Chapter Twelve
Emmi
I had literally left my job and the cold of New York to end up right in the middle of a winter storm without any pants on. Life sure had a funny way of wrapping around and kicking a girl in the butt.
I stood near the dark building while I waited for Declan to make his way up the long driveway with our suitcases. The chalet didn’t look anything like the pictures I had seen. Perhaps because it was nighttime, or maybe because the pictures were old, but the building we were in front of was a shell of whatever it used to be.
“Come on slowpoke; I thought you were used to this cold weather?” I yelled at Declan.
“Do you want to come carry your own suitcase?”
“Definitely not! Never mind, I’ll wait patiently for you to get your out of shape butt up here.” I leaned against the front door and crossed my arms as if it would be forever before he arrived, but he was there just a minute later. “You have the key, right?”
The look on Declan’s face was absolutely priceless as the realization hit him. We had just been left at an abandoned chalet, in the midst of a winter storm, without the key to get in. I burst into laughter at the sheer craziness of the situation. Declan really was as disorganized as he said he was.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
“It’s okay; I’m sure we can jimmy open one of these old windows.”
“This is why I need like, 10 assistants. Damn, I’m sorry. Let me walk around back and see if anything happens to be unlocked.”
“Okay, but don’t break any windows, please. It will be cold enough in there without having wind blowing through the entire place. I’ll check the windows around here.”
“Sorry,” Declan said as defeat seemed to stretch across his face.
“It’s fine. I’ve got a good five minutes in me before I freeze to death. Plenty of time,” I teased.
As soon as Declan walked around toward the back of the building, I frantically started to push on the windows to see if any of them were unlocked. Without having any luck, I decided to climb up the wooden fire escape to a balcony on the second floor.
The wind ripped across my legs and I felt the pain of the cold as I climbed up the old wooden contraption as quickly as I could. Although the sliding glass door was locked, it looked like a very old lock that might be able to be manipulated. I certainly didn’t have any experience picking locks, but I did know the basics of unlatching an old lock with a credit card. As a teenager, I used to break into my parents’ bedroom and go through my mother's closet all the time. Simply sliding a credit card in the right direction would flip the lock and allow me access to her room.
“Declan!” I yelled from the balcony.
The wind was howling loudly though, and I knew he wasn’t going to be able to hear me. Reluctantly, I climbed back down the rickety wood ladder and grabbed a credit card and some hairpins out of my purse.
First, I tried to work on the front door, but the lock was much more secure and didn’t allow the ability to slide the card. I pulled my hairpin out and tried to wiggle one in the lock, but really had no idea what I was doing.
“Declan!” I yelled again as I leaned around the corner to see if he was coming back toward the front.
Without hearing him, I went back to work and climbed to the balcony. My legs burned from the freezing cold. I squatted down and pressed my legs up inside my coat as I tried to figure out the best way to get the lock opened. Luckily, the moon was shining off the blowing snow and giving me some light to work with, but not much.
“Emmi!” I heard Declan yell.
“I’m up here,” I said loudly without getting up. “I’m working on this lock.”
He didn’t respond, so I just kept working. I slid the card in under the lock and pressed it up but it stopped, and I couldn’t feel any movement inside the lock. I pulled it out and tried putting it in over the top of the lock. As I pressed the card down, I felt the lock moving, but it wasn’t fully unlatching. My fingers were shaking from the cold, but I pressed down as hard as I could on the card and then heard the click of the lock.
“I got it!” I yelled.
My fingers shook as I slid the door opened and stepped into the old building. I’d expected it to look and smell like some sort of abandoned mansion out of a Scooby-Doo episode. Instead, it looked immaculate inside. There was surprisingly little dust throughout the room I entered. The large queen bed was still made, and there were towels folded and sitting on the corner of a Victorian-style dresser. It was as if the place had closed down without notice or warning at all.
I opened the door to the main hall and peeked out just to satisfy my nervousness. I’d never been in an abandoned building before and only had a dozen or so horror movies rushing through my mind as I carefully took a step into the hallway.
