It’s still snowing when I wake up. It’s a little after six in the morning and still a little dark out, although the sun should be rising pretty soon. I go through my normal morning routine, trying not to think about the person sleeping just one floor away from me.

I haven’t had another human in this house in so long. It’s strange, actually, and I don’t know how to act. Every part of me wants to go into her room right now and explore her body, taste her skin, make her happy she decided to stay. Instead, I brush my teeth and shower before heading downstairs to feed Jones.

I frown out the windows as the sun slowly rises. I make coffee and cook some breakfast for both of us, eggs and bacon, since the bacon at least won’t last if we really are stuck here. The snow looks pretty deep out there, and although it slowed down, it’s still coming. I doubt we’ll be leaving the house today, and if the snow doesn’t stop soon, we may not be leaving for a few days.

Doesn’t matter. I knew this could happen. Honestly, I wanted it to happen. For as much as I pretend like I want to be here, want to be punishing myself, I know I’m not the kind of person to stay locked up forever.

I thought I could, right up until I had that night with Mia. Anyone else, and I could have come back to my little prison and kept living my days, but Mia stuck with me. And now here she is, like it’s meant to be.

I don’t believe her when she says that she’s here just to get a story from me. There’s no way she’d travel this far, I decided. Even if Murray is pressing her to get a real interview, she still wouldn’t come out to the middle of nowhere just to get it. She wouldn’t risk getting snowed in with me, either.

Unless she wants to be close to me. I know she wants me, that much is obvious, but the question is how badly. I think she wants me badly… but there has to be more to it.

I don’t know what it is. I won’t push, not until she’s ready to talk. I know how hard some things can be. Saying them out loud takes guts, and if she has something like that to say, I won’t force it.

She wakes up about an hour after I do. She comes downstairs wearing a pair of my sweatpants and an old t-shirt, both of them slightly too big for her and way too small for me. Her hair’s piled in a bun on her head. I made sure she had a toothbrush, toothpaste, towels, shampoo, all that good stuff for her bathroom. Fortunately I stocked up on extras for guests a long time ago, back when I thought I still might have guests.

“Morning,” she says to me.

“Morning. Coffee?”

“Please.”

I pour her some and hand the mug over. She sips it as she walks over and looks out the window.

“Wow,” she says softly.

“I know.”

She stares quietly out the window, down at the snow-covered valley. I’m a little jaded toward that view, but even I have to admit that it’s beautiful. The lake is probably frozen right now, and it’s hard to spot since it’s covered in snow. I know it by the ring of trees right around its little crater.

“It’s really amazing,” she says finally. “I can see why you stay here.”

I laugh softly. “Honestly, I don’t notice it most of the time.”

She cocks her head. “Really?”

“Really. It’s like owning a beautiful piece of art. You look at it at first, but slowly it just becomes a part of your world… and it’s hard to really see again.”

She bites her lip. “I think I know what you mean.”

“It’s hard to really see things, once you’re blinded to them.”

We stand side by side for a second. I have the urge to kiss her, but I don’t want to push and makes things worse, considering she’s trapped here. I’ll get what I want, and give her what she needs, soon enough.

“Come on,” I say, turning away from the window. “We have work to do.”

“Oh, do we?”

I nod as I head into the laundry room. I grab my boots and my coat, plus a basket with extra gloves and scarves. I bring everything out and put it down on the kitchen counter.

I get dressed and she just watches me.

“Come on,” I say. “Grab your coat.”

“We’re going out there?” she asks, incredulous.

“We absolutely are.”

“How? Why?”

“I told you. We’re putting you to work.”

“No way,” she says. “I’m a guest.”

“Maybe, but you still have to earn your keep around here. This is the mountain, Mia. You can’t be dead weight.”

She bites her lip. “I think I’d rather hang out with Jones.”

“He’s coming with me. Right, boy?”

Jones cocks his head at me, already halfway toward the garage door.

Eventually Mia sighs and gets her coat. She bundles up, pulling her boots back on, finding a pair of mittens and a scarf. Once she’s ready, we head outside. Jones takes off up to the tree line as soon as the garage door opens.

