‘We’re going to be late if we don’t get going, and I don’t know how long the free bar is open,’ grumbled drunk guy number four. Clearly the thought of having to pay for their own alcohol was the most effective motivator of all, and one by one the men climbed back into their car.
The stranger and I stood side by side as they manoeuvred back on to the highway. I felt him throw an arm companionably around my shoulders; the other he lifted in a wave as the car was thrown into gear and disappeared in an engulfing cloud of dust.
My companion dropped the arm around me the moment the vehicle was out of sight.
‘Well ... Jessie. That was fun.’
Unlike the ones I’d given to the men, this smile felt entirely natural. I held out my right hand. ‘My name is Lily.’
He placed his own in my grip. It was a perfect handshake: not too long, not too tight, and definitely not damp.
‘And I’m Adam,’ he said with an easy grin.
Chapter Ten
The cabin, which less than an hour earlier I’d been certain I would never see again, came into view. The lights had been glowing yellow, warm and inviting, when I’d driven away, but the building was now in total darkness.
‘Fuck,’ Josh muttered. His language was way more colourful than I remembered. ‘The power has gone out.’ He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture I swear I’d forgotten about until that moment. ‘I’m not surprised the lines are down; it happens all the time out here.’
Thatdefinitelywasn’t what I wanted to hear. Being stuck in a darkened cabin in the middle of the woods sounded horribly like the plot of a low-budget horror film.
Josh swung the Land Rover into a sweeping arc, bringing it to a stop not far from the unlit cabin. We both stared at the single-storey building through the headlights’ beams. The roof had already disappeared beneath a thick blanket of snow, which seemed to be growing ever deeper as we sat there.
‘We’ll be alright here though, won’t we? Without electricity, I mean? We’re not going to freeze to death, or anything?’ I tagged a small laugh on to the question, but it sounded more terrified than amused.
Josh’s lips twisted wryly. ‘We’re in the middle of a forest full of trees. I think we’ll manage to find something we can burn to keep warm.’
The only thing burning right then was my face, but thankfully, with the power out, Josh couldn’t see that.
Land Rovers are sturdy, built for rough conditions, but Josh’s was rocking like a fairground ride as the wind buffeted it.
‘It’s getting pretty wild out there,’ Josh said. ‘Are you ready to make a run for it?’
I nodded, peering through the darkness at the swirling snow and flying foliage ripped from the trees.
‘Take this,’ he said, extracting a torch from the compartment in his door. I took it from him, but before he got out, I leant across the centre console and lightly touched his forearm. ‘I reallyamgrateful to you for coming after us, Josh. Thank you.’
‘I bet that hurt,’ he muttered. But I’d seen the expression on his face when my hand rested fleetingly on his arm. There’d been no mistaking it; my touch had caused him genuine pain. It was a disturbing realisation that would probably circle around in my thoughts for hours.
‘Wait here,’ he instructed. ‘I’ll come round and let you out.’
I wasn’t sure why he thought I needed assistance, until he stood beside the car, wrestling with the wind to open the door. The moment I stepped out of the Land Rover the storm tried to shove me back against it. Icy crystals of snow that felt like a thousand tiny knives struck my face. My attention was so focused on staying upright, I scarcely noticed when Josh’s arm clamped around my waist like a vice. It felt very different from my teenage memories, when his arm had nestled there in a gesture of friendship. This was purely a necessity to get me from A to B, and I was grateful for the way he shielded my body with his as we battled forward, practically bent double as we covered the distance from car to cabin.
Josh flung open the door to his home and firmly propelled me through it, along with a cloud of swirling snow. Fletcher was a black and white blur as he sped past my legs and disappeared into the shadows. In the pitch-black hallway my eyes were slow to adjust. I felt vulnerable and a little afraid as I heard the storm battering the timber-framed building, as though we’d somehow enraged it by escaping from its clutches. An unfortunate visual of the airborne house inThe Wizard of Ozpopped into my head and refused to leave.
My frozen fingers fumbled for the switch on the torch. I felt marginally better once its watery yellow beam sliced through the darkness.
‘Turn left and head towards the kitchen,’ Josh instructed, placing a guiding hand in the small of my back. It fell away as soon as we entered the only room in the cabin that felt vaguely familiar.
The kitchen still felt warm and cosy, and a wood-burning stove in the far corner of the room provided both heat and a dim red glow of light. Both drew me in like a magnet, and I held my hands towards the stove, waiting for the feeling to return to my chilled fingers. Behind a glass door the flames danced, making the rings on my left hand glint in the flickering light. It was a reminder of the man who’d brought me to this place today.
‘You’re absolutely sure you’re not hurt?’ Josh asked, sweeping his torch beam over me again.
I shook my head, deciding not to mention the vague ache on my temple or the stiffness of my shoulder. ‘Just shaken up, that’s all.’
In response he dragged a chair from the table and positioned it beside the stove with a meaningful nod.
‘Sit,’ he said, with enough emphasis that Fletcher, who’d just padded into the kitchen, promptly did so at his feet. I felt a frisson of annoyance at my pet’s betrayal.
