Before I could say anything else, a massive Chevy truck with dual wheels in the rear—also wrapped in chains—came to a stop beside her car. The extended cab made me grin because we would’ve been in trouble otherwise. The man driving might’ve been a cop, but I couldn’t tell. He was dressed for an arctic expedition, complete with ski goggles that he pulled down as he hopped out into the horrible cold. He was shouting as he came over to us, but I couldn’t hear him until he was right beside me.
“I’m Officer Tuffin! Get the kids in the back. Booster seats and all,” he told me and the woman. “Turn your vehicle off and lock it up.”
“We’re over there,” I said, pointing at our stranded Jeep.
“Same. Off. Locked. You get in the front.” He slapped my shoulder. “Mom, I want you in the back with the kids, please.”
It took me a couple of minutes to get to Ren, tell him the plan, secure the Jeep, and get back to the truck, all while Ren held my hand like he was afraid I would get blown away.
“In front. Squeeze in. The kids have to be secure, but you two just get in there any way you can.” Tuffin slapped our arms, then went back to making sure the woman and her children were okay. In the end, I sat on the floor between Ren’s legs because there was plenty of room there and no more seats.
“You all should’ve never, ever been out in this. If we say the roads are closed, they’re closed,” Tuffin said as soon as he was behind the wheel with his seat belt on.
“I was coming home from work. The daycare was closing. What else was I supposed to do?” The woman sounded irate and I didn’t blame her.
Ren rolled his eyes. “Yes, sir. I guess we should’ve stayed in the tattoo parlor for three days.”
Tuffin shook his head. “People are going to die out here tonight. Make sure you aren’t one of them in the future.”
He was mostly pleasant after that, asking the kids what they’d gotten for Christmas, which they happily gushed about. Once we made it to their house, it took all the adults twenty minutes to shovel the door open because the snow had blown more than halfway up the door. It was cold, awful work, and I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to stand it a minute longer than it took for us to wave goodbye to the woman and her kids as they got safely inside.
When we returned to the truck, I had a seat, and it was a good thing because the truck was getting blown around the road. It was touch and go to our apartment building because the wind was literally creating mounds of snow that the truck had to avoid or risk getting hung up like the Jeep had.
“This is worse than an apocalypse movie,” Ren muttered.
“He’s from California,” I said when Tuffin gave him a strange look.
“Ah.”
We laughed as Ren crossed his arms and huffed.
“I’m going to have to go back to the station,” Tuffin said sadly as he stopped in front of our apartment building. We could barely see the bottom part right in front of us. The lights didn’t make a difference. “It’s supposed to get worse as the night goes on. For your own sake, stay home until they clear the roads, no matter what.” He shook hands with me, then Ren.
“Thanks.” I hopped out, overwhelmed with joy to be home.
“Yeah, sure,” Ren said. He grabbed my hand as we battled the wind to the front lobby that we normally didn’t use. As we stepped inside and the wall of heat hit me, I wilted against Ren’s side. He held me close as we watched snow streak past the glass, creating a whiteout. The door rattled as the wind slammed against it.
“Wow,” I whispered.
He rubbed my back, and the intense on-edge sensation I’d had from the time the Jeep got stuck until we’d arrived here melted out of me and left me clinging hard to Ren. I yawned.
“Okay. I’m an asshole. I didn’t take the blizzard warning seriously.” Ren dragged me even closer, as if maybe he’d just done the calculations on how close we’d come to being ice cubes.
“It’s a blizzard. You’ve never seen one. It’s difficult to understand if you don’t experience it.”
He grunted, but there was a haunted gleam in his eyes. “We drove past other stuck vehicles with people in them.”
“Yeah.” I buried my face against his coat.
“He said people would die. He’s not going back for them.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Fuck.” Ren shook me until I looked up at him, then stared down at me for a few seconds. I got lost in his pretty hazel eyes. His lips crashed over mine. The kiss was brutal, just what I needed, then inexplicably, he softened his lips. I was the one who wanted to swear.
I pulled back. “Let’s get upstairs. KC has to be worried.”
“Yeah.” His voice was delicious gravel that sent sparks down my spine, warming me up.