It was dark except for the light that was coming in at the end of the hall near the stairs. I couldn’t believe that Declan hadn’t had someone turn the electricity on before we arrived. A large picture window looked out over the ski slopes and let in the moonlight. My eyes worked hard to adjust to the changes in lighting as I made my way down the stairs so I could let Declan in. The wood on the stairs made an awful creaking noise with each step and sent my heart racing faster and faster as I reached the bottom step and turned toward the front door.
“Hey, I thought…” Declan started to say as he stood in front of me.
“Oh, shit! Oh, my God. Oh, wow,” I jumped back as my body reacted to him being right there. I stumbled so far backward that I ended up tripping myself and landing onto the hard tile of the floor. “How did you get in?”
“Um, just wiggled the lock really hard and pushed on the door. How did you get in?” he asked as he looked up the stairs. “Did you climb up to the second floor?”
“I just went up the fire escape. Wow, my heart is still racing.”
Declan reached down to help me up. Our hands intertwined as he pulled without exerting any energy at all. The muscles in his forearm flexed, and I held on tight to his hand as I stood up and felt an amazing warmed between us. His hands were cold; mine were probably freezing, yet when they were together, warmth emanated between the two of us.
Our eyes locked onto one another for the briefest of moments, and I wanted more. It was only a small moment of weakness, but definitely a moment.
“You’re freezing; we better get a fire going,” Declan said as he pulled away from me and diverted his eyes toward the large fireplace in the great room. “Do you think that works?”
“I hope so. Did you see firewood out back?”
“I don’t even remember, but I’ll go check now. See if you can find any candles and blankets. We can set ourselves up on the couches down here.”
“Sure thing,” I said as I took off toward the kitchen.
The whole building seemed much less haunted now that Declan was in it with me. I walked confidently toward the industrial-sized kitchen and started to look through cabinets and drawers. The dishes were still in the cabinets, silverware in the drawers, even a set of wine glasses left drying on a rack. I had to know the story behind this place. How did they go from a functioning chalet to totally abandoned without even having time to sell off their resources? It seemed very odd to me.
“There isn’t any wood on the back porch,” Declan said as he rolled his eyes and stood at the entrance of the kitchen.
“Do you see a shed out there anywhere? Maybe it’s been put away so it stayed dry?”
“Maybe. I’ll go look.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, keep looking for some candles. We will need those. And put on some warm clothes; your legs look like they are freezing.”
I looked down at my legs and noticed they were shivering all on their own. I could hardly feel them and hadn’t even noticed they were moving at all. As Declan went back outside, I went to the front door and opened my suitcase and pulled on a pair of leggings I had and a pair of jeans. My legs ached as the warmth of the fabric hugged them. I reached in and pulled out a sweater and exchanged my coat and dress for the large knit garment.
I spent the next 15 minutes looking through the rest of the kitchen and the back office that was tucked away in the corner, but I couldn’t find matches, a lighter, or candles. It was certainly warmer in the building than it was outside, but I could still see my breath as I exhaled loudly and looked around for some secret place that I’d forgotten about. Everything else was left in its place; surely they had to have candles or something to light a fire with.
“Declan, I can’t find anything,” I said as I walked into the great room.
But Declan wasn’t out there. He’d come back with a stack of firewood though, and it was sitting in front of the fire. I grabbed a few pieces and organized them in the fireplace and then placed the rest of the wood off to the side where I noticed a small metal box sitting. Sure enough, as I opened it I saw a large box of matches. We didn’t have candles, but at least we had what was needed to get the fire started. As handy as Declan was, I didn’t doubt he would have been able to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.
I grabbed the matches and struck one after another as I tried to light the wood on fire, but I needed some sort of kindling to get it going. Instead of waiting for Declan, I walked to the back porch to see if there was any residue of small wood chips that I could use for our fire. Unfortunately, everything was covered in snow and wet, so I knew it wouldn’t work to start the fire.
After I grabbed my coat inside, I went back out and followed Declan’s footprints down a steep hill toward what I suspected was the shed where he was getting the wood from. My feet slipped out from under me though, and I quickly slid down the hill and over a large drop that I hadn’t even seen.
