I missed my chance to tell him I was in love with him, too!
I don’t usually curse.In fact, as a rule, I avoid bad language, even in the privacy of my own thoughts.In all other circumstances, I might call this situation a fustercluck.
There’s no point in that now.
I can’t see my hand in front of my face.I have no idea where I am or even if I’m still on the trail.It’s getting dark.The wind is ruthless.
This is a legitimate clusterfuckif I’ve ever seen one.
It’s a fucking tragedy.A fucking catastrophe.It’s fuckedallthe way up.
And dammit, I’m fucking angry.
Fuck this.Fuck the snow.Fuck the storm.Fuck my stubborn pride.Just fuck it all.
Because Evander will never know I loved him.
I scream into the snowy, swirling void.
“Fuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkk!
CHAPTER 12
Evander
All right, then.
I’ve seen my share of incorrect weather forecasts.It happens.Despite all our technological advances, weather can still throw us an occasional curveball.
Five years back, I was stationed on one of the Navy’s atmospheric and oceanographic research vessels.I met a rear admiral who made this statement over coffee one morning: “Anyone who tells you that we can predict severe weather with one-hundred percent precision is full of shit.”
Well, if that rear admiral were here with me now, he’d say, “I told you so.”Because I’m in the middle of a whiteout killer blizzard in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas on a day that was forecast to be mostly sunny with a slight chance of flurries.
Somebody at the National Weather Service is in cover-your-ass overdrive right now, because clearly, mistakes have been made.
But I’ll be fine.I’ve been in the shit more times than I can recall.Diving equipment malfunctions, tank-mounted flamethrowers, missiles, explosives, ambush, sniper fire, extreme heat, and extreme cold—as a Navy SEAL, that’s just another day at the office.
I’ll survive.I always do.
That said, this storm has me slightly unnerved.
There’s something about it that I don’t trust.It doesn’t feel right.The barometer is plummeting.I wouldn’t be surprised if it was headed south of 29.0 inches at this point.
The winds have been mostly westerly, and since I’m headed northeast, it’s been at my back the whole way.
But it just changed up.It’s coming straight down from the north now, bringing Arctic temperatures with it.The snow is really piling up, and I have a feeling this sucker is just getting started.
I believe I’m in a polar vortex.
I’m calling it.I’m heading back.
I’d be happy to come get Finn’s tree another time.Sometime when the wind isn’t howling and the snow isn’t blowing horizontal to the land.I’m not interested in making the ultimate sacrifice just to pick up a party decoration, even if it is Finn’s centerpiece.
I’m taking my frozen ass back home.
The visibility is shit, but I manage to find a place to turn around.I unhitch the trailer and shove it off to the side of the trail.Handling the ATV in this wind will be a lot easier if I’m not dragging twelve feet of rattletrap metal behind me.
I cable tie a six-foot tall orange safety flag to one corner of the trailer, providing some visibility in case the snow accumulates.
