town, the roads are bound to be brutal.” He clearly considered it just short of a suicide mission.
“Maybe I should stay in Hudson.”
“I was told your uncle wants you at the manor tonight,” he said. “I suppose he has his reasons.”
“So you know James.” That made me feel better. Not a lot, but a little.
“I live in Louth.” The man peered at me in the rearview mirror, and something in his look gave me the feeling he didn’t care much for my uncle. “Everyone knows everyone in Louth.”
The backseat windows had fogged up. I wiped a circle clear with my coat sleeve and rested my forehead against the glass. No light broke through the darkness around us, and I assumed we’d left civilization behind, until we passed a car idling on the side of the road. I saw its owner shoveling it free from a snowbank, and I realized we were still in town.
“The electric’s out,” I noted. Seventeen years in Manhattan, and I’d only lived through a single blackout.
“Happens,” the man said. “It’s out on the other side of the river, too. You’d better hope they have a fire waiting for you up there at the manor. You’re gonna freeze to death in that place if they don’t.”
“There are worse ways to go,” I muttered.
“What did you say?” he demanded. In the rearview mirror, his eyes were wide open, and I could see they were blue.
“Nothing,” I said, holding his gaze. I knew he’d heard me. And he’d understood.
We didn’t speak much after that.
* * *
—
I don’t know how long the trip took. As soon as I was convinced that death wasn’t imminent, my mind returned to the life I’d just left. But at some point, I heard the car’s engine begin to strain as we started up an incline. I’d only been to my uncle’s house once, right after he moved in, but I’d never forgotten the sight of it sitting on top of its hill. The first time I’d laid eyes on it, I’d thought it looked lonely. There was no better place to hide from the world.
The steeper the climb got, the more our progress slowed, until eventually the car crawled to a stop. Within seconds the wipers were overcome and the windshield was covered with snow.
The driver got out to investigate, and I pushed open my door and followed him.
“What happened?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself in the sudden cold.
“We’re stuck,” the driver grumbled, as if it were somehow my fault. He pulled an ancient flip phone out of his pocket and tapped in a number. “It’s me,” he informed whoever picked up. “Nope, didn’t make it….’Bout fifty feet from Howland’s drive….Yep….Thanks, Joe. ’Preciate it.”
He snapped the phone shut. “Get in and get comfortable. We’ll have to wait. I just gotta make sure the tailpipe is clear so we don’t die while we do. A plow should be through in a couple hours. They’ll give us a ring when they’re close.”
My chest tightened. I wasn’t going to wait. I couldn’t be trapped in a car with a man I didn’t know. My anxiety was building, and I knew a full-blown panic attack could follow.
“I heard you say we were right at the drive.” I looked around. Nothing seemed familiar. “The house can’t be too far from here, can it?”
The man raised a hand to shield his eyes and squinted at the snow-covered hill ahead of us. “Half a mile. Maybe more.”
“That’s not so far,” I said. “We can walk and wait for the plow at the house.”
“No,” he said. Just that—no. He didn’t offer an explanation.
“It’ll be a lot warmer—” I started.
“No,” the man interrupted me. “This car is my livelihood. I’m not gonna leave it.”
“I don’t understand,” I persisted. “What could possibly—”
“No,” he said again. Third time was the charm. We both knew that the car would be fine. The man didn’t want to set foot in my uncle’s house.
“Well, I’m going,” I announced. I’d take my chances in the storm. “Can I leave my bag here?”
He snorted. “Can’t take it with you. I’ll bring it round once the roads are clear. You sure you won’t get lost?”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “GPS,” I said. “No one ever gets lost anymore.”
I typed in my uncle’s address, and with my headphones on, I followed my map app’s directions. Even beneath the trees, the snow was building, and I waded through drifts that buried me to my knees.