“Even if that means pulling over?” I asked.
“If it gets to that point, yes. Even if it means pulling over. So long as there’s internet. I do have work that still has to be done.”
“Like always,” I said.
“Comes with the territory.”
I didn’t have any other choice. He was the driver and he was hell bent on making that decision. So instead of trying to gaze out the window and convince him to pull over, I leaned my seat back and closed my eyes. Taking deep breaths in through my nose and letting them out from my mouth, I tried to settle my shaking hands. Driving in rain was fine. Driving in thunderstorms was fine. Even driving in snow was just fine with me.
But this was something different.
This was a beast of a storm that was knocking everything down in its path.
Like a frozen hurricane or something.
I closed my eyes as music hit my ears and I whipped my head over towards Colin. His hand was toggling through radio stations and settled on a station playing very soothing music. He looked over at me and winked, a gesture that sent shivers down my spine.
The music was soothing to my ears as I relaxed into the seat, feeling it warm underneath my butt as I sighed.
“Seat warmers again, huh?” I asked.
“No luxury vehicle rides without them,” he said. “Take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we stop.”
The issue was, I didn’t know when we were going to be stopping. All I could hope was that the crashing of the car wasn’t what woke me.
Chapter 5
Colin
I was so glad Abby was taking a nap because I needed her to simply trust what I was doing. Her panicking and incessant worrying was becoming annoying. I had better judgment than that. I wasn’t going to get us killed or hurt or stranded on the side of the road. Abby needed to calm down, lean back, and let me do what I do best.
The soothing music knocked her out and the car was finally silent. I kept riding the taillights of the truck, but he soon pulled off the highway. There was no one in front of him so I had to keep my eyes on the yellow line at my side to make sure I didn’t go over it. This blizzard was getting worse, but it wasn’t at a point yet where I thought we wouldn’t be able to make it.
But, the more I traveled, the worse it got. I hit downed power lines and trees that were bowing on the side of the highway. Cars were pulling off faster than I could approach them. My headlights were showing me nothing but falling snow, and I could feel the tires underneath the car beginning to slip. The wind was getting worse and I was having a hard time keeping myself steady in the lane I needed to be in.
And little by little, cars were exiting and leaving me on the highway to fend for myself.
I traveled for ten minutes before I came upon the next exit, and there were multiple signs for lodging. I pulled off as Abby continued to sleep, her body curled up on the warmed seat while she snoozed. I’d brought us as far as I could in this weather, especially considering how dark it was, and I knew she would be pleased by the fact that I had to pull off and find us somewhere to stay for the night.
Except none of the hotels on the exits had vacancies.
It was Valentine’s Day weekend and everything was booked. Hotel prices had skyrocketed to take advantage of the romantic vacation business, and with every stop I made I became more and more frustrated. The hotel desks would point me up the road towards shady motels I was trying to avoid, but then I had no choice. None of the hotels had vacancies and the ice was beginning to stick to the roads.
We had to find a place to stay, otherwise we’d be sleeping in the car.
Why this conference had to take place over Valentine’s Day weekend, I’d never understand. Maybe because I was surrounded by people who didn’t celebrate these kinds of holidays, or maybe people actually thought a global conference was a romantic way to spend a weekend like this. Either way, it put me in a bind I didn’t want to be in. I was going to pay an exorbitant amount of money in order to put us in some shitty motel for the night because all the decent hotels were booked because of the storm or because that was the only thing people considered romantic.
Hotel room sex and hot tubs that weren’t theirs.
Rolling my eyes, I pulled off the road and into the first motel. I was fifteen minutes away from the highway and Abby was still sound asleep. I was relieved when they didn’t have a vacancy because they didn’t look like they had any power, so I rode up the street to the next one. That motel looked even worse and cost even more, but even that one didn’t have any vacancies.
But the front desk attendant guided me into one last place I could try.
The motel looked like something out of a horror film. It sat off the road and back in the woods, surrounded by the very trees that were breaking because of the ice that was stacking on the branches. The walkways leading up to the hotel were dark, the sign itself was only half-lit, and the bulb at the front desk was blinking.
“How can I help you?” the attendant asked.
“Please tell me you have two rooms for tonight,” I said.
“I got one room with a jet tub,” he said.
“Only one?” I asked.
“Take it