I screamed out in pain as my ankle twisted when I hit the ground. There had been a small retaining wall and a drop that I couldn’t see through the blowing snow. Instead of walking down a pathway, I’d basically walked right off a 10-foot dropoff.
“Emmi, are you okay?” I heard Declan yell, but I couldn’t tell where he was.
“I am, but I’m pretty sure I messed up my ankle.”
“All that running around drunk and in heels but you hurt your ankle while you’re sober and in boots,” Declan said as he walked down the stairs toward me.
It was ridiculous how I had missed the stairs and walked right off the edge, embarrassing that I’d actually hurt myself in such a stupid manner. My ankle throbbed as I tried to move it. I was certain I’d broken it, and was doing the best I could not to cry. But the day had been long and filled with so many adventures that my system was totally overloaded, and I found myself in a stream of tears by the time Declan bent over to pick me up.
“I’m sorry,” I said with a wobbly voice. “I could probably walk if you just support me.”
“That’s silly, I’ll just carry you to the couch, and we can get the fire going. Maybe I can find a bag to pack some of this snow into so you can ice it.”
“There was an ice machine in the kitchen. Oh wait, there’s no electricity,” I said as I tried not to keep crying.
“It will be fine. Rest your head and let me get you inside.”
I didn’t have the strength to argue with him, and let my head rest on his chest as he walked back up the steps with ease. His thick arms wrapped under my body and supported my frame as if he was carrying something light, like a bag of groceries. My body relaxed knowing he had plenty of muscles to carry me and I didn’t have to worry about him dropping me.
He managed to get the back door opened and gently set me on the couch. Declan pulled the coffee table over and set my legs on it as he got to work on the fire.
“We need kindling; that’s why I went outside. I couldn’t get the fire started,” I said.
“Matches, where did you find them?”
“In that metal box right there.”
“Go figure. We look everywhere and they are just sitting here next to the fire. Any luck on the candles?”
“No, but I can go look while you do the fire.”
“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not moving from there at all.”
“Yes, sir,” I teasingly saluted him.
“I’m going to get this fire going, then I’ll have a look at that ankle.”
Declan grabbed a book off the shelf in the corner and brought it back to the fire. As he started ripping the pages out, I felt an unusual pain in my stomach. I never thought I’d be part of burning a book. I loved books. I loved old books. Owning a piece of history was special to me, and I hated that he was tearing the pages out to help get the fire started, but I didn’t hate it enough to say anything to him because I was also freezing.
He stuffed the crumpled paper under the wood, and I leaned forward so I could watch him start the fire. Declan looked like a man who had started many camping fires over the years and with one match, he had the thing going. The paper caught on fire and filled the room with light; it burned quickly, though, and Declan had to continue adding paper so the logs could get hot enough to catch on fire as well.
“I could have started it with just two sticks, but I didn’t want to show off too much,” he said with a wink as he stood in front of the large fireplace. “I’m going to get a plastic bag and some snow for your ankle. If we’re lucky, it’s just a sprain.”
My tears had dried up now, but I still had an uneasy feeling about myself. My hands were trembling, and my body felt eerily warm as Declan went outside to get some ice for my ankle. I leaned my head back and took some deep breaths as I tried to calm the dizziness that took over. My stomach was next as it rumbled as if I was going to vomit. I was definitely going to vomit.
I jumped up to find a bathroom, but quickly succumbed to the pain in my ankle and fell to the ground. My stomach clenched up, and I heaved on the finely woven carpet. My stomach clenched again, but nothing more came out.
“What happened?” Declan said as he came in the back door. “Are you okay? Did you just throw up?”
“I don’t know what happened. I was fine, then I noticed my hands shaking and got dizzy and tried to find a bathroom but my ankle hurt too much.”
“It adrenaline. Sometimes when you’re coming down from it, your body will freak out a little. You’ve had a lot of excitement for one day. Let’s get you to sleep.”
“I’m so sorry. Find me a towel and I’ll clean this up.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so, little lady. I’m putting you back on the couch and getting this snow on your ankle and bundling you up so you can sleep. Your body went through a lot with that cold and the fall.”
I decided not to argue with him. Declan was probably right. I had had enough excitement for one day. The fire wasn’t going to warm the entire room up very much, but if we slept close to it, we would be fairly comfortable for the evening. I couldn’t wait to get to sleep.
