“We’re about fifteen minutes out from the road. Any chance you could jump in the plow truck and clear my driveway?”
“Sure, I’ll do it now.” I could hear rustling, like Damien was putting on his jacket. “Char, I’ll be back in a bit. I’m going to clear Noah’s driveway.”
“Okay!” Charlotte’s voice called out faintly as a door clicked shut.
“I’ll see ya there. Drive safe,” Damien said, cutting the connection.
The road to the resort, and all our individual properties at what Charlotte jokingly referred to as the Wood family compound, was barely visible at all. Anyone else wouldn’t have known where it was, but I’d grown up in the area. I drove that road so frequently, I could drive it in my sleep. Still, I took extra caution, driving slower than I would have if Nellie wasn’t in the passenger seat.
I could see Damien’s headlights as he drove down my freshly plowed driveway. He honked, rolling down his window and slowing. I rolled mine down, too, to talk to him.
“Thanks, Damien,” I said, dipping my head in a nod.
“No problem. I think tomorrow will be a snow day for everyone. We’re supposed to get twenty-five centimetres tonight, and another fifteen throughout the day tomorrow. It’s not letting up until tomorrow night.”
“Jesus, that’s a lot of snow.”
“Yup. We have no guests staying right now. I’ll call Rhonda and Denise and tell them to stay home tomorrow, too.” Damien said.
“Probably a good call,” I agreed. It was rare we shut down the whole resort, but we would if we had no guests. With no guests, there was no pressing need to clean the cottages. Calls could be returned, and reservations could be booked later, there was no sense in endangering any of our employees.
I drove the rest of the way up my driveway, parking in my usual spot in front of the detached garage. Although Damien had just plowed, the snow was already quickly accumulating. I walked around the side of my truck, opening the door for Nellie.
“Careful, it’s slippery,” I warned her, helping her out of the cab of my truck. As soon as I had finished warning her, she slipped. I was holding her arm and able to prevent her from falling.
“Woah! You weren’t kidding,” she said. She held on tight to my arm as we walked toward the front of my cabin. The wind was blowing snow in our eyes, and neither of us could keep our eyes open. “Okay, I’m glad you suggested this. It’s gotten worse.”
“Yup. We’re in for an intense blizzard,” I said, unlocking the front door to my cabin, and holding it open for her. Nellie knocked her boots on the doorstep then stepped inside.
“What if the power goes out?” she asked.
“I’ve got a generator, and I’ve also got the woodstove for heat,” I replied, toeing my work boots off. I set them over the vent to dry out and put Nellie’s boots beside mine. I took her coat from her, hanging it in the small front closet with my own, trying to ignore how much I liked the sight of her things with mine. “Make yourself at home,” I urged her.
Nellie walked deeper into my cabin, taking it all in like it was the first time she’d been there. Of course, she’d been really drunk the first time, and we’d only had eyes for each other that night.
“This place is gorgeous, Noah,” she said, running her hand along the pine paneled walls.
“Guess you don’t remember it from the last time you were here.” I leaned against the wall as I watched her explore the kitchen.
“Not really,” she smirked. “That night’s still a blur.”
“I thought it was an unforgettable night,” I told her. There wasn’t a hint of teasing in my voice, and Nellie’s head snapped up to look at me.
“Parts of it were unforgettable,” she allowed. “But I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings.”
“That’s kind of alarming. You should always pay attention to your surroundings.” I cocked a brow, smirking.
Nellie hadn’t seemed that drunk the night we hooked up, but I was pretty much three sheets to the wind. I might have remembered more than she did, but I was missing details, too. Like whether we’d used a condom—which was kind of an important detail to know.
I suppose we’d find out soon. The prenatal paternity test results would be available within a week or two. They’d swabbed my cheek for a sample from me and took a sample of Nellie’s blood. Truthfully, I’d almost fainted when they took the blood sample from her. I was thankful they didn’t opt for the other DNA testing.
Neither one of us had wanted to risk the more invasive amniocentesis sampling, which is when they drew amniotic fluid from the abdomen. Frankly, I stood by what I’d told Nellie. It didn’t matter to me one way or the other, but it was important to her to know. I could respect that.
Hell, maybe she had every intention of dumping my ass if it came back that I wasn’t the father. Maybe she’d rather go at parenting alone then continue to date me.
“What’s the frown for?” Nellie asked, catching the expression on my face.
“Nothing,” I said, trying to school my features.
