental health anymore for the people I love. Do you think that makes me selfish?” Her brows lifted in concern, then faltered, her expression tightening.
“No.” I whisper, gripping her hand all the tighter. “Even if you did want to help her, you wouldn’t be able to pour that energy from an empty cup. I’m proud of you for putting yourself first.”
“Thanks.” She sighs before turning her attention back to the laptop, plugging in a slightly janky external drive, and slipping in a DVD. “It’s hard for some people to understand…but I guess we’re more similar than I first thought, aren’t we?” She clicks play on a video.
The intro is all Christmas decorations and sparkle, but when I don’t recognize any of the names in the opening credits, it dawns on me what this is.
“Is this a Hallmark movie?” I groan. “Because if it is, I fear we're more different than you think!” I run my hand up her side and tickle the soft swell of her hip.
“How dare you…Hallmark movies are everything!” She mock-argues and pushes my hand off her.
“Everything wrong with holiday movies?” I laugh and wrap my arms around her. “I didn’t realize you liked things so cheesy.”
She raises her brows, a smirk cracking across her face.
“I like you, don’t I?”
I cover my chest, feigning a wound to the heart. “Shots fired, I stand down… And besides, I’d do anything as long as I can keep you by my side.” I tilt her chin back up using my finger. A blush instantly spreads across her cheeks, and she leans in.
The beach is predictably empty given the brutal cold. I double-check that the thermostat is set to a “human comfort” level of warmth, since Daphne would freeze before making herself an inconvenience. I’m hoping this date might lead to some clothing being shed, so warmth is extra important.
It was only last week I learned keeping the cabin at a balmy fifty-five isn’t what a human would call toasty, but hey, we’re all learning along the way, right?
“Well, you’ll sit and enjoy this cheesy movie like the corny-ass yeti you are, then.” She gives me a peck on the lips before turning around and snuggling her back up against me on the bench seat.
I wrap my arms around her tightly and shift my hips to get comfortable for what I’m sure will be an affront to the profession of acting as a whole. She feels so good against me, though, I don’t care how many corny movies I’ve got to watch.
My hands skirt around her waistband, rubbing the soft skin of her belly. For as obvious as I am, she plays it coy, as if she has no idea what I might want. I lean in, taking her earlobe between my teeth gently as my fingers find their way under the waistband of her leggings.
Daphne’s hips lift, and her mouth parts as I stroke the soft hair between her legs. And just as I’m about to find purchase on the spot I so desperately crave, I’m interrupted by a single, incredibly loud, piercing metallic sound. The single tone of the note unmistakably belongs to Hallow Cove’s rarely used emergency alert siren.
Daphne jolts upright and my hands fly to the radio, and I search for the AM emergency station. Situations like this are the one time I curse not having cell service.
“What’s happening?” She snaps the laptop shut and shoves it back into her basket in a panic.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” My own anxiety rises. I keep the fact that it could be anything from a tsunami to a clerical error to myself.
The radio blips with static until the dial finds the right broadcast as it plays a tone that matches the siren, and then three beeps before a computerized voice fills the stereo.
“…This is an emergency broadcast of the national weather system issued at 6:46 p.m. and ending at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. A blizzard warning is in effect for the following areas that includeStonebridge, Hallow’s Cove…” The fake voice lists off pretty much every area that surrounds our little hidden town.
“A blizzard? No way—they said that storm fizzled out?” She looks outside. “It’s barely even snowing.”
The voice ends its location list and continues with more details.
“A rapidly developing low-pressure system is intensifying behind a passing cold front, producing sudden whiteout conditions and winds exceeding sixty miles per hour. This system has strengthened much faster than forecast, creating a dangerous, fast-moving blizzard now sweeping east at forty miles per hour.
“Travel is not advised. Roads may become impassable within the next hour. Visibility will drop to near zero in blowing snow. Power outages are likely due to downed lines and falling limbs.
