Snowbound with the Santas (Forbidden Fantasies)

4. Rayne

4

RAYNE

“ M om? Uncle Cecil?”

There’s something so disjointed about catching them kissing, and the room freezes for a few long seconds. It’s like walking in and seeing your best friend kissing your man, only so much worse because my mom isn’t supposed to be in a relationship. She’s always been single. Always independent.

My mom… and Uncle Cecil.

My Uncle Cecil has been around for as long as I can remember, but as Mom’s friend and nothing more. In fact, the number of times she complained about him, I’d been sure that she didn’t even like him that much. All she cared about was how high her status was by being so close to a government official. He was a status symbol and nothing more.

Now they’re kissing?

My thoughts become stuck on that one single detail and I forget all other reasons for coming in here.

“Rayne!” My mother wipes her thumb along her lower lip and then shakes her head. “You really should knock before barging in here!”

“I… I needed to talk to you. I looked everywhere for you and instead, you’re up here kissing him ?”

I glance at Cecil, who can’t meet my eye. He’s looking anywhere but at me, and the top of his cheekbones are dusted pink. He’s the closest thing to a father I’ve ever had—but saying that, work has always been his number-one priority, which is partly why it’s so strange seeing him engaging in something so human.

“Well, what for?” Mom barks at me, adjusting the glistening jewels of her necklace.

“Huh?”

“Don’t huh, Rayne. It’s incredibly unbecoming for a lady. You say pardon .”

I stare at her blankly, unable to process what she’s saying. I’m still stuck on their hiding here and kissing. Mom tsks sharply behind her teeth and tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“Why were you looking for me?” Mom repeats.

“No—no, you have to tell me what’s going on here? Why were you two—I mean, I didn’t even know you liked each other like that!”

“Don’t be so ridiculous,” Mom snaps. “Don’t stand there acting all judgmental after some of the stunts you’ve pulled.”

“I’m not judging, I’m just?—”

“You are!” She interrupts me sharply and raises her voice.

“You, uh, weren’t meant to find out like this,” Cecil says, followed by a dry, awkward laugh.

“You’re making me feel dirty, like I’ve done something wrong when I am a grown woman and I can kiss whomever I like.” Mom raises one sharp, penciled brow.

“But Uncle Cecil —” I try to say. My mind runs, searching for a hint as to how this could have happened. And why keep it a secret like this?

“He’s not your real uncle, so don’t look at me like that,” Mom snaps. “I won’t have you acting like this is something terrible. You know, this is just like you, Rayne. You always find a way to make things dramatic and make them worse than they are. What happens between