Page 39 of Forever Yours
“It’s none of my business.”
“Not even Pru.”
“Now that’s my business.”
“You know that all she’ll want to do is get in the middle and try to make this into more than what it is.”
“And what is it?”
Gabe was silent for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. Something to take the edge off this whole thing, something we both needed.”
Greyson appeared to contemplate what Gabe said. “You’re mixing business with pleasure. That’s never a good idea.”
“I know this. I knew this. But what’s done is done, can you please just not say anything?”
“I don’t know how long I can keep anything from Pru. She’s very intuitive and she’ll know at some point that something’s going on.”
“Not until we get out of here, I hope.”
“I don’t know when that will be, though. Remember the Christmas storm of ’97? We were stuck here for a week.”
Gabe groaned. “We can’t be here for a week, there’s no way it’ll take that long to get the roads opened.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be that long, just to plan that we won’t get out of here today.”
They sipped in silence. “How did it happen?” Greyson asked. “We just talked about it yesterday morning and you said there was nothing between the two of you.”
“I happened,” Gabe admitted. “It was all me.”
Greyson nodded in understanding. “I get it. Most of it was me, too. The ladies didn’t stand a chance against the Atwood charm.”
Gabe laughed. “I guess you can call it that.”
Sebastian walked into the room, rubbing his eyes and scowling. “What can you two find so amusing on a morning like this?”
“The old Atwood charm,” Greyson explained, “is a mysterious yet powerful thing.”
“Is Atwood charm going to get us out of this cabin today?” He waited until all signs of mirth were wiped off Greyson’s and Gabe’s faces before continuing. “Because if it’s not, let’s focus on coming up with a plan, shall we?”
“I don’t know how to plan around Mother Nature,” Gabe admitted. “She’s dumped a lot of snow out there and we’re not equipped to get rid of most of it.”
“Have we got shovels and maybe a snowblower in the shed?” Greyson asked, looking at Gabe.
“I don’t remember a snowblower, but I haven’t been out here in the winter in a long time. The caretakers could’ve gotten one.” Gabe pulled open a pantry door to take stock of the supplies. “I’m also happy they seem to keep food here. We didn’t have enough for much more than a few days.”
“First things first, let’s see if we can get some of this cleared out,” Sebastian said, “then we can plan for everything else. If we can get to the cars, we just might make it out of here.” He noticed the look Gabe exchanged with Greyson. “We’re not making it out of here, are we?”
“I’m not going to say we’re not, but this is your first major storm, and we just happen to be in the mountains where it’s always worse.” Greyson started pulling on his winter gear. “I didn’t think to bring snow pants.”
“Those, I know we have here.” Gabe added.
“I meant it when I said I was a Boy Scout,” Sebastian said. “I have those and boots. I already brought them in from the truck yesterday just in case I couldn’t get to it.”
“When did you get snow pants? I thought you said we’d never get snow here.”
“Not never, just that I didn’t think any of the forecasts until now were accurate.”
“Now is a good time to be prepared. I don’t think any of the girls brought much in the way of survival gear.”