Chapter 11
Declan
Emmi was right: it was impossible to wake her up after she had fallen asleep. But that whole morning hadn’t turned out like I’d expected it to at all. Rosa’s daughter was sick so she had to back out and the airplane was stuck in Seattle as it waited to refuel because of a delay up there. By the time the pilot called to say he was ready for us, it was nearly noon, and Emmi had been sound asleep the whole time.
“Emmi, we need to get going. The plane is ready,” I said as I tried to wake her up.
She groaned and rolled around on the couch, but I couldn’t get her to even open her eyes. Finally I decided to gather her up in my arms and carried her out to my Jeep. As I placed her in the passenger seat, I was sure she’d wake up from the glare of the afternoon sun, but she did not.
The daylight had warmed the seats and Emmi moaned as she readjusted herself to get comfortable. I waited for a moment to see if she’d open her eyes, but then decided to just keep us moving so we could get to the airport. The pilots didn’t care how long we took, but I personally hated being late. I had hoped we would arrive in Breckenridge with some daylight still to spare so we could get a good look at the property.
I pressed myself into the Jeep as I pulled the seatbelt across her lap and buckled her in. Still, she didn’t wake up. Surely the bumpy drive through the city to the airport would wake her up, but as we made our way weaving in and out of the side streets, Emmi still didn’t wake up. I had to smile at her level of deep sleep. I envied it. Sleep wasn’t something I got much of and I certainly couldn’t sleep while someone else was carrying me or driving me somewhere.
Finally, as we arrived at the airport, I had to wake her up so she could visit with the TSA official before boarding the jet. TSA officials were very lenient when it came to private jets and their passengers, but they did require the passenger to at least be awake and able to answer a few questions before getting onto the plane. The officials had to ensure I wasn’t kidnapping Emmi or something nefarious like that.
“Emmi,” I shook her gently as we parked outside the main private jet building. “Emmi, you really have to wake up or we can’t leave.”
She twisted and moved in her seat and then covered her eyes as she tried to open them. When the sun proved to be too brilliant for her, she resigned herself to sitting there with her eyes closed as she tried to figure out what was going on.
“What time is it?” she muttered as she pulled her dry lips apart. “Where are we?”
I quickly handed her a water bottle and let her sip on it while I opened the back of the Jeep. The airport staff were at my vehicle almost instantly and grabbed our bags to bring them in the building. I waited for Emmi to wake up enough to walk in with me and then helped her steady herself as we made our way into the building.
“Let’s just get inside,” I said as I unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her hand. “Do you think you can walk?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, although she still hadn’t opened her eyes. “Why is it so bright out? What time is it?” she asked again.
“It’s about noon. We really do need to get going. Watch your step.”
I guided her into the building and to a chair in front of the TSA officer. This wouldn’t take too much time, and then we’d be on our way to Breckenridge. The seats could lay flat on the plane, so Emmi could go right back to sleep if she wanted to.
“Is she alright?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes, she was out drinking all night. Here’s her identification,” I said as I opened her purse and handed it to him.
“Ma’am, have you been in possession of your luggage since it was packed?”
“What luggage?” she asked in total confusion.
“She didn’t pack her luggage. Her friend Jessica did and brought it to us. Feel free to look through it if you’d like.”
“I’ll glance at it in a second. Ma’am, do you feel well enough to fly?” the TSA officer asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. And if Jessica could have added to the luggage I packed, it’s fine too.”
We spent only five minutes in the office before they went through Emmi’s luggage and then allowed us to board the plane. Emmi finally opened her eyes as we walked across the paved tarmac and up the stairs to the waiting jet. She grabbed onto me and the handrail as we walked up the dozen or so stairs; besides being a little wobbly, she appeared to be functioning perfectly fine.
“Would you like anything to drink?” the male steward, Marvin, asked us as we slipped into the big reclining leather chairs.
