Page 6 of A Snowy Escape

“Hey, sorry to wake you,” I say, holding my palms out. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. You mind calling off your dog?”

“Come on, Echo.” The woman gives the leash a tug. “Enough, girl. Sit.”

Echo looks back at her owner and sits with as much attitude as I’ve ever seen from a canine.

“Well, at least she’s well-behaved.” I chuckle.

“Occasionally,” the woman says, smiling tightly. “When she feels like it.”

“Yeah, my roommate has one. Well, a Belgian Malinois, but they’re similar,” I say, smiling as I lower my palms. “He’s mouthy all the time.”

“If I’m not allowed to be parked here…” She swallows thickly, obviously not put at ease by my joke. “I’m so sorry. When I took this exit, I didn’t expect the town to be so far from the interstate. I was exhausted, and it wasn’t safe for me to keep driving.”

“Hey, no worries,” I tell her sincerely. “It happens all the time.” Ehh, the last part is a stretch, but I’m also not an asshole.

A little white lie won’t hurt anything. Hopefully it helps set her mind at ease.

“Sorry, I bet she needs a bathroom break, can I step over to the grass?” she asks, rocking on her heels.

My forehead wrinkles.

“I’m not a cop.” I laugh. “You can do whatever you want. You’re not in trouble. I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure I don’t linger and wear out my welcome.” She guides the dog over to the grass near the drainage ditch.

I follow them, shoving my hands into my pockets.

I should have put on my gloves.

Come to think of it, she’s majorly underdressed for the weather.

“You don’t have to run off. You’re not hurting anyone by hanging out in my parking lot, but there is a pretty serious storm front coming in this afternoon. Are you close to your destination?”

The dog sniffs around, and the woman pulls a roll of pet waste bags from her coat pocket. Well, that’s considerably more thoughtful than most folks who walk their dogs back here.

“Um.” She laughs, but it comes out sounding almost hysterical. “Echo and I are on an adventure to see where we want to settle down next.” She shrugs, following the beast over to the tree Shadow always pees on. “I had to move out of my last place on pretty short notice, so we’re just checking out our options.”

“Are you considering settling in town?” I ask. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” Her face drains of color despite the cold, telling me that I pushed too hard. “Shit, I bet I sound like a creep. I’m not. I could call my mom or either of my sisters, and they would vouch for me. I just want to make sure you have somewhere safe that you’re going to end up. We’re about to get several feet of snow dumped on us. That’s not the kind of storm you can ride out in a car.”

I mean, I’m sure someone has done it before, but it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

Her dark blue eyes widen. “I think I made a wrong turn somewhere. I was trying to head south last night.”

“Well, shit,” I say, shivering as a gust of wind slides through. “You’re in Bay Pines.” The look on her face tells me the name is unfamiliar. “Upstate New York.”

“Jeez,” she whispers. “Okay, so I need to get out of here before the storm hits.”

“The storm is coming in from the southwest and heading northeast.” I pull out my phone. “Let’s check the weather radar.”

* * *

The woman comes to a stop a few feet away as I frown at my phone while trying to find a way to gently let her down. She’s not beating the bad weather no matter how fast she drives.

The storm radius is too big. Even if she successfully made it back to the interstate, she’d have to stop in another town and find a different hotel.

I move the device to my left hand and hold out my right. “I’m Bryant, by the way.”

“Abby,” she says, shaking.