The water reflected the mountains, snow covered and majestic. Late afternoon sunlight nearly blinded Jace from the snow glare as he stood on his deck, lacing up his snowshoes. It was 38 degrees and dropping rapidly. While the sky was a cloudless blue at the moment, the forecast called for more snow coming in tonight. He wasn't real happy about heading out into the woods, but he knew that woman wouldn't last long with weather heading in and the temperature dropping.
Jace had seen her uptown, earlier in the day. He was buying groceries since the forecast was for more snow and he wasn't sure when he'd get back out. She was buying lunch at the deli counter and asking about hiking trails. Said she was new in town and just wanted to get out and explore. Jan, the deli lady and store owner, told her where she could find a couple of trails, but warned her to get back early.
"They're forecasting more snow," Jan said. "And when we get snow here, honey, we get SNOW!"
The woman laughed as she looked out the window at the bright blue sky. "Snow? You're pulling my leg, right?" She turned and saw Jace. "She IS pulling my leg?"
Jace smiled and stuck out his hand. "Jace Whitcomb. And, no, ma'am. She's not pulling your leg. In this part of the world, when they say snow, they mean it. They're predicting a foot by morning, last I heard."
The woman raised her eyebrows. "I'm Melissa Tanner. Originally from Arkansas, but hoping to find a place around here. Thanks for the warning." She smiled at Jace and didn't pull away as he held her hand just a bit too long. Then she turned back to Jan. "I'll definitely make sure I'm back in my hotel room before snow starts flying." She gave Jace another smile as she walked out the door with her lunch. He watched to see which trail she was going to take. Just in case.
Jace shook his head. He'd worried about her ever since he got home, and then he'd gotten the call about 10 minutes ago. Jan also ran the hotel and was worried because Ms. Arkansas wasn't back yet.
"It's after 5, Jace. She seems pretty smart. I think she would've watched to make sure she made it back by now. It gets dark so early. Plus it's getting colder. Can you…?"
The trail she'd taken made its way over to Jace's neck of the woods and towards the mountains. As a matter of fact, during the summer months, he often walked to town that way. It was much closer than driving the roads.
Jace stuck his head back in the door. "Muffin, I'm going to find that woman. If it starts snowing while I'm out, I'll probably just bring her back here. Keep the fire going, okay?"
Muffin, his old gray cat, looked up at him from her nest on the sofa. She winked her eyes at him and then lowered her head and went back to sleep.
Jace shut the door and muttered to himself, "I have to quit talking to that cat. Anyone hears me, they'll put me away for good."
He circled the lake and headed off into the woods. He was making good time when he realized the snow tickling his face was new snow, not falling out of the trees as it had been when he'd first started out. He picked up the pace, wanting to reach the junction where his trail intersected with the one from town. He was hoping to be able to tell where she'd gotten by her footprints, but the way the snow was coming down, any tracks she may have left would soon be covered over.
Ten minutes later, Jace reached the junction and could faintly see one set of footprints heading up towards the mountains. There were no return tracks.
"Silly woman," he muttered to himself. "What's she thinking? She's probably panicking now with the new snow falling. I hope she can see well enough to stay on the path. If she gets lost in these woods now, I don't know if we'll ever find her… At least, not before she freezes to death."
The snow began to fall heavier, making it almost impossible to see ahead. Without snowshoes, Jace wasn't sure he could make it. And he knew Melissa, in her city style hiking boots, had to be struggling to get back down the path. If she were even able to see the path. He was hoping against hope that she would just stay put if she had trouble seeing which way the path went.
Half an hour later, he was exhausted – and he still hadn't found her. As often as he had taken this trail, he was having trouble staying on it. The wind and the snow were merciless. He tried calling her name, but the wind whipped his words right back into his mouth. Jace refused to give up. Little Miss Arkansas had made an impression on him, as much as he might grumble about being out here. He had seriously considered heading up the trail when he returned home, hoping to run into her. Even though she'd seem just as interested in him as he was in her, he was afraid she'd think he was pushy or forward and didn't want to take a chance on alienating her. The tall woman with the dazzling smile, sparkling hazel eyes and long brown hair that shone with a hint of red gold in the afternoon sun, had fired a spark Jace hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Looking for me?" a voice asked to his left. He had been so deep in thought – and the visibility was so poor – he'd nearly passed her by.