“Orange juice and some Tylenol if you have it,” Emmi said.
She looked remarkably comfortable aboard the private jet. Most women I’d taken on jets spent the first half-hour saying how awesome it was. But Emmi had likely been on plenty of jets throughout her life. Even though she pushed away from her father and his wealth as she entered college, she’d been a regular with her father on his travels when she was young. I remembered Teddy talking about how much his daughter loved to travel with him to his projects.
“I’ll take an ice water, please,” I said to Marvin, the steward.
“Sorry I overslept. I hammered it a little hard last night. I don’t even remember how I got to your house.”
“Jessica dropped you off and then sent her car back over with a bag full of your things. She said to tell you she did the best she could with what you had.”
“Ha. Yeah, my style isn’t nearly as colorful as hers. I bet she was disappointed in my gray undertone of clothing.”
“Are you feeling a little better?” I asked.
Emmi had her eyes opened and was looking out the window as I sat across from her. Emmi looked like a picture from a magazine. She still had on her brilliant colored dress and heels as she crossed her legs and found some sunglasses from her purse.
“I’ll be alright. How long is the flight?”
“Only about three hours. You’re welcome to go back to sleep if you’d like. That seat will recline all the way.”
“I might do that. Hey, where’s Rosa? I thought she was coming on this trip with us?”
“She really needs to be coming,” I said with a ton of exasperation. “But her daughter is sick and she can’t. I’ve got her notes, and everything we need is in there. I think we can get the work done. Or at least well enough started until she can come out.”
“Sounds good,” Emmi said.
She looked beautiful as the sun radiated off her face and we moved toward the runway. Emmi was caught up watching the mechanics on the tarmac and the other service workers, and I was mesmerized watching her. Even after having a horrible morning, she looked refreshed, calm, and ready to take on the world.
Her demeanor was very laid back as the plane accelerated and lifted off the ground. There didn’t appear to be an ounce of anxiety over the process of flying. She gently placed her hand on her orange juice cup, threw her medication into her mouth, and then sipped her drink, all while continuing to look out at the ground below us.
“You’re staring at me,” she whispered as she gave me a sideway glance.
“Sorry,” I replied and pulled the newspaper out of my briefcase to read.
My eyes stayed glued on the newspaper as the urge to look up at Emmi built inside of me. First, my pulse quickened, and the throbbing in my fingertips made the newspaper hard to hold. Then my vision became blurry as I desperately tried to read the words in front of me when all I could think about was looking up at Emmi’s bare legs as I heard her adjusting in her seat. Finally, I couldn’t take it another moment and pulled the newspaper down a little so I could look at Emmi while I pretended to still be reading.
The smooth skin of her legs enticed me like a drug. I glanced at them quickly and then tried to read the paper for what seemed like forever, but I couldn’t avoid glancing at the milky white of her legs over and over again.
Emmi seemed oblivious to the fact that I was gawking at her. She sipped her drink and watched out the window before letting her head lie back in the chair. Soon she pushed the lever to recline her chair, and she drifted off to sleep without so much as a glance in my direction.
Her delicate nature on the plane was in such contrast to the woman I’d come to know over the last week. Instead of being fast paced and concerned with every detail, Emmi was relaxed and unconcerned with the details of our trip. Traveling suited her much more than being in an office. I was similar in how I enjoyed being outside the office so much more than I liked the day to day grind of meetings and paperwork.
I wasn’t a big plane sleeper and instead used my time to look over the renovation plans for the chalet. It was disappointing that the cost had shot up so much. The original designs were exciting and innovative. The theme concept was exactly what I’d hoped for, and I wasn’t exactly ready to give up on that idea yet.
As the plane descended into the small airport near Breckenridge, the turbulence was massive. One large bump had me leaving my seat and thrust into the air. I quickly reached over and buckled Emmi into her seat and then sat next to her and put my own seatbelt on. I’d never flown directly into this small airport, and I was quickly realizing why we had always gone to Denver. The descent was steep with mountains on either side of us; my nerves were raw as fear rushed through me.
