Page 23 of The Betrothal

Alex stripped his coat, sighing.

“But no-one is coming to dig us out.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ISABELLE

Turning my blank phone over in my hand, I checked the clock again.

Thirty minutes. They would be looking for me in half an hour. And I was miles away, in a bowl somewhere coast adjacent. Aside from a miracle, I was never making it to my meeting point, and the last few hours spent perched on the deep chairs while the owners of the property disappeared cemented that fact.

I couldn’t have been more on edge.

Soft steps on the stairs informed me I was no longer alone.

Ben had stalled at the bottom of the staircase, hair damp over his forehead, clad in another dark sweatshirt and joggers, his tinted glasses clear enough to see he was watching me, but not clear enough to remotely identify what he was thinking.

“Do you have a landline?”

“Your phone doesn’t work.”

Was that a question?

“I need to call someone. They’re expecting me, and I’m not getting out of this snow-locked cottage any time soon, I assume.”

He shrugged, descending the final step and wandering towards the rear of the property, through some heavy-looking double doors, returning with a portable landline, he slowed as he approached.

Rolling his shoulders, he took in a deep inhale through his nose and slowed almost to a stop, offering the device to me from a full arm’s reach away.

Reaching across the remaining distance, my hand closed around the phone and no sooner had he released it than he stepped back and crossed to the kitchen before he began taking out ingredients from the cupboard.

Carefully entering the mobile number into the device, I raised it to my ear, the call beginning to ring, it connected, silence on the other end.

“Christian?” I offered down the line.

“Yes.” The voice was crisp, no emotion in it.

“We are due to–” I swallowed. “I’m delayed in the storm.”

“How delayed?”

My head landed in my hands.

“Weeks.”

The man was silent.

“If you aren’t here for the collection your deposit will be forfeit.”

“I’m sorry. I am literally stuck just a few miles from you, in the blizzard.”

He didn’t respond.

“I’ll get there as soon as I can,” I pleaded.

“There won’t be another agent in the area for weeks.”

No…