A Week in the Snow by Gwen Masters Page B

of earshot of the hospital.
    “Nothing.”
    “That’s not true.”
    She didn’t answer him, and soon he realised that no answer would be forthcoming.
    Rebecca sat on the snowmobile and Richard climbed on behind her, wrapped his arms around her middle, and decided it might be best just to keep his mouth shut until she was ready to talk. Not a word was said between them as she manoeuvred the machine down the hillside and along the same path she had taken a few hours before. Richard laid his chin on her shoulder and watched the world go by while he wondered at the thoughts running through her head.
    When they reached the house, Rebecca carefully slid the snowmobile into the garage. She turned off the engine and the silence rushed in, making it clear just how much time had gone by without a single word from her. Finally she sighed and turned in the seat to look at him. Why be anything but perfectly frank and honest?
    “I’ve had so much fun these last few days,” she started. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of being with you. It’s almost magical, how it happened—you saved me from the blizzard, we wound up in bed, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. But I guess when we were at the hospital I started to realise that this isn’t a fairy tale, and it’s going to end soon. When it does, you’ll have your life and I’ll have mine, and never the two shall meet,” she said, and smiled sadly. “You’ll have a lot of nurses waiting for your call.”
    Richard didn’t know what to say. While in the hospital he had acted the same way he always had, and he’d had no designs on any of the women there. He had known most of them for years, and while some of them had made their interest known, he had never returned the favour.
    “I don’t think I’ll be calling any of them for personal reasons,” he said carefully.
    Rebecca nodded and put on a brave face. “What you do is your business. I just think…well, I think I’m going to miss you.”
    What else could she say? No matter how magical things might seem, she was a realistic person, and the reality of so many miles between Miami and Crispin was very clear.
    “You don’t have to miss me yet,” he said.
    She climbed off of the snowmobile and took off her coat. Outside the garage the moon had drifted behind the clouds and it was almost pitch-black, but they could still hear the roar of snowploughs, so much closer now. The roads would be cleared by morning, and then they could pull her car out of the ditch, and then…
    And then?
    Rebecca stared at the snow until Richard pushed the button that lowered the garage door. They were left in utter darkness. She listened to him as he moved towards her, the rustling sound of his coat the only indication of his movement. When he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she bit her lip and fought the urge to cry.
    “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she murmured.
    “Maybe there’s nothing wrong at all.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not usually this emotional.”
    “I knew seeing your car again would be emotional for you. Maybe this is part of it.”
    “It’s not the car,” she whispered. She turned in Richard’s arms and found his lips in the darkness. “It’s not the car.”
    He kissed her back. “What is it, then?”
    “I’m jealous.”
    The admission was like fuel to a fire. His desire for her blazed brighter than before, something he hadn’t thought possible. He grabbed her arm and hauled her to the door of the garage, fumbling with the doorknob until she moved ahead of him and opened it for him.
    They burst into the kitchen and immediately he took her down to the floor, where she rolled on top of him and reached for the snap of his jeans. Richard kicked them down, even as she stood above him and stripped out of her clothes. There was the sound of a seam ripping, a zipper opening, a swish of fabric on the tile floor, then she was on top of him, guiding him into her with one deep