I find a pair of snow shovels and I hand her one. “Your job is to clear off the driveway while I check the generators.”

“You get the easy job, of course,” she says.

“Do you know how to spot a problem?” I ask.

“Nope,” she says, sighing and taking the shovel.

I grin at her as she heads out and gets to work. Honestly, I expected more pushback from her, but she’s putting her head down and shoveling despite the wind and the snow.

I head around toward the back of the house. The generators are in a little outhouse, protected from the weather, but I still have to check them. The house is connected to the main power grid by a line that’s buried underground, and was a fucking fortune to get run out here. That line usually isn’t the problem, though. It’s all the lines down near town that aren’t buried. Every storm, something goes wrong and one of those lines drops, and that means I have to have generators to make sure the power stays on.

Fortunately, the generators are fine, and they’re not running, which means the power’s fine in town so far. I smile to myself, happy for that, since it means Shelly still has power, too. If the generators kick on, I’ll have to go check on her.

I head back to the front. Mia’s made a dent in the shoveling, and I join her.

“This is good for the back,” I say. “Really works those muscles.”

“I’m more of a hot chocolate and a nice book kind of girl,” she says.

“I bet you are. But now you’re a mountain girl, which means you gotta toughen up.”

She laughs, leaning against her shovel. “I don’t know about that. I don’t feel very tough.”

“Sure you do. Look at those guns.” I walk over and squeeze her bicep, making her laugh. “You’re practically ripped.”

“Get out of here,” she says, pushing me playfully. “I shoveled like ten feet and I’m already winded.”

“Shovel ten more. It just gets easier.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Sure it does.” I drop my shovel and start pushing the snow. There’s maybe eight inches on the ground already, which is a lot for a single night’s snow.

“Are we going to shovel the whole driveway?” she asks, clearly worried.

I shake my head, laughing at her. “That’d take days,” I say. “We just need to make some room.”

“For what?” she asks.

“You’ll see.” I grin at her and get back to work.

Eventually she sighs and starts shoveling too. It doesn’t take long for us to clear out a good-sized portion of the front walk and driveway, and eventually I tell her that’s enough. We carry our shovels back into the garage, but before she can head inside, I stop her.

“Wait, do you think work duty is over?” I ask.

“Oh god, no,” she says, her face falling. “I just want to sit on that nice couch in front of the fire.”

“Well, I’m glad you mentioned the fire.” I can’t help but grin huge at her. “We’ve got one more job.”

She groans, but she follows me around the side of the house. There’s a large stump and a low shelter next to it full of dry firewood. I grab a log and the axe that’s lying on top of the pile, and place it on top of a nearby stump. Mia watches as I split the log easily, tossing the pieces aside.

I hold the axe out for her. “Your turn.”

“No way,” she says, shaking her head.

“Come on. You’re in the mountains. What’s more mountainous than splitting firewood?”

She groans again. “‘Mountainous’? Is that even a thing?”

“It is now,” I say, laughing. I put a log down for her and hold out the axe again. “Come on. You can do it.”

I don’t expect her to, but she takes the axe. I really thought she’d turn me down again, and I was ready to let it go. Instead, she surprises me, and steps up to the log.

She swings the axe down clumsily, and only clips the log. It falls off the stump and doesn’t split at all.

I can’t help but laugh. “Nice try,” I say.

“Asshole,” she grumbles.

I grab the log and put it up again. “Here, let me help.”

She doesn’t resist when I get behind her. Although there are a few layers of clothing between us, I swear I can feel her heat as I get close, pushing myself against her back, taking her arms and wrists and helping to guide her.

“Back up here, and then straight through. Stare at the center of the log and don’t take your eye off it, okay?”

“Got it,” she says.

I squeeze her wrist and then step back. “Do it.”

She hesitates then swings, bringing the axe down straight. This time she connects, and the log splits. Although it’s not even or perfect, it’s still split.

She cheers and almost whacks me with the axe. I have to step back, and that makes her drop it on the ground, hands over her mouth.

“Shit, shit, I’m so sorry!”

I laugh at her. “Careful there.”

“I just got excited. I’m sorry!”

