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Caitey turned on the shower to heat the water and jumped in to get cleaned up quickly. After finishing in the warm water, she wrapped the towel around her and hunted for a blow dryer in the bathroom vanity drawers. The bedroom was still chilly, causing her to shiver slightly.
And then Caitey remembered those tiny pricks of icy raindrops she had felt on her face last night.
Striding across the room, she yanked back the curtains from the picture window. The sight in front of her eyes revealed a cold, cloudy, foggy day without a speck of sunlight . . .above a world of blinding white—a literalblanketof pure white snow.
Snow. Snow?!How did that happen? Yesterday was so lovely. Jenna was supposed to have the perfect autumn wedding, not a winter one!
Caitey pressed her nose against the cold glass. That was not a dusting of snow, but literally PILES OF SNOW. A blizzard had swooped in while they slept!
Noooo! She had to get a move-on, find Jenna, and figure out this wedding! Three feet of snow changed everything.
Hopefully her parents had retrieved their rental car and were on their way up. She hoped they saw the weather forecast last night and had made it an early morning, checked out of their hotel right away, and were already downstairs. Not taking any chances of being late due to the snow and road conditions.
Caitey tried to breathe. All would be well. It had to be.
Her phone buzzed repeatedly as she ran from the window to snatch up her phone still sitting on the night table by the bed.
Text messages were pouring in.
The first came at dawn from Jenna:A snowstorm assaulted my wedding day! How did we miss this? Did we ever come up with a contingency plan? I’m so discombobulated, I can’t remember!
Caitey typed back:Yes, the plan is just to move the dinner reception inside instead of the rose garden. It will all work out. Promise!she addedwith all the enthusiasm and optimism she could muster. Jenna must be going out of her mind with stress and worry.Meet you downstairs for breakfast in twenty minutes!
The following three messages were from her mother. She had missed the one sent about midnight.
Dad arrived in LAX late, late, late tonight. Flight was delayed. Too tired to drive up to the Hearst Estate. We got a hotel room. See you in the morning, sweetheart.
Then came the sad news:
We picked up our rental car first thing this morning and heard from the Hertz agent that there was snow in the mountains. What’s it like up there? Is it very much? Do we need to rent chains for the tires? I’m sure Jenna is highly disappointed.
The last message from her mother beeped as Caitey was reading.
We drove up the mountain road and are now stuck. All vehicles have officially been closed to the mountain—Sheriff’s orders. He cited dangerous, slick, and treacherous roads. Sadly, there was an accident, too, and it will take hours to clear it all up. That’s why the local officials closed it until the snowplows arrived. There are law enforcement, official vehicles, and tow trucks everywhere.
Caitey wrote back:Can you sneak past—and drive really carefully?!Her text was written to be more of a joke. She certainly didn’t want her parents to get hurt or their vehicle to slide off the mountain.
Mom wrote back:No, sweetheart. And I’m quite sure your father isn’t up to dragging our vehicle off-road and shoveling snow while wearing his best suit.
She added a smiley emoji, and Caitey knew they were both being playful. But it was so disappointing. Despite video chats every week, she hadn’t seen her parents in months.
Hopefully, we can get up there tomorrow, sweetheart! We’ll spend the night in Santa Barbara and keep in touch.
Caitey sat down on her bed with a thud. They weren’t going to make the wedding. Not. At. All.
She jumped when a final message from her mother came through.
Please give Jenna and Logan our best. We are so happy for them. Take lots of pictures!
Caitey’s phone clattered to the carpet. She wanted to cry. The perfect wedding day was turning into ruins. Jenna must be beside herself. She needed to get downstairs pronto.
Quickly, she dressed in jeans and a warm sweater top, then blew out her damp hair with the hair dryer she found in one of the drawers, and then applied her makeup. She wasnotappearing downstairs in the public rooms without blush and lipstick. Not when Jenna’s and Logan’s mothers were so gorgeous every minute of the day.
Even her own mother, as an ambassador’s wife, wore classic dresses and heels, along with getting her hair done every few weeks. There was always some meeting, luncheon,or function to attend.
When a certain Mr. Marcus Stirling roamed the house with those devastating looks and macho chiseled jaw, she had to look as good as possible.
Caitey gave a little shiver just thinking about the guy’s shoulders and muscular chest, along with deep brown eyes like melting chocolate. The shivers she always felt when they passed each other were clearly nerves, along with a powerful attraction to such a fine male specimen occupying the same residence as she was.
