“That’s because you don’t have to chop the wood, keep the fire going, or worry about the pipes freezing,” her dad teased.
“No, it’s because we play games instead of watch sports all the time.”
Travis’s mouth lifted into a half-smile. “She loves drubbing me at chess and poker.”
Dani rolled her eyes but grinned, showing off a bit of an overlap in her front teeth. “I think he lets me win.”
“No way! Come on, kiddo, I think we’d better go home. See ya,” he said to Jenna, then nodded to Carter and Rinda. Carter snapped his phone shut and his jaw was suddenly rock-hard.
“Have Allie call me!” Dani said as Travis pulled her toward his pickup.
“Trouble?” Jenna asked.
“Lots of it. Not only is the power out here, but for miles. A car went off
the Bridge of the Gods and there was a wreck on 84. Bad one. I’ve been called to it. Life Flight might not be able to get there with the storm.” He motioned to the SUV. “I’d better take you home.”
“That’s the opposite direction,” Rinda said. “I’ll drive Jenna.”
“I should have driven my Jeep.”
Carter’s phone blasted again. He answered it, swore, and had a short conversation. When he was finished, he said, “It just gets better and better. Another car slid out of control at the site of the wreck, slammed into a State Police cruiser, and killed an officer. I have to get out there.”
“I’ll call Turnquist to come and get me.”
“Don’t be nuts,” Rinda said. She turned to Shane. “I’ll run her home.”
Carter hesitated.
“Oh, for God’s sake, I’ve been driving in this crap all my life, except for those stupid ‘I’ve-got-to-find-myself’ years in California. My Subaru’s got four-wheel drive. It’s a dream in the snow.”
His phone went off another time and he nodded. “Okay. But if anything goes wrong, if you smell any kind of trouble, call me. On second thought, call me when you get home. Let me know what’s going on.” He squeezed her arm, then brushed a kiss against her cheek and took off at a jog toward his Blazer.
“Oh, wow, a kiss? From tough-as-old-leather Sheriff I-don’t-need-another-woman? That’s something.”
“Is it?” Jenna asked as they hurried, heads bent against the wind, to Rinda’s little wagon. “I thought he was still hung up on his wife.”
“She’s gone, honey.” They slid inside and Rinda fiddled with the heater and defrost. The crowd was thinning out, and without electricity, the town was nearly dark, only a few backup generators illuminating shops. “Carolyn was my best friend…” she glanced over at Jenna. “Ironic, huh? Seems like Shane has a thing for people I like. Anyway, we all had a great time together, had known each other since high school. Wes and Shane and David Landis were really tight.” Craning her neck to look over her shoulder, she pushed on the gas and did a quick U-turn, then headed out of town. “Anyway, David was killed when he tried to climb Pious Falls—Shane was with him. They were both sixteen and it was tough on Shane, but he eventually got together with Carolyn, at my urging, and they were pretty happy for a while.”
“Just awhile?”
“A few years, and then…” She stared out the windshield, squinting against the snow piling on the glass. “…then I guess they did that old drifting apart thing. Shane was really into his work and Carolyn was bored and…well, to make a long story short, she had an affair with my brother.”
“Wes?”
“Um-hmm. I think it about killed Shane. Worse yet, after a huge fight one night—a really cold, nasty night, kind of like this—Carolyn took off and lost control of her car and died.” She stopped for a darkened traffic light, then eased through the empty streets. “If you ask me, Shane never forgave himself. Not only for David’s death but Carolyn’s as well.”
Which explained a lot.
“You sure you want to get involved with him?” Rinda asked.
“I’m not sure of anything right now.”
“You’re hedging. Something big’s going on between you two. I can tell. Shane isn’t one for public shows of affection. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him kiss a woman, except like, maybe on New Year’s Eve.”
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as her Subaru plowed on through the snowfall. “In fact, he really hasn’t dated much since Carolyn’s death. Believe me, I know. I’ve been trying to set him up for years, but, no, I don’t think it’s a torch he carries around for her, it’s just plain old guilt.”
They passed an abandoned car on the side of the road, snow piling over it, and Rinda turned on the radio. The weather report was grim—more of the same, with temperatures dropping. “I don’t see how that’s possible,” Rinda said, and turned to a station playing Christmas music.