“I know.” I grin and walk over, grabbing the axe. “Maybe I’ll do the splitting, and you carry the wood into the garage to dry.”

“Sounds good.” She frowns and I give her a little nudge to let her know that it’s all okay.

I take the axe and get to work. She carries the split logs into the garage to keep them from getting too wet in the snow. We fall into a rhythm of work, making little jokes, and I can’t help but tease her. She blushes so easily and gets all indignant, which is cute as hell. I haven’t enjoyed chores this much in a long time, maybe ever, and by the time we’re finished we’re both tired as we head into the garage together.

I put the axe back and whistle for Jones.

“What’d you think?” I ask her.

She shrugs, stomping the snow off her boots. “I think I really am a city girl.”

I grin. “Maybe you’re an axe murderer.”

“I did enjoy the feeling of it in my hands,” she says a little wistfully. “And when I almost hit you…” She trails off, her eyes wide.

I laugh. “You felt a little thrill, huh?”

“Couldn’t help myself. I was just born to axe murder. It’s in my blood.”

We both laugh together as Jones comes bounding into the garage, panting and wagging his tail. Mia pets him and plays with him while I look outside at the snow.

It’s still falling, and I’m worried. I didn’t really believe Shelly when she said that the snow might be pretty bad… but it looks like she’s gonna be right. It’s starting to pick up again, and if we get another eight inches, who knows how long it’ll take to thaw out.

We head inside. We leave our snowy wet stuff in the laundry room. Mia camps out on the couch and I make her some hot chocolate from a little packet. Once she has the mug in her hand, and Jones curled up on the floor next to her, I head upstairs.

“I’ll be back in a second,” I say.

She just nods, sipping her drink, looking content.

I head into my office and log onto my computer. The Wi-Fi is slow as hell, since it’s a satellite connection as well, but it works. Soon, I’m looking at a Doppler picture of my area, and it’s deep snow as far as I can see.

“Shit,” I say softly. I grab the satellite phone and dial Shelly’s number. She picks up on the third ring.

“Thought it’d be you,” she says, her voice husky and a little amused. “That girl still there?”

“Yeah, she’s here,” I say. “How could you bring her here without any clothes?”

“Wasn’t my call,” she says. “The girl just came with me.”

I sigh. “The snow’s looking bad.”

“Told you.”

“Don’t be a jerk.”

She cackles. “Look on the bright side. You got them fancy generators, and you got some gas for them.”

“True. We won’t run out of hot water or internet anytime soon.”

“As for me, I’m freezing my ass off over here.”

“You still have power?”

“Don’t you worry about me,” she says. “I’ll be fine.”

I frown a little bit at that, but I don’t press. “Look, I’m thinking we’ll be stuck here for a bit. I was hoping… well, do you have anything she could wear?”

Shelly pauses a second. I know she had a daughter, although she doesn’t talk about her much. I think they had a falling out, a long time ago. She’s never very detailed about her past, and sometimes completely avoids my questions.

“Yeah, I got some stuff,” she says finally. “Gonna run over here?”

“When the snow clears a bit,” I say. “Sometime tomorrow.”

“Fine,” she says. “Bring me snacks.”

“I always do,” I say, grinning.

“And if you need anything else, just holler.”

“Same to you. Stay warm.”

“Always do.”

She hangs up and I put the phone back down on my desk. I sit there for a second, and I let the facts sink in.

We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. At least not all the way down into town. We can make it to Shelly’s, but that’ll be a pain in the ass, and we might have to stay there overnight before trying to make the trip back. I’m not even sure if I want to bring Mia with me on that trip or what.

I sigh to myself, standing up. This was a bad idea. We had a good time chopping wood, but the reality is, I’m not supposed to have a good time like that anymore. I’m dangerous, a bad fucking influence. I don’t deserve to have Mia around.

But she’s here, and that’s the plain fact of it. I can’t take that back, although I’m not totally sure I even want to. Fortunately I have plenty of supplies, even if she gets stuck here for a few months… but I can’t even think about that.

I sigh and stand up. I don’t look forward to telling her about this, but there’s no reason to hold it off. I just hope she takes it okay.