There wasn’t much talking about what the plan was, so I was surprised when we were taken to a hotel on the edge of town. The four of us got off the snowmobiles, and I saw that Sophie’s cheeks were flushed from the cold.
“I’ll go in and get you guys a couple of rooms,” Adam said, walking off before I could tell him to make it one.
“You should probably call Vanessa,” Sophie suggested. “She must be so worried about you.”
She had a good point, so I stepped aside, pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and turned it on. It had been powered off for the last few days since we’d had no signal, and as it finally connected to a cell tower nearby I was bombarded with texts and voicemail notifications. They were almost exclusively from my sister and mother, with a couple from the car rental company and even one from my dad. Apparently, my sister had been so concerned that she’d even reached out to him to see if he’d heard from me. That was a big sign of how serious this was.
I got all of this information by scanning the texts. I didn’t even bother listening to the voicemails. Instead, I dialed my sister’s number and hoped that it wasn’t too late to call. It was ten o’clock, and I didn’t want to wake the twins.
She picked up on the first ring, her voice high pitched with panic as she spoke. “Connor, is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
She let out a long exhale, and I could imagine her in her living room, sinking into a chair next to the big Christmas tree they put up every year. “Where the hell have you been?” she asked, suddenly angry. “Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”
“I was stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere,” I tried to explain, but she cut me off before I could say more.
“You know how hard it was to figure out where you were? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Colorado? You know that I had to call around to all the executives in the company to get that information? Don’t thinkthatwas easy on Christmas day. I even had to call dad to get the phone numbers. This would have been so much easier if I could reach your assistant, Sophie, but she hasn’t answered her phone once in three days.”
I smiled as she rambled on. It was so uncharacteristic of her to respond like this to anxiety. She was a bundle of nerves that exploded out of her in the form of word vomit.
When she finally took a much needed breath, I jumped in. “You couldn’t reach Sophie because she was with me. And I didn’t mention the trip because it was supposed to be a quick, one-day thing to approve the lodge for our annual retreat.”
“You went to lookin persontwo days before Christmas?” she nearly yelled through the phone. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that since a blizzard snowed us in.”
I glanced over at Sophie, who was talking on the phone with someone too, just twenty feet away. Somehow, the snow storm felt like fate, as if we were meant to be confined in that little cabin to finally see what was right in front of us this whole time.
Adam walked out of the hotel as Vanessa informed me that I was no longer allowed to leave the state without telling her, and that my next call had better be to our mom, who was also worried sick about me. I saw Adam hand a room key over to Sophie as she ended her own phone call. I frowned as I watched the two of them talk, Vanessa’s voice fading to background noise as Adam placed a hand on Sophie’s elbow to lead her inside.
“Ness, I gotta go. Don’t worry, I’ll call mom.” I abruptly ended the call, but Sophie was already out of my sight. I approached the other man that rescued us, the one that hadn’t even introduced himself. “Where is Sophie?”
“Adam took her to her room,” he said, holding out a second key to me. I scowled as I accepted the key and he chuckled. “Don’t worry, man. He got the message loud and clear when you slammed the door in our faces.”
That was good to hear, but I still didn’t like that she was alone with the man, or the fact that we were being given separate rooms.
“We checked the flights to St. Louis for you. It looks like the two of you can head back home first thing tomorrow if you want,” he continued, and I just nodded, my attention on my phone as I fired off a text to Sophie, making sure that she was settled in her room okay.
And hopefully alone.
Her response was quick, but I couldn’t help feeling disappointed when I read it.
I’m fine, just exhausted. Hope to get a good night of sleep.
It sounded like she wasn’t looking for my company. But now that I thought about it, I was tired too. So, I excused myself and headed into the hotel, passing Adam on the way which at least meant that he wasn’t with Sophie. My room was on the ground floor, and I found it immediately.
After a quick phone call to my mother and a text to my dad, I checked the flights for tomorrow and found that the earliest one home had a couple of seats left, but none of them were together. We would be separated for the flight home, just like we were now. I hated that thought, but I booked the flight anyway, because I wanted to get home as soon as possible.
Then, I stripped out of my clothes and had to admit to myself that it was nice being in a well-heated space. I was completely comfortable as I slid between the sheets and onto the soft mattress, but something was missing.
Sophie.
I had no idea if she’d still want to pursue something more with me once we returned home, and I didn’t like this unsettled feeling I had when I thought about the state of our relationship—even though I’d been the one to set the ground rules at the cabin. We didn’t have a chance to talk, and it looked like we wouldn’t get one tomorrow.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but sleep didn’t come easy, despite my fatigue. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t sleep well until I had Sophie warming my bed again.
I just hoped it happened soon.