"Taking a break?" he asked. Melissa sat on a fallen tree at the side of the trail. Her left leg was stuck out straight in front of her, elevated on the log. He was afraid to ask.
"I don't think it's broke, but I can't walk on it," she said, breathing heavily. "I've been hopping along the trail for the last half hour – and I had to take a break."
Jace bent over to take a look at her leg, above the hiking boot. It wasn't swollen as badly over the top of the boot as he feared – he figured she was probably right. It was just a bad sprain.
"Feel up to heading out?" Jace asked. Her breathing had evened out, so he figured they ought to get started. "We'll head for my place – it's about an hour and a half away.
You can lean on me, and we'll stop whenever you need to, but we need to get under cover before dark really hits."
"Sure. Just give me a hand up." Melissa winced as she got to her feet. After getting situated, with Melissa at Jace's right so her foot would be halfway protected, they headed out.
Talking was out of the question. The wind was getting worse and the snow was rapidly growing deeper. It took all Jace's strength to hold her up and keep moving. It seemed they had been walking for hours when a light appeared faintly in the distance.
As they walked out of the woods by the lake's edge, Jace felt Melissa's weight fall more heavily against him.
"Need to stop?" he yelled. "That's my house. We're almost home."
Not sensing a response from her, he bent over for a closer look at Melissa's face. Her eyes were closed. Jace quickly picked her up and began moving as fast as he could for the cabin.
He kicked the sliding door on the deck open and walked inside. "Hey, Muffin, you kept the fire going. Good."
"What?" he heard Melissa mumble as she slowly opened her eyes.
Muffin had jumped down from the couch as Jace walked in, so he laid Melissa down and began to undo her boot.
"Were you talking to someone?" Melissa glanced around the room as she began undoing her coat.
"Yeah, just my roommate. Your ankle doesn't look that bad, fortunately. Not sure when we'd be able to get out if you had broken it."
Melissa was still looking around the cabin. Jace figured she was trying to figure out where his roommate was.
"I'll get you some sweatpants and something to change into," Jace said as he headed for his bedroom. He came back with the promised sweatpants, a tshirt, a flannel shirt and some socks. Laying them on her lap, he then bent over and picked her up.
"What are you doing?"
"Carrying you to the bathroom. Thought you'd probably like to freshen up." He stood her up at the bathroom door. "You just holler if you need anything," he said, wiggling his eyebrows and leering at her.
Melissa laughed and punched him. "Your friend's awful quiet. You sure she won't mind my being here?"
Jace kept a straight face, but it was hard. "Naw, she won't mind. She'll probably like having another female around." He headed for the kitchen area. "You hungry? You should probably eat. I can heat up some stew…"
"Sounds good," Melissa said as she shut the bathroom door.
Muffin was sitting in her spot on "her" kitchen stool, overseeing dinner preparations. "Hmm. Do you think she likes onions?" Muffin yawned. "Is that a yes or a no? You need to be a bit more specific."
The gray cat jumped down from the stool and walked over to Melissa, leaning in the doorway. Jace turned. "Hey. You should've called. I'd've helped you to the couch."
"Oh, that's okay." She hopped to the counter and stood beside him. "I like onions."
"Good." Considering he'd already cut them up and put them in.
"Your roommate is the cat, right?"
Jace cleared his throat. "Ummm, yeah."
"And now, me."
"Yeah."
Jace eyed her speculatively as she hopped up on the counter, being careful not to bang her foot.
"How long do you think we'll be snowed in?" Melissa asked as she leaned over towards him.
"Depending on the amount of snow, could be a week. Maybe two." Jace met her eyes. "You need to be somewhere?"
"No." Melissa slipped her arms around his neck. "I think I'm right where I need to be."