“Everything alright?” I asked the steward as I noticed he was buckling himself into his seat as well.
“Hope so,” he said without even a glint of a smile to show he was joking.
“There’s a storm coming, the wind is picking up, but we should be on the ground in five minutes. Keep your seatbelts fastened,” the pilot said over the speaker.
I looked over at Emmi, expecting that she’d be awake due to the pilot talking so loudly, but she didn’t appear dazed at all. She was still reclined and peacefully sleeping as our plan pulsed up and down through the air. Each time a gust of wind took a hold of us and thrust us up, I looked toward Marvin to see how he was reacting. As long as he remained calm, I could remain calm; but the second I saw panic on his face, I was sure I would also panic.
The mountains looked like they were only feet away from the wings of the plane as we got closer and closer to the ground. I tried closing my eyes to see if I could tough out the flight that way, but I couldn’t keep them closed. Instead, I found myself staring out the window and watching the tips of the trees zoom past us as we got near the ground.
“Maybe we should have flown into Denver,” I said with a grin.
Marvin gave me a death stare that could have killed me. It had been recommended that we fly into Denver and then take a helicopter to the mountains, but I pushed them to fly directly there. We were already running so late, and I didn’t want to waste a whole day traveling. The pilot insisted he could do it and even suggested it would be easy, which was clearly a lie. If the pilot had said he wasn’t comfortable with the itinerary, I would have agreed to whatever changes they saw fit.
The plane continued to press forward as the nose dove toward the ground in what I could only assume was a necessary decent to get away from the turbulent air pocket we were in. As we approached the small airport, the pilot leveled out the plane, and before we could breathe out in relief, the plane made contact with the ground. The wing flaps thrust up in the air and the small jet was forced to slow down. I lurched forward from the momentum and instinctively put my arm across Emmi as she jolted away.
“What the heck,” she said as she was finally awoken by the forceful deceleration of the plane.
“Just landing.”
“Wow, that was rough.”
Marvin and I locked eyes, and he shook his head in disbelief, as did I. It was a definite talent that Emmi had to sleep through almost anything.
“Yeah, it was a little rough,” I said with a grin. “Are you feeling a little better?”
Emmi looked out the window and took in the snowy scenery as she seemed to be assessing herself to see if she was feeling better or now. Her eyes looked more connected when she turned back toward me, and she certainly looked like she was feeling better.
“Actually, I feel pretty damn good. Maybe a whole day of sleeping was just what I needed. Do I have any warm clothes with me?” she said with a shiver as her hands rubbed up and down her arms to warm herself.
“Oh, yes. Your friend brought some, but take my coat for right now.” I slid off my blazer and set it on her lap. “We can have them bring your bag in here so you can change before we head to the resort.”
“Where are we staying?”
“Shit!” Suddenly I realized another thing that Margery had always done for me: made my hotel reservations. “I forgot to reserve a room. I’ll just call around and see where we can stay.”
“Mr. McMillan,” a young man said as he boarded our plane. “I’m Walter Friender with the airport. I just wanted to welcome you to Breckenridge,” he said as he extended his hand.
It was highly unusual that anyone from the airport would board our plane to talk to me so quickly. The only thing I could think of was there had to be a problem. The pilot must have thought the same thing as he opened his cabin door to see what was going on.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“No sir, but there is a storm coming. I advise if your flight crew has the necessary fuel they should take off right away and head to Denver where the plane can be put in a hangar and the crew can be accommodated.” He turned toward the pilot. “Do you have enough fuel?”
“Yes, sir. When’s the storm hitting?”
“Within the hour. If you head right back to the runway, you won’t need deicing though; that’s why I hurried out here.”
“Thank you,” I said as I grabbed my things. “You two get going. We will be fine here. As soon as the storm clears, I’ll have a helicopter take us to Denver, and we can fly out from there.”
