Page 9 of Snowed In with My Best Friend's Dad
I looked around my surroundings, hoping maybe there was a pile of sand or mulch or dirt or rocks or boards or anything that I could put under the tires to help me get out. But the snowfall had covered everything. As I stood on the side of the road wondering what to do next, new snow began to fall and the sun began its final descent.
Don't panic.
I scanned the area again, looking for a house. I crossed the street to the driveway where I had planned to make my U-turn, but as I looked up the long road, I didn't see any dwellings. I shivered with cold and fear as I went back to my car, grabbing my coat, gloves, and hat and slipping them on. Should I walk to the place where I had phone service and call for help? I couldn’t very well sit here and hope someone would drive by. It was almost Christmas. Traffic would likely be low.
I tried to think about how far it was from when that text came in from Lindsay to where I was now. Was it a half-mile? Was it five miles? I had no idea. But I had no other alternative.
Deciding I should put on more layers before braving the elements, I pulled my bag from the back seat and dug through the warmest clothes I could find. In the distance coming from the direction that I'd been driving before my accident, I heard a vehicle. This was good news, right? Except I had watched enough true crime television to know that a young woman being stranded in the middle of nowhere was a prime opportunity if the wrong person happened by.
I put my bag back into the car, shutting the door and walking back to stand behind my car at the trunk. I looked up toward the road as the vehicle approached. Pretty soon, a large black SUV came into range. As it approached, it seemed to slow down, suggesting whoever it was had seen me on the side of the road.
I tried to think quickly about how I could protect myself from this person while at the same time getting help. Maybe they would let me use their cell phone. No, that wouldn't work because there's no cell service. Maybe they could drive home and call for help for me while I sat in my car. Of course, that put me at risk for any other person who came by. But what were the chances someone else was going to come by? And if no one else was driving on this road, would I be an idiot to not let this person help me if they offered me a ride?
The vehicle passed me, and for a moment I was ready to call them an asshole for not stopping, but then they pulled into the driveway, pressing on their hazard lights. The person got out of the car, and by their size, I determined it was a man.
He turned to me, and I saw that he had silvery blond hair and gray eyes.
My perfect stranger.
No, it wasn't possible. Was he stalking me? I inched back toward the ditch with each step he took toward me. Then, for the second time in twenty-four hours, my mystery man had me falling on my ass as I tumbled into the ditch.
3
Brett
Holy shit. It couldn’t be.
I was unsettled at seeing Miranda on the side of the road, two hours from Boston, here near my cabin. There was a part of me that was also excited. Admittedly, that part hung between my legs. Mostly, I was unsettled. I was a good judge of character, and Miranda hadn’t given me obsessive or stalker vibes, and yet here she was.
I thought she had registered who I was, but as I moved closer, she stepped back, almost as if she were afraid of me. After the night we spent together, I would have thought she'd be grateful that I was the one who stopped to help her. In general, this was a safe area, but nowhere was immune from predators. Miranda was a sitting duck out here.
I started to say something when all of a sudden, she tumbled back into the ditch.
I moved quickly, careful of the slippery edge of the road. It wouldn't help if I slid down on top of her.
Tentatively, I made my way down into the ditch, holding out my hand to her to help her up. "Are you okay?"
Just like last night, she batted my hand away. "Are you stalking me?"
Did she just ask me if I was stalking her? What the fuck? "I have a home out here. I've had it for over twenty years, and not once have I ever seen you out here. So, let me ask you. Are you stalking me?" I dismissed the idea earlier, but maybe she figured out who I was or at least that I had money and decided to take advantage. If I wasn't worried that she would either freeze to death or would be picked up by a serial killer, I’d leave her in the ditch and head home.
She got herself upright and stood glaring at me the way she had the night before at the stationary store.
Feeling insulted and surly, I asked, "So? Are you stalking me?"
"Why would I do that?" she snapped as she dusted snow from her clothes.
"A woman doesn't make noises like you did, come as hard as you did, and not want more."
She gaped at me in shock, and I had to admit my words surprised even myself.
Finally, she lifted her chin. "I regret last night. If I could scrub the memory from my brain, I would."
I stepped closer to her, noting the way her eyes flared with heat as I did so. "Liar."
She stared up at me, and I could see her attempts to be strong, but her lips trembled, and it made me feel like the biggest fucking asshole in the world.
I stepped back. "Why are you here on the side of the road?"
