Page 54 of Hairpin Curves

“I see that.” Just what they needed. Megan talked the previous night about how she was pretty sure her car would be all right in the snow, but front wheel drive or not, Scarlett wasn’t excited about driving through a blizzard. At least it wasn’t supposed to be a full blizzard. A squall, probably, maybe a few inches, and they’d probably keep the roads clear. They were on a highway the whole way. The state department had to prioritize clearing the highways, right?

Megan had been pretty quiet since last night overall. Now, with Megan staring out the window, Scarlett had to physically grip the steering wheel with both hands to keep one hand from drifting over to rest on Megan’s thigh. Anything to touch her. Anything to keep this physical contact.

“So we’ll be in Quebec by the end of the day,” Scarlett said, breaking the silence. “It’s the end of the trip.”

“Well, the end of the first half.” Megan laced her fingers together in her lap. “We’ve still got to drive all the way home.”

That was true. “Do you still want to drive straight home directly? Anything we missed on the way up that you want to do on the way back?”

Megan opened her mouth, then paused, a few expressions flickering over her face. “I wouldn’t mind going back to New York. It’s on the way.” She looked down at her hands. “You’re probably going to want to get back to your normal life soon.”

Scarlett snorted. Like she had anything resembling a normal life. “Easier said than done. I have no idea what things are going to look like when I get back.”

Silence. Scarlett kept replaying her conversation with Gaelen; she was at a crossroads, and the way she responded to that could either be like she’d always done—running away—or something totally different. She could interpret that any number of ways, but this lifestyle of eking out a meager existence from piecemeal data entry jobs and gigs was not going to sustain her forever. “What about you?” she asked, needing to not think about her own situation for a few minutes. “What’s on the docket for you when you get back?”

Megan shrugged. Her gaze had drifted to the window again, watching the snow that was now falling steadily. “I haven’t thought past this trip. Matt will be moving out, and I don’t know about anything else. I don’t have a job. I guess I have to get one.” She didn’t sound too pleased, and before Scarlett could suggest a different topic, added, “I don’t want to talk about after.”

“Okay.” Scarlett understood. This world of the car and the open road had become its own haven, a separate existence from reality. She was none too keen to return to reality, either. When Megan started digging around in her album of CDs for another selection, relief replaced her anxiety. They didn’t have to talk about what came after. They could live in the now.

After about three hours, though, the “now” had become a lot snowier. Scarlett looked back at the GPS, which had continued adjusting their time of arrival based on road conditions, the hours moving later and later in the day.

“How are you doing?” Megan asked, concern dotting her brows. “How are the roads?”

The roads were shit, but Scarlett didn’t want to worry her. “I just have to pay attention.” The car wanted to slide everywhere on the untreated slickness, especially now that they were rolling through the white mountains of New Hampshire. At this elevation, the snow was steady and heavy and terrifying. Scarlett just wanted to get through it.

“Do you want me to drive?” Megan’s frown indicated that she didn’t think it was a good idea, either.

Scarlett resisted the impulse to laugh. “No thanks. I’ve got it. Once we’re out of the mountains it should be better.”

It wasn’t. After another two hours, they had crossed over from New Hampshire into Vermont, crawling north on I-91, as driving had become downright treacherous. She’d long since turned off the music to concentrate better. She didn’t feel safer going more than thirty, and the entire highway was crawling along with the few people dumb enough not to have gotten off the roads already. People like them. The way she saw it, they had a few options. Megan could drive, and they would likely end up off the road in minutes. Scarlett hadn’t driven a lot in the snow, but Megan had never driven in the snow, and northern Vermont wasn’t the place she wanted to teach her. Another option was to press on, but Scarlett was probably going to have a nervous breakdown before they arrived, especially as the GPS kept moving their arrival time later and later.

The third option was to find some place to stay and wait for the storm to blow over.

“Megan, do you have cell service?”

Megan pulled out her phone. “For now. It’s been going in and out.”

“I think we should find a place to stop for the night.”

Megan’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. Me, too. You want me to look for something online?”

“Yeah. Maybe somewhere with some food.” Scarlett had been checking the exit signs and not seeing a lot.

The car fell silent again, and Megan’s attention stayed focused on her phone for what felt like a really long time. “Well?” Scarlett asked, after about ten minutes of silence.

“There’s a couple of options. There’s a Holiday Inn, an EconoLodge, and if we get off at exit 26, we’re not too far from a ski resort.”

At least a ski resort would be prepared to weather a snow storm. “Ski resort. Give them a call, will you?”

Megan made an irritated noise. “I just lost cell service.”

Shit. “Well, pull out those maps. Let’s see if we can get there analog-style.”

“What do you mean, no vacancy?” Scarlett leaned heavily on the reception desk at the ski resort lodge, looking at a very apologetic reception clerk who was frantically typing into his computer. “How can you possibly be sold out in this snowstorm?”

“I’m so sorry, miss. It’s a busy week anyway, with school vacation, and a lot of people booked when they heard about this storm.” He looked like he expected Scarlett to hit him, and the way she was leaning forward with her wild hair and the visible stress of a lot of snowstorm driving, Megan was pretty sure she understood the fear.

“It’s school vacation? Who has a vacation in February?” Megan hadn’t been in school for a while, but weren’t those spring breaks in March or April?