It’s now super cold out, but I have to take a moment to gaze at the boats in the winter ocean, relaxing until the pure ocean breeze slaps my face and about knocks me over, and I giggle against the cold. The sky—suddenly delivering such beautiful,giant snowflakes and wild winds—is impossible not to watch, to revel in. I am held prisoner by the near-instant snow and how it coats this town in layers of crisp icy-cotton white. It’s beyond beautiful.
Some needling voice in the back of my head compels me to call Katrina, and I’m amazed when she picks up. It’s too hard for us to talk to each other. Our connections to Patrick were both so strong.
Beyond a perfunctory hello, neither of us can talk for a minute.
I cup my hand over my mouth and try not to choke. “Katrina…”
“I know,” she replies, immediately equally emotional.
It takes me a bit to regain my composure, but finally, I can talk without crying. “Last summer, Patrick mentioned something to me. Something I didn’t understand at the time and forgot to ask him about, but I think I need to know now. I think it was important. Do you know what he meant bysnow kisses?”
“I do.” Her smile practically reaches through the phone while her voice is also so full of the fucking heartbreak she doesn’t deserve. “Patrick and I went on our first date sometime in early December that freshman year, and it started to snow. I made some grumpy noise or remark about how I hated it, so Patrick told me he would make it his mission that winter to find me anytime it snowed. To kiss me during that grotesque weather so that every time the sky unleashed that cold mess, I would be happy about it. And he did it every time. I’d get texts and calls to meet him, and I’d show up.Everytime. Even if we could just meet for a few seconds. A quick, delightful kiss, and then back to work. So then, I welcomed snow because it meant there would be special kisses.”
It’s so beautiful and so them.
She sighs contentedly at the memory. “Why do you ask?”
I swirl around in this wistful weather. “Patrick told me that this vacation guy is mysnow kissesperson. My Katrina.”
“Ah, that New Friend Dave?” It’s nice to hear a little fun in her voice.
“He told you about him?”
“He did indeed. Diana? Go get your snow kisses. Go get your Katrina. Neither is to be missed. I wouldn’t have traded my snow kisses nor my Patrick for anything.”
I stand in the harsh weather for a moment before I ask. “Can I do anything for you? Would you like me to come out there? I’d love to see you and Tommy.”
“No, no,” she says immediately, but then apologizes unnecessarily. “God, I’m sorry…I’m just not ready. I want to. So much.”
“There is no rush,” I assure her.
The harsh weather starts to blow against my face, and I laugh as I make my way back to my car. The force of the wind and the chill is exhilarating. Freeing in so many ways. Peaceful in its violence. I stay outside, enjoying the crisp air for a bit, until I know it’s got to be time to leave.
I shake off the icy bits from my eyelashes and get into my pristine driver’s seat. This dark cabin with incredible comfort? It’s almost better than the cozy bed at Dave’s place. Despite the snuggly seats that could easily keep me here forever, I start up the car and head home.
The wind and weather that were hitting me ten minutes ago are now way harsher as I drive, and I should have figured these could be problems. While I’m no stranger to snow, driving with one hand in these conditions becomes pretty unnerving. The ice that builds up so quickly though is what starts to truly scare me. The heavy deluge falls so heavily and blindingly, coating the roads and making me skid within seconds. Staying in town was admittedly a mistake, and I just want to get home now.
I repeat the New England mantra about skidding. “Pump the brakes. Pump the brakes.”
While I’m driving ever so slowly, I hit a patch of invisible black ice that sends me into a ditch on a desolate road a mile from the house. After trying my car in reverse, turning my wheels, and all the things over and again, I sigh. My Boston tricks are not working.
Of course I’m stuck.
My radio is still cranking out fun songs like I’m not in hell and I haven’t been totally stressed for twenty minutes, at a loss for what to do.
When lights flood this remote road, I roll my eyes with embarrassment. Dave’s car parks just behind mine, and he runs through the weather to knock on my window.
Reluctantly, I roll it down a bit and blurt out, “I thought the forecast was bullshit, okay? It’s only October.”
“I know. But just please come with me.”
“Go away,” I yell. “Let me be alone in my sexy new car! It’s nice, and I like it, and it’s kind of cozy here! Thanks to Anjanette, I’ve got sustenance for days. Not sure I know what she got, but there must be something that doesn’t have to be sautéed, or roasted, or whatnot.”
Dave is clearly torn between his enduring sweetness and a reasonable desire to throttle me.
“Diana!” he shouts. The icy rain pounds against his face as he pleads outside my window. “In 2011, there was a Halloween nor’easter a few months after Hurricane Irene. Dumped so much snow and ice that tree branches broke from the weight and killed someone. Well, a few people. Goddammit, open up!”
I unlock my door.
