Not a Chance(4)

Still, he didn't want to overplay his hand. So he slid back down to her foot and then set it back down gently. He took off his coat and laid it over her legs. "Wait here," he said. He used the light of his cell phone to explore the house. If he was going to rescue this princess and collect his reward, he needed to make her comfortable, fast. He stumbled into the living room. All the furniture was still there, but it was covered with plastic. There was a fireplace. Perfect.

He found another door leading off into the kitchen and out to the back porch. He followed this and loaded his arms with some firewood that was piled out back. He made his way back to the living room, dropping the logs on the floor. He knelt to place them in the fireplace. Arden walked in, then, hugging his coat to her. Travis glanced up at her and then back to the fireplace. He found a stack of old newspapers and rolled one up. Fortunately he had his lighter with him and soon he had a good blaze going.

Arden sat down in front of it, and rubbed her arms. Travis sat close to her. Now would be a good time for some sort of line about body heat being the best way to keep warm. But he couldn't bring himself to stoop quite that low. He should wait for her to move. She was engaged, after all. He didn't want to be a total sleaze about it.

Of course he also wanted to get laid and she didn't seem to be paying him any more attention now that he'd warmed her up. "How are your feet, now?" he asked.

"Better," she said. Then she turned to him. "We'll be able to go home, tomorrow, right?"

Travis sighed inwardly. He berated himself for temporarily forgetting that she was ice on the inside. "I don't know. It's snowing harder than ever."

She looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Don't worry. I will do my utmost to see to it you don't have to spend any longer than necessary in my company."

"Good," she said, staring into the fire.

He shook his head and then stood, headed for the stairs in the foyer. Arden jumped up. "Where are you going? You can't leave me here alone!" she shrieked.

Travis's eyes went wide. "What the..."

"If you leave, I'll die. I don't know how to start a fire. I don't have big boots to hike home in. They'll find me here weeks later curled up by this fireplace dead." She looked terrified.

Travis tried not to laugh. "I was just going upstairs to find some blankets and pillows."

Suddenly Arden's eyes narrowed and she drew herself up taller. "I am not sleeping with you, you presumptuous bastard."

"Obviously. I gave up on that dream thirty seconds ago. Will you stop acting insane please?"

"Insane? I'm trapped in an abandoned house with some strange man..."

"That's just it, Arden. I'm not a strange man. You and me have lived in this tiny hick town all our lives. We go to the same church, for Christ's sake. We're even friends with some of the same people...although certainly not at the same time. All I'm saying is, drop the kidnapped princess act and let's be like normal people for tonight. Okay?"

Arden's face was red and hate beamed from her eyes. Travis felt kind of afraid. But then her expression changed and she seemed to back down. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I'll try to behave more graciously."

Travis stood stunned.

Arden seemed to pick up on his doubt. "I'm serious. I know you're right and I'm sorry. It's just, I don't socialize outside my tiny circle of friends very often and I'm clearly not good at it. I'll try to keep quiet. Okay?"

Travis swallowed and glanced away. "You don't have to be quiet. Just...stop being mean."

Arden smiled warmly and nodded.

"So...is sleeping with me back on the table now?"

She grew wary and lifted her chin. "No, Mr. Lanier. It was never on the table."

Travis drew himself up tall in mock indignation. "Well, Miss Butler, I think you'll change your mind." Then he gave her a grin and a wink and went upstairs to find blankets and pillows to sleep on.





CHAPTER THREE



They woke up that first morning starving. They rummaged in the kitchen cabinets and found lots of little, moldy balls of stuff. But they also found some canned foods and sealed up pantry items. They sat across from each other on the floor checking expiration dates and sorting out anything that looked or smelled spoiled.

“Wish I’d gotten stranded with Shannon Murphy,” Travis muttered. “She could probably whip up five kinds of pie out of this.”

Arden glared at him. “Well I wish I’d gotten stranded with Russ Murphy. Because he would have killed a rabbit or something by now and made us a stew.”

Travis seemed unperturbed. He continued to study the mish-mash of would-be ingredients.

"I think we can rig up some pancakes," Travis said, gesturing to a group of ingredients that included flour, creamed corn and baking powder.