I grinned and shook my head. “I am cold, but my name is Coal, like the stuff Santa gives naughty kids for Christmas.”
When her eyes flicked to my outstretched hand, she placed one hand in mine and covered her face with the other. “Hi, Coal. I’m Aspen.”
"Well, Aspen, what took you so long?" I teased, reluctantly letting go of her soft, warm hand.
She laughed nervously as her cheeks slightly flushed. "I'm sorry. I thought we'd be moving sooner."
"Do you know what's going on?"
"It started with a wreck, and then another one behind it. And now it’s snowing.”
“Yeah, I was trying to get home before the snow started.”
“Do you have far to go?”
I shrugged. “About two hours, give or take. What about you?”
“Same. About two hours left.”
“Let me guess. You’re headed to Devil Springs?”
“How’d you know?” she gasped in surprise.
“Because there’s not much else between here and there,” I chuckled.
She sighed and tilted her head back toward the ceiling. “I keep looking at the clock. I should already be there unloading this truck, instead of sitting on the highway doing absolutely nothing but wasting time.”
“Are you on a time crunch?”
“Sort of. I’m supposed to return this truck tomorrow, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening.”
“Well, I, for one, am glad you’re stuck here. Otherwise, my options were freezing to death or hoping that trucker over there would take pity on me. And he doesn’t look nearly as friendly as you do.”
She leaned forward and looked at the truck idling beside my bike. As if on cue, the driver turned his head and glared at both of us, causing her to flinch back. “He’s not a helper.”
“What?”
“My stepfather told me to always look for the helpers, especially in times of need. He’s not one.”
“My uncle used to say something like that when I was little,” I said.
My phone lit up with Game’s name on the screen. “You still on the highway?” he asked before I could say a word.
“Yep. In almost the same place since the last time I talked to you.”
“This shit’s on the news. There are so many wrecks that traffic’s at a standstill and backed up for over twenty miles. They’re saying motorists will likely be stranded until morning.”
“Until morning? There’s no fucking way.”
“Yeah, man. The weather dude said the storm blew south and is dumping much more snow on us than expected.”
“How much?”
“Ten to twelve inches here. Six to eight where you are.”
“Overnight?”
“Yeah.”