if she had service. Nope,
still nothing. From past travels up
the winding mountain road, she knew that she likely wouldn’t have service again
for several more miles. If she got
stranded now, she could be in trouble. Unfortunately, since she’d turned off onto a lesser traveled section of
the roadway a few miles back, there wasn’t nearly as much traffic and help
could be a long time coming. Although
she had plenty of food, water, blankets and a nearly full tank of gas, she
didn’t relish the idea of spending her weeklong vacation stuck in her SUV on
the side of the road waiting for someone to pass by.
She briefly considered turning back, but after thinking it
through, decided against it. She
probably had a better chance of making it to the cabin than she did of making
it back down the mountain. Visibility
was getting worse by the minute and the trip back down the zigzagging, narrow
two-lane road would take at least an hour and a half at her current pace, and
according to the GPS mounted in the dash she was less than twelve miles from
the cabin. So, keeping her eyes glued to
the small stretch of pavement that she could see through the thickly swirling
flakes, she gripped the steering wheel with both hands and continued the
painstakingly slow drive.
When she finally reached the turnoff to the cabin some
thirty minutes later, Brooklyn’s nerves were frayed. It had been getting harder and harder to see
the road for the last several miles and if not for the SUV’s navigational
system, she doubted she would have been able to find the turn onto the cabin’s
private drive. Having grown up in
Colorado, she was accustomed to driving in bad weather as well as on snowy, icy
roads, but that didn’t mean she liked it. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when at last she pulled to a stop in
front of the lavish, two-story cabin that belonged to her sister and
brother-in-law. Snatching up her phone,
she was relieved to see that she once again had cell service. Checking her messages she saw that she had
three missed calls within the past hour, all from her sister Katelyn, and one
new voice message. She immediately
dialed her voicemail and hit the speaker button.
Hey Brook, it’s
Kate. Sorry sweetie but I’ve got some
bad news. I sure hope you get this
message before you leave, because I just mentioned to Wade that you were going
up to the cabin today and he told me that he’d already offered to let one of
his old teammates from Denver stay there for a few weeks. You remember Ryan Landry right? Well, he got a mild concussion in last week’s
game against the Jets, so he’s currently on the disabled list. I guess he’s having some work done on his
house or something and since he won’t be playing or traveling for the next few
weeks Wade told him he should just stay up at the cabin and take it easy for a
while. Wade said he mentioned it to me
the other day, but I swear I don’t remember it if he did. I think this pregnancy is seriously screwing
with my memory, as well as my hormones. Anyway, call me when you get this. I’m really sorry about the mix up. Love you. Bye.
As the message ended Brooklyn leaned her head back against
the headrest and groaned aloud. This
cannot be happening she thought, shaking her head from side to side in
horrified disbelief. Ryan Landry , the name hit her like a
slap in the face. The last time she’d
seen him, just over four years ago, had been the most humiliating moment of her
entire life. It had been the night of
Wade’s twenty-fifth birthday party at his and Kate’s house on the outskirts of
Denver, just two years before Wade, an all-pro defensive lineman, had been
traded to the NFL’s newest expansion team the Virginia Vipers, and a mere three
weeks before she’d started her freshman year of college at the University of
Colorado. Ryan Landry , the first guy she’d ever loved, or at least
still nothing. From past travels up
the winding mountain road, she knew that she likely wouldn’t have service again
for several more miles. If she got
stranded now, she could be in trouble. Unfortunately, since she’d turned off onto a lesser traveled section of
the roadway a few miles back, there wasn’t nearly as much traffic and help
could be a long time coming. Although
she had plenty of food, water, blankets and a nearly full tank of gas, she
didn’t relish the idea of spending her weeklong vacation stuck in her SUV on
the side of the road waiting for someone to pass by.
She briefly considered turning back, but after thinking it
through, decided against it. She
probably had a better chance of making it to the cabin than she did of making
it back down the mountain. Visibility
was getting worse by the minute and the trip back down the zigzagging, narrow
two-lane road would take at least an hour and a half at her current pace, and
according to the GPS mounted in the dash she was less than twelve miles from
the cabin. So, keeping her eyes glued to
the small stretch of pavement that she could see through the thickly swirling
flakes, she gripped the steering wheel with both hands and continued the
painstakingly slow drive.
When she finally reached the turnoff to the cabin some
thirty minutes later, Brooklyn’s nerves were frayed. It had been getting harder and harder to see
the road for the last several miles and if not for the SUV’s navigational
system, she doubted she would have been able to find the turn onto the cabin’s
private drive. Having grown up in
Colorado, she was accustomed to driving in bad weather as well as on snowy, icy
roads, but that didn’t mean she liked it. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when at last she pulled to a stop in
front of the lavish, two-story cabin that belonged to her sister and
brother-in-law. Snatching up her phone,
she was relieved to see that she once again had cell service. Checking her messages she saw that she had
three missed calls within the past hour, all from her sister Katelyn, and one
new voice message. She immediately
dialed her voicemail and hit the speaker button.
Hey Brook, it’s
Kate. Sorry sweetie but I’ve got some
bad news. I sure hope you get this
message before you leave, because I just mentioned to Wade that you were going
up to the cabin today and he told me that he’d already offered to let one of
his old teammates from Denver stay there for a few weeks. You remember Ryan Landry right? Well, he got a mild concussion in last week’s
game against the Jets, so he’s currently on the disabled list. I guess he’s having some work done on his
house or something and since he won’t be playing or traveling for the next few
weeks Wade told him he should just stay up at the cabin and take it easy for a
while. Wade said he mentioned it to me
the other day, but I swear I don’t remember it if he did. I think this pregnancy is seriously screwing
with my memory, as well as my hormones. Anyway, call me when you get this. I’m really sorry about the mix up. Love you. Bye.
As the message ended Brooklyn leaned her head back against
the headrest and groaned aloud. This
cannot be happening she thought, shaking her head from side to side in
horrified disbelief. Ryan Landry , the name hit her like a
slap in the face. The last time she’d
seen him, just over four years ago, had been the most humiliating moment of her
entire life. It had been the night of
Wade’s twenty-fifth birthday party at his and Kate’s house on the outskirts of
Denver, just two years before Wade, an all-pro defensive lineman, had been
traded to the NFL’s newest expansion team the Virginia Vipers, and a mere three
weeks before she’d started her freshman year of college at the University of
Colorado. Ryan Landry , the first guy she’d ever loved, or at least
Similar Books