“Sir, I’m not sure when a chopper could land…” Walter started to say. “But no worries; we will get you to Denver.”
I grabbed Emmi’s hand and we quickly got off the plane so they could head to Denver before the storm hit. There was no use risking damage to the airplane when we could get it to somewhere safe.
The cold air was compounded by the high winds as we were handed our bags and rushed into the main building. I could hardly draw in a full breath because the air was so cold. It was painful to try to breathe and all three of us felt it as the building door closed behind us.
“I need clothes,” Emmi said as she quickly started to open her bag. “I think I might put all of these on,” she laughed.
“Where are you staying? I will have one of my staff get you to the resort before the storm hits,” Walter asked.
“Actually, we need to book a place still.”
The look on his face instantly went from ‘polite nice-guy’ to ‘oh no’ and my stomach sank just as quickly. There was clearly a huge winter storm on its way, and I imagined there were a lot of people buying up the hotel rooms, but surely a man with my sort of money could find an empty room somewhere in the city.
“There is nothing open. I mean, we could call around and find you something, but it will take time, and the storm is almost here. Um, I’m not sure…” he trailed off as his hand ran through his hair and the panic of the moment set in. “You could come to my apartment,” he offered.
“Actually, do you know where the old ski chalet is? I’ve purchased it and will be remodeling it for a resort. I’m sure we could just stay there.”
“The ski chalet? It’s abandoned. I don’t think there is heat there.”
“There are ten working fireplaces,” Emmi added. “I’m sure we can get those up and running and we will be fine until the morning. Do you think we will be able to find a room to stay in tomorrow?”
“Um, I will find you something by tomorrow. I promise,” he said.
“Then take us to the chalet. Emmi and I are going to light some fires,” I said as I pulled my coat out of my bag so I didn’t have to wear his. “We better hurry though; I’d like to have a little time to get the wood we need pulled into the building.”
“No worries about the wood. There is a back deck that has a ton of it. It’s covered and dry. I used to work out there when it was a running chalet.”
“Okay then, sounds good. Can you have someone take us there?”
“Certainly, and I’ll come by tomorrow with a more suitable place lined up for you. It’s very exciting that you’ll be remodeling that place. It was by far the coolest resort in town before it grew so old and outdated. I’ll radio to get you a driver. Just wait by that door, and he will pull up soon.”
We did as we were told and waited by the sliding glass door near the front of the building. The ominous, dark sky looked more like tornado weather than a snow storm, but with the level of winds that were brewing, who knew what exactly we were in store for.
Emmi stood with me all bundled up and texting on her phone. She looked laid back and relaxed, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. There weren’t many women I knew who would have taken similar circumstances so coolly. It was a credit to her and probably her upbringing that the events of our evening weren’t at all distracting to her. She noticed that I was watching her sending a text message and playfully hid her phone from me.
“I’m just reassuring my father that we landed and everything is going perfectly.”
“Oh, Teddy messaged you?”
“No, I’m not exactly sure where he is, but I know how he worries. The second he hears about this storm and that we are here, he will be worried out of his mind. So this way I head off all that exaggerated fatherly panic,” she said with a girlish smile.
“Man, you really do have him wrapped around that pinky of yours.”
“I do,” she smirked.
“Well, I wasn’t really going to tell him that it was just you and I alone, so if you want to leave that part off of your text, that would be great.”
Emmi turned her head to the side as if she had caught me in the midst of a horrible lie. It wasn’t a horrible lie; Rosa was supposed to have come along with us. It wasn’t my fault that her child was sick. I hadn’t purposely planned to be alone with Emmi, and I certainly wasn’t doing anything unprofessional with her. But Teddy might not have thought my intentions were as pure, so I just didn’t want him to worry if there was no reason to worry.
