“I love you, too?—”
The line went dead. Liana frowned at her phone. There were no bars. That wasn’t a good sign. She was sure it was temporary. The car suddenly felt too quiet.
And it was getting too cold.
She reached for the button to crank the heat up to the highest setting. The snow worsened. It fell in thick sheets, blown sideways by the wind. She slowed down to about twenty miles an hour. Her heart thundered.
“I’m going to be fine,” she whispered.
The road curved, lined with thick trees hulking like giants, observing her making the trek. Her headlights did nothing for her. She sucked in a breath and screamed.
Something darted into the road.
A flash of gray.
Liana reacted before her brain actuallycaught up. She jerked the wheel to avoid whatever it was.
Big mistake.
The tires skidded, her traction gone. The world upended. Her stomach dropped as she lost control of the vehicle.
Slam!
The passenger side hit the high snowbank so hard her teeth clicked. Her head smacked the steering wheel, pain rippling through her temple. She tasted copper.
Her car lurched, tilted, then sank deeper into the ditch. The engine sputtered for a moment before dying.
“No!” She tried to start the car again, but nothing. She slammed her hand on the steering wheel. “You have got to be kidding me!”
Cold crept into the car immediately. Panic set it. She tried again to get the engine to start, but it wouldn’t turn over. Her ankle throbbed, there was a pounding ache in her head, and something slowly trailed down the side of her face. She tried to move her left leg, but a hot stabbing pain lanced up it. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.
“Okay.” Her breath puffed white in front ofher. She tried to think. “We’ve watched enough wilderness survival shows to make it through this.”
She rifled through her memories of all of her beloved shows for any tips that could help her.
Build a fire? How? Supplies? She had a blanket, a bottle of water, and a leftover sandwich she had bought at the airport. Well, at least she wouldn’t starve or die from dehydration tonight.
Stay in the car? Maybe, but how long would she last until she froze to death? She couldn’t even turn the engine on to get some warmth from the heater, but even then, that wasn’t a good idea if the exhaust was blocked by the snow.
She reached up and touched her temple. She hissed when her fingers found the cut where the blood was trickling from. Just perfect. She pulled her winter hat farther down on her head in hopes that it would help stop the flow of blood.
“Don’t panic,” she whispered. It helped to hear her own voice, but panic was taking a hold of her. Minutes passed. Or maybe an hour. Time blurred. The cold made her eyelids heavy and her body tremble. Numbness crawled up her fingers. Her limbs became stiff. It didn’t makeany sense how cold it was outside. The tremors that racked her body were the only thing keeping her semiconscious.
There was no way she should die this way. She had imagined growing old and passing away in her nineties with her family and loved ones surrounding her.
Not stuck in a ditch in the dead of winter in Montana at the young age of thirty-eight.
A crunch outside the vehicle snapped her awake. Her breaths came fast. The snow shifted slightly. Heavy footsteps grew closer.
Her heart stuttered.
Was it a wolf? A bear? The gray blur that flew out into the road flashed in her mind. She tried to peer out the window, but it was no use thanks to the fogged-up glass and the swirling curtain of snow.
The footsteps stopped outside her car.
A silhouette moved through the thick blizzard, tall and broad-shouldered. Light reflected off dark clothing.
Someone was going to rescue her.