I looked out the window just as Colin reached to turn the radio off and I saw the clouds growing darker. Snow was beginning to fall in the headlights of the car, and I figured we were hitting the storm that had grounded the plane. I reached down into my purse and pulled out my phone so I could check the weather and it didn’t look good. There were already reports of sleet covering power lines, and people in southern Iowa were already without power.
“Colin, are you sure we shouldn’t stop until the storm passes?”
I looked over at him but his eyes were trained on the road. The snow was falling harder and the temperature was quickly dropping. The snow started pounding the car and I watched as Colin turned on the windshield wipers so he could see. The car slowed down as he eased into the right hand lane, riding the taillights of the truck in front of us that was struggling to navigate the falling snow.
I refreshed weather report on my phone and the chance of snow had jumped. It had gone from forty percent to sixty, with a thirty percent chance of freezing rain. I looked out the window and took stock of the snow already gathering on the trees as we passed them by.
It was getting worse with every minute we drove and it was beginning to make me really nervous.
“Colin?”
“Yes, Abby.”
“I really think you should consider stopping for the night. It’s getting bad. People in the southern part of the state are already reporting downed power lines and outages.”
“Abby, not to be rude, but I intentionally got a car with four-wheel drive so we wouldn’t have to do just that. As long as we take it slow, we’ll be fine.”
“Gee. I didn’t realize how terrible it was to spend a night with me,” I said.
“I didn’t say anything like that,” he said.
“So you didn’t enjoy that night with me?” I asked.
“No, Abby. I mean, yes, I enjoyed it. Seriously? We’re playing this game now?”
“What game?”
“The one where you become a woman who puts words in my mouth so you can feign hurt and get me to change my mind about pulling over because I’m overcome with guilt that I said something I never once intended on saying?”
I studied his face as a vein began to bulge from his neck. The weather was getting really bad. What was so wrong with pulling over? If our safety was at risk, then I had no issues with pulling over.
“Well, at least if we do it now we have quality control over the hotel we choose. And we might even be able to get two rooms. And I could pay for my room, if that makes it any better,” I said.
“It has nothing to do with the hotel or the fact that I paid last time. I just want to get to this conference. We aren’t talking about this anymore. I’m just ready to get there.”
“Colin. Four-wheel drive isn’t going to help if we hit ice. Trust me, I’ve been down that road. I totaled a car having fun down that road.”
“Why is that not shocking?” he asked.
“Are you kidding?” I asked.
“We’re not stopping,” he said.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back into the seat. The nerve of this asshole. He had gone from a rigid Grinch to an outspoken control freak. What the hell was his problem anyway? We could hardly see out of the windshield because the snow was coming down so hard, we were following the taillights of a truck as our navigation, and if we kept up this pace we didn’t have near enough food or drink to get us all the way to Wichita.
The tension in the air was palpable, at best.
“So, we’re just going to follow this truck all the way to Kansas?” I asked.
“At least until we get through this heavy snow,” Colin said.
“So if he plunges off a cliff, we’re just going to go right along with him?” I asked.
“There are no cliffs in the middle of the flatlands, Abby. And yes, if this man goes over a cliff, we’re going along with him.”
“How do you know it’s a man?”
“For fuck’s sake, Abby. Are you kidding me?” he asked.
I grinned as I looked out the window, but my nerves began to set in again. I couldn’t even see out the window at this point, and the rocking of the car because of the high winds started to bob the car side to side.
“Maybe you’re just cute when you’re upset,” I said.
“Well sorry, but you’re not.”
“Don’t worry. Since you didn’t enjoy our night spent together on the road, I figured as much,” I said.
“Abby.”
His voice was unexpectedly soft. Not at all characteristic of the stern, sharp voice I’d heard for the past twenty minutes. I panned my gaze over to him and saw that his face had softened. The car came to a complete stop on the highway and he looked over at me, taking my breath away with his icy blue eyes. They weren’t stormy, like the weather outside. But rather, they were soft. Like a plush bedspread or a child’s first toy.
Against his chiseled features and his strong, stern brow, it quickly reminded me of why I had been so taken with him over Christmas.
Why had he never called?
“Me wanting to get to Wichita has nothing to do with you,” he said. “I have a great deal to prepare and no one to pawn it off on this time.”
“But the conference isn’t until Saturday. Even if we spent a night on the road and finished the trip tomorrow, we’d still get in with three days to spare,” I said.
“And
