Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella) (2 page)

“Mind if I listen to the hockey game?”

Katie was pretty sure that was code for
I don’t want to make small talk with you anymore
. “No. Go ahead.”
 

After a few minutes listening to the drone of hockey coverage, she slipped in her ear buds and turned on her music. She’d stayed up half the night studying for her Stats exam. She leaned her head back, used her coat for a pillow and closed her eyes.

~
 
~
 
~

Alex glanced over and smiled at his sleeping passenger. Her ear buds had fallen out and her head lolled to the side, her mouth open. She must be really tired to sleep through the first two periods of the hockey game.

Katie looked like a typical freshman, young and clueless. The newness of college hadn’t worn off yet. She was eager, nervous and clearly driven. Not that he was so old and worldly in his sophomore year, but the past seven months had put him through hell and back.
 

He glanced at Katie again. Her long lashes lay against her rosy cheeks like butterfly wings. She didn’t wear much make-up, and he liked that.
 

His cell phone rang and he quickly grabbed it to avoid waking Katie.

“Hello,” he said quietly.

“Please tell me you’re almost here.”

He frowned at the annoyingly familiar voice. “Not even close.”

“But I told my mom you’d be here in time for dinner.”

He sighed. “Trina, I told you I wouldn’t get there in time to eat and that I was staying home tonight. I just finished my last final this morning. I need a break.”

“Well, I don’t. I haven’t seen you since Thanksgiving and then my Grandma died and messed up the whole weekend.”

Alex couldn’t believe he had ever agreed to marry her; granted, she’d tricked him into it, but he’d remedy that situation soon. This time he wouldn’t let Trina derail him when he tried to break it off. Their relationship had gone on far too long and for all the wrong reasons.
 

“I’ll be over in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. You and I need to talk,” he said.

“Are you transferring up here? Oh my god! That would be the best Christmas gift ever.”

“No, I’m not transferring. I’m staying in Madison.” She knew why he wanted to talk and kept deluding herself that it wasn’t to break up.

“I hate Madison. Ever since you got there, you’ve changed. Suddenly you want all different things.” Her whiney tone grated like nails on a chalkboard.

Getting out of Ashland was the best thing he ever did. It opened his eyes to all life had to offer.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Trina changed topics faster than musicians changed keys. “I was at the mall today and saw a super cute white coat with a fur-lined hood. It was on hold for someone at the check-out counter. The ugly clerk with a big nose said it was the only one left and I couldn’t have it.”
 

Alex knew without hearing another word that Trina had bullied the poor clerk into selling it to her.

“But I made her sell it to me! I can’t wait for you to see it! It’s amazing!”

After an awkward silence, Trina’s incessant chatter continued. “So what did you get me?”

“Trina, let’s talk tomorrow. Are your mom and dad going to be around?”

“Why? Oh my god! You want to set a date!” She squealed into the phone and Alex wished he could crush the damn thing to pieces. “I am totally coming over tonight to wait for you at your parents.”

“No. I don’t want to set a date and don’t come over! Listen, I won’t be home till late, I’ve got to drop off…” he glanced at Katie. “…a friend.”

“Not fair.” Trina’s voice turned pouty. “But you have to come over on Christmas Day. I told my mom you were spending the entire day with me. She wants me to help cook dinner. If you’re there, I won’t have to.”

Alex sighed. “You know I can’t do that. I always help serve dinner at the senior center on Christmas Day.”

Katie stirred and opened her eyes. The instant she saw Alex, she sat up and looked straight ahead.

“Listen, I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon.” He hung up before Trina could argue or coerce him into promising something he couldn’t deliver.

Chapter 2

Katie yawned and stretched.

He slid the phone into his cup holder. “Have a good nap?”
 

“Yeah, I was really out.” She blinked a couple times. “How long did I sleep?”

“Over an hour and a half. You must have been really tired. That, or you don’t like hockey.” He saw the corners of her mouth curl. “You don’t like hockey? No way! I’m gonna have to pull over and kick you out.”

Her eyes widened for an instant and then a smile transformed her pretty face. She turned in her seat to face him. “I’m sorry. I can’t follow hockey. I went to a game once, and they spent the whole time skating around and around and then, out of the blue, someone tries to shoot a goal. It happened so fast, I never even saw it.”

“That’s because you’re supposed to pay close attention.”

“And there’s the crux of the problem.”

“The crux?” He tilted his head in question.

“Yes, the crux.”

“Do you even know what that means?” He laughed and watched her forehead crinkle.

“It means—you know—the point of the problem, the center of the problem. I don’t know. It’s just a word,” she said, flustered.

Alex eyed the traffic, grinning. He enjoyed rattling her cage. She was an easy mark. “We’re coming up on an exit. I’m gonna gas up. Want something to eat or a bathroom break?”

“Yeah. I’m starved.”

He turned on his blinker and exited the highway.

Back on the highway with a full tank, empty bladder and hot food, Katie dug into her burger and bag of Cheetos. Alex tried to drive and take his cheeseburger apart at the same time.

“Can I help with that?” she offered between bites.

“I can get it.” He kept looking at the road and back to the burger lying on top of the bag.

“What are you trying to do?” She watched as he made a mess of his burger.

“I’m trying to put two onion rings in there and the bun on top.”

“Here, let me help.” She reached over, added the second onion ring and put the bun lid back on.
 

“Thank you.” He picked up the over-sized burger and took a bite.

“I’ve never seen someone put onion rings on a burger.”

“You should try it. It’s great,” he said, chewing.

“I’ll have to do that some time.”

“Try it now. There’s plenty. Help yourself.” He gestured to the onion rings with his burger hand.

“Okay.” She added an onion ring and put the bun back.

“No, you gotta add two, for maximum crunch.”

She shook her head and added another, then squeezed the bun down and took a bite.
 

“Well?”

She nodded and kept chewing. She covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s good.”

“See. Stick with me and you’ll learn all kinds of things.”

If only.
She couldn’t begin to imagine hanging out with Alex, a totally hot, already-spoken-for guy.

They ate in comfortable silence, except for the country music station Alex tuned in. The greasy food tasted great, but she longed for her mom’s home cooking. Or would it be Tom’s cooking? That thought put a pit in her stomach.

“How do you like Madison?” Alex asked.

“I love it. I’m not real partial to walking up Bascom Hill to get to classes, but otherwise, it’s great.”

“That hill is a beast.”

Katie’s phone rang. She wiped her fingers on a napkin, checked the display, and answered. “What’s up?”

“Hi, honey. Just checking in to see what your ETA is.”

“Mom, you’re calling to make sure we’re not in the ditch somewhere or wrapped around a telephone pole.” She looked at Alex and rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t put it that dramatically, but yes, I wanted to make sure you’re safe and well on your way.”

“Yes and yes,” she snapped, a little more severely than she meant to.

“Good. Where are you now?”

“Alex, my mother would like to know our exact location at this moment.”

“Katie, you don’t need to tell him I asked,” her mother said.

Alex chuckled. “We just passed Wausau. I’d say another couple hours.”

“Did you hear that?” Katie said to her mom.

“Thank you. You should know that it’s already snowing here and accumulating pretty fast. Tom says you’re going to run into snow soon, so be extra careful.”

“Yes, Mom.” Katie wanted to tell Tom what he could do with his snow.

“Katie, I’m serious.”

She turned in her seat. “Alex, my mother wants you to know that it’s snowing up north, and
Tom
says that we’ll be heading into snow soon. You need to drive extra careful. She’s serious.”

“Got it,” he answered, amused.

“Clearly, you aren’t ready to talk reasonably to me.” Her mother sounded irritated, which Katie didn’t mind.

Katie responded in a bright cheery voice. “Okay, sounds good. See you soon.” She quick hung up. She knew she should feel bad about it, but her mother brought it on herself by keeping Katie in the dark about the separation. Her mom only wanted to talk when it wasn’t about their family disaster. Why was this strange guy so important that Katie was forced to drive through a snowstorm to share Christmas with him?

She shoved the phone to the bottom of her purse where she wouldn’t hear it ring.
 

“So, who’s Tom?”
 
Alex asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got nothing but wide open highway.” Some sappy country song about a guy and his dog came on the radio.

“I don’t really know. My mom says she isn’t dating him, but she’s making us haul ass up to Crystal River to spend Christmas with him, and we’ve never even met.”

“And I take it you don’t want to meet him.”

“No. I don’t.”

“So, your parents are divorced?”

“That’s an excellent question. I don’t think so, but things are moving so fast, who knows.” Neither of her parents would talk about it. They kept giving her a bunch of bullshit about still loving the kids, just needing change in their lives or new air or some other crap.

“Let me guess. This is your first Christmas with your parents separated.”

“You got it.”

“That sucks.” Alex frowned.

“Big time.”

They rode in amiable silence and listened to Alex’s country music. A half hour later, flurries started, and within a few minutes, the fine, light snow changed into large, heavy flakes that whipped past the windshield.
 

“Here it comes.” Alex slid his soda back in the cup holder and sat a little straighter as he focused through reduced visibility.
 

Katie pulled her legs under her and watched the snow fly, glad the roads were still clear. “It’s about time we had a white Christmas.” There was something exciting about a big snowfall. The last few years, heavy snows had been few and far between. But now the wind spun the snow wildly in sheets and waves like water in an angry sea.

“My brother, Jason, has got to be loving this. He’ll have his plow rigged and ready to go. He’s like a little kid when it comes to snow,” Alex said.

“He drives a truck too?”

Alex tilted his head and the corner of his mouth lifted. His eyes sparkled as he grinned in a way she could only describe as sexy. “Up north, everybody drives a truck.”

Katie liked this lighter side of Alex. He’d seemed polite but preoccupied earlier, especially after his phone call.
 

“Jason will be chomping at the bit to get out there to plow and pull cars out of the ditch. This is the best Christmas gift he could ask for.”

She bet Alex liked the snow just as much as his brother. “And what do you want for Christmas?”

He glanced at her and then back to the road. The snow began to accumulate. He huffed. “Me? I want a new life.” He raked a hand through his hair and stared at the swirling white stuff.

Katie wondered, did he mean he couldn’t wait to get married? He looked lost in his thoughts as he cruised on.
 

He might want a new life, but more than anything, Katie wanted her old life back. New wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She wanted to spend the holidays and winter break in her old house, with both her parents and her little sister, Nichole. No new people being forced upon her.
 

The radio station crackled. Alex glanced over. “Want to find a new station?”

“Sure.” She reached over his coat and backpack to adjust the dials. She noticed how good he smelled, like aftershave or maybe really good deodorant.

“You’re not going to find much this far north. You might get a station out of Minocqua or Park Falls.”