As I started to crawl back to the couch, Declan grabbed me and helped me back to my spot. He pushed the couch close to the fireplace, and then pulled the carpet out from under it in one swift pull.
“I’m just going to throw this in the other room for now. We can decide what to do with it later. Are you feeling any better? Do you need me to get a bucket?” he said with a smile.
Declan licked his lips subconsciously after he smiled and my body reacted. Warmth filled my center as I let my mind imagine what it was like to kiss him. He clearly was a nice guy, he was gallant and helpful, he was polite, he was handsome; suddenly I had to wonder what was wrong with the guy.
Sure, he had been a little pushy when we met. He was a tough guy to work for, but overall, he was the kind of man women flocked to. Yet he wasn’t married, he had no children, and he didn’t have a girlfriend from what I could tell. There had to be something wrong with him.
I narrowed my eyes on Declan as I tried to figure out what his fatal flaw was. I was no male expert, but I knew enough about men to know the bad ones from the good ones. Declan seemed to be one of the good guys.
“Why are you single?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
He laughed for a moment and then came and sat down next to me. He pressed his lips tightly together as he pondered the answer to my question. I waited impatiently to hear what this major flaw was that had prevented women from flocking to him.
The fire crackled and the light gleamed on our faces as we sat only a few feet away from the giant fireplace. The wind and snow had picked up quite a bit outside, and a small pile of snow was accumulating near the large back door.
“Who says I’m single?” he finally replied.
“Me. I say you are. I’ve seen your schedule and spent the last week with you. If there was a woman in your life, I’d have heard about her by now.”
“Maybe I like to keep her a secret,” he replied with a sly smile.
“So you do have a girlfriend?”
“No, I don’t. I’m too busy working for a relationship. I don’t need that sort of drama in my life.”
“Interesting,” I said as I ran my fingers along my chin. “So you equate a relationship with drama. Now I’m getting somewhere. Lay back on my couch and let’s begin this counseling session,” I joked.
“Not that all women cause drama. I just mean that I’ve got a busy life and it would be impossible for me to keep a woman entertained all the time.”
“So you need to entertain your women. They don’t have lives of their own to keep themselves busy?” I playfully asked. “I’m teasing, I’m teasing. I know what you mean.”
“I’ve had relationships. Some of them very good. But a relationship requires time and I usually don’t have much of that. Are there any other personal questions you’d like to ask?”
Declan playfully reached for my good ankle and rubbed it. His hand was shooting warmth up my thigh as my eyes shot up and made eye contact with his. Just as quickly as our eyes met, his hand retreated from my leg as if he had been doing something horribly wrong. It didn’t feel wrong. His hand on my body invigorated me, and I wanted it back there. Well, my primal urges wanted his hand back on me, but my brain was screaming that it was a bad idea.
“I should get some rest. Thanks for everything,” I said as I turned to my side and curled up to get warm.
“Yeah, thanks for almost killing you in a plane crash, getting you trapped in the freezing cold, and letting you hurt your ankle. I’m really the best,” he said sarcastically.
“Plane crash?”
“You slept through it, but our plane was jumping around like a 2-year-old. It was pretty damn scary. I couldn’t believe you stayed sleeping.”
“I drank a lot last night,” I said sheepishly.
“Yeah, I figured that when you showed up at my house barely able to stand up.”
I covered my face with my hands as that memory rushed back to me. How could I have thought it was a good idea to show up at my boss’s house in that condition? Then something else dawned on me: I’d asked him about being single when I was at his house, too. Oh, man, the embarrassment rushed over me, and I buried my head even further in my hands.
“Oh, I just remembered I asked you why you were single before, didn’t I?”
Declan smiled from ear to ear as he got up from the couch. He stood there for a minute as I waited for him to admit that I’d already grilled him about his love life before.
“You also told me I was handsome,” he winked. “I’m going to find us some blankets now.”
He turned and left the room before I could think of any sort of response. The embarrassment settled into my gut, and I let out a bit of a laugh at the idea. He sure was handsome; at least I told the truth when I was drunk.