Snow Kissed

Chapter 16

My feet planted into the snow, my eyes straight ahead. I stood frozen in that pose, till he broke me out of it.

“Amy?”

I turned slowly to face him. Ninety-nine percent sure he was insane.

He shifted his weight. “I'm sorry to have to say it like this.”

I lifted an eyebrow at his apology. “You're sorry?”

He winced, his nicely angled jaw moving with the flinch.

“Ean...” I was about to chew him left, right, and center for his stupidity. No one loved someone after a few days, it was crazy!

He swallowed as he waited. I opened my mouth and then the angels sung--

“Amy Black!”

I spun around and squinted up the road to where Elizabeth Saltz stood at the top of the hill, waving her arms like a mad woman.

I smiled at the joy her presence brought me, sanctity away from my own emotions.

She squealed with excitement. “Get up here! What are you doing?”

“Coming!” I turned back to Ean. “Can you drive me up there?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jumping into the vehicle, we drove up the snow and ice towards my best friend in a thick silence. At the top of the hill and nearing Beth, I rolled the window down to face my friend.

“I thought you were dead!” She exclaimed and even if she said it with a smile on her face, I knew a part of her had been serious.

“No, I'm very alive.” Though, I now wished I was dead.

She leaned into the vehicle and smiled at Ean. “Hello. I'm Beth!”

He gave my best friend a curt nod and I spoke for him. “This is Ean Hunter.”

“Oh my god!” Beth's eyes bugged from her beautiful face. “You saved Amy, right?”

“I wouldn't go straight to saving,” I mumbled.

Ean glanced at me and sighed.

“Well, we appreciate it! Amy always gets herself in a knot.”

“I do not!” I hissed at her.

She brushed me off like she usually did. “Okay, let's all go inside. It's way too cold! Follow me!” She jogged to the third nestled cabin of big, luxurious logs, nothing less than I would have expected from an Elizabeth Saltz vacation spot.

The driveway we pulled up to had four vehicles, two of which I recognized. The truck rolled to a jerking end and I caught myself on the dash, giving him a heated glare.

“Well, thanks for everything, Ean,” I said between tight lips.

He creased his brow. “That's all you have to say to me?”

I shrugged as Elizabeth opened my door with impatience. Maybe he was right earlier, maybe letting us hate each other would make it all easier.

“Are you guys coming in or what?”

I looked at her and blinked. “What? No, Ean needs to get back--”

Ean snapped the key in the ignition and the truck shut off; I stopped and stared at him. What did he think he was doing! As I went to ream him out, Beth grabbed me and dragged me up the stone steps to the massive front door. She opened it and the only thing not chilling about the experience was the blast of warm air that hit me.

“Amy's alive!” My best friend screamed into the house.

Ean came up behind me, his breath etching along my neck and making me goosebump. I stepped inside the cabin to put some distance between up and stepped right into a large living room and there was, much to my displeasure, people. Five, I counted in my head.

“Amy!” Steve, Elizabeth's middle aged balding husband, appeared from a back room with scotch in hand.

“Hi.” I cringed as everyone greeted me; once they died down I started ripping my boots from my feet.

Ean still behind me, I took this opportunity to chew him out.

“What are you doing in here?”

“She invited me in,” He said between stripping his boots and coat.

“Out of politeness! You shouldn't be in here.”

Beth turned to us and then next thing I knew I was sitting on a couch with a wine glass. Ean, of course, beside me as that is where he'd been put.

We must have appeared so awkward, sitting stiffly next to one another, annoyed expressions to match.

“And this is Ean, he saved Amy,” Elizabeth ended the introductions.

I stared at her, my best friend, unknowingly driving a stake through my heart.

A slender blonde man with a nice cut back walked over, he had an excellent set of teeth that he showed off with his broad smile. “Glad you're okay. Must have been scary.”

“Oh yeah,” I grumbled, sipping my wine. “Terrifying.”

“I'm Mark.”

He waited as I slowly realized there was more to our conversation he expected. What did he want an award for having a name?

Ean practically chugged his beer next to me, and I scolded him with my eyes as he finished the can of alcohol.

After his display of drinking, Mike stepped between our touching knees and said, “Hey, man, do you mind?”

Ean moved three feet on the couch and my bulged from the way he abandoned me.

“So...” Mark put his arm on the back of the sofa near my shoulder. “Merry Christmas.”

“Thank you,” I said in my most bored voice.

Ean shot to his feet, walking into the kitchen and not looking back. I almost followed and called after him, like he equalled safety but stopped myself.

Mark smiled. “Must have been weird being stuck with that lumberjack in the middle of nowhere.”

I stood suddenly, insulted. “Yeah, it was a trip, that's for sure. Excuse me.” I walked towards the kitchen as Elizabeth snatched me into an adjoining powder room, locking the door before I had a chance to protest.

“Hey!”

She came to me. “Oh my god, he's so hot!”

“What?” I blinked at her, Mark wasn't that hot, but this was typical of her, trying to set me up with every walking penis there was.

“Ean!” she exclaimed.

Oh, right, of course, she's talking about Bushman. I drowned my sorrows by drinking.

“Amy!” She grabbed my glass, wine spilling all over Ean Hunter's flannel.

“Elizabeth!”

“Oops.” She turned on the tap and grabbed an available hand towel.

“How much have you had to drink?” I hissed as she tried to clean the wine off me. “Okay...okay...” I fought the cloth from her. “I can do it, Beth. I can do it!”

She giggled and stepped back. “By the way, that's a very rustic look for you to be sporting.”

“It's Ean's... I had no clothes.” I grumbled, still spot cleaning the wine from the flannel.

“No clothes?” She smiled at me.

My eyes snapped to hers from her sleazy new tone.

“He's so hot, Amy. Bet I can get him to stay the night.” She winked.

But little did Elizabeth Saltz know...

“No, don't say a thing to him. I'm serious, Beth.”

She held up her hands and made a face. “Okay, okay... Yesh. It's like you've already slept with him or something.”

I grunted and said nothing, looking at his stained shirt in the mirror.

“You slept with him!”

I shot around to face her. “N-no, Beth--”

Her hands cupped her gaping mouth. “Oh my god! That's impressive, Amy Black!”

My cheeks flushed and I hoped it was just because of the wine and accented red flannel.

She grinned at me. “Tell me more.”

“No!” I pointed at her, trying to get my emotions in check.

Her mischievous giggle that I knew all too well burst aloud. “Okay, he's staying.”

“I don't think he wants to stay, Beth!”

“Well, we'll see about that!” She grabbed the door and booked it out of the bathroom.

“Beth!” I scrambled after her and collided with his chest, very gracefully tumbling backwards, turning and landing face first in the door frame.

“Whoa, Amy.” Ean came down beside me, looking me over with his tentative eyes.

Blinking up at him, I felt the slow trickle of blood cascade my right cheek.

“You okay?” He tried to hold back his budding smile as I wallowed in my self-pity. “I'm going to be honest; I don't think you can survive without me, Amy.”