“What?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want him getting the wrong idea.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell him that you carried me drunk and half unconscious onto your plane and flew me to Colorado without Rosa,” she teased.
“What?” I said in total shock. “I’ve been very chivalrous.”
Emmi was obviously cold as she rubbed her hands together and then ran them up and down her legs as we waited. She didn’t complain about the freezing weather though, and instead just did her best to warm up her exposed skin. Even inside the building, it was freezing, so I wasn’t looking forward to how cold the old chalet was going to be when we arrived.
“Who knows how you’ve behaved; I’ve been unconscious,” she continued to tease.
“Oh, man, you’re trouble.”
“No way. You’re trouble,” she joked as we saw the car pull up. “I’ll race you out there.”
Emmi grabbed her bag and ran out to the car in her heels and skirt faster than I knew any woman could run in those shoes. Her big winter coat was zipped up tight around her neck, but she turned back and smiled playfully at me as she climbed into the waiting car.
I moved a little more casually as I walked to the trunk and set my bag inside before sliding into the front seat with the driver. He wasn’t exactly a hired taxi, and I thought it would seem weird if both Emmi and I had sat in the back seat together. Plus, the way she was shivering and running her fingers up and down her legs was driving me crazy.
The wind blew the newly fallen snow around the roads. It was clearly getting more and more dangerous on the roads. While we drove to the chalet, there were only a few other vehicles out, and they all looked to be in a hurry to get wherever they were going.
“How long is this storm supposed to last?” Emmi asked through her chattering teeth.
“I’m not sure, ma’am. I plan to try and make it to work in the morning though. But you just can’t tell what the weather is going to do when it hits the mountains. Even our meteorologists don’t know half of the time.”
“That is a strange job of guessing,” Emmi said.
“What are the best resorts near the chalet?” I ventured to ask as I tried to get some information for our project.
“I think the Hilton is probably the best in the area. They wouldn’t be your competition if you are renovating the chalet though,” the driver said.
“Why not?”
“Just families on vacation staying there. The chalet seems like it would be renovated into more of a five-star retreat; am I right?”
He was a quick-witted kid and right on the nose. We knew the Hilton was our biggest rival in the area, but we weren’t going to compete with them with the chalet. The high-end clientele we were shooting for were the type that would normally rent a private house in the area, not stay at a large chain hotel. But we were also building a large hotel; at least that was our original plan. It would be in direct completion with the Hilton and certainly needed to be different enough to lure those patrons away from their value cards and frequent stay bonuses that Hilton was known for.
“Shit!” our driver said as he stopped in the middle of the road and looked up a long driveway to the chalet. “It hasn’t been cleared from the last snow. I’m not going to be able to get up there.”
“Man, yeah. That’s not going to work,” I said as I looked up at the resort and tried to figure out what we should do next.
We sat at the bottom of the hill for a good five minutes as our driver sent a few text messages and I tried to think through the problem. I might just have to take the airport manager up on his offer to let us stay at his place through the night.
“Are these your boots?” Emmi asked from the backseat.
“No, just extra’s we keep in the vehicle.”
“Mind if I borrow them?” she asked.
“Sure, they are all yours.”
“Okay, grab the bags, Declan,” Emmi said as she opened the back door and climbed out of the vehicle. “I’ll race you up there,” she yelled as she started to run up the hill. Her big coat was zipped up around her face and her colorful dress peeking out from under it. Her legs had to be freezing.
“I better get going I guess,” I laughed as the driver and I both got out, and I pulled out suitcases out and started the trek up the hill.
“Hurry up,” Emmi yelled. “My nipples are going to freeze right off if I’m out here another minute.”
“Well, I can’t be responsible for that!” I said as I picked up the pace and hustled to the top of the hill.
Chapter 12
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 slow poke; 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 ten 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 fifteen 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 doubted 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 as 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 ten-foot drop off.
“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 quiet a bid 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 relationship. 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 two-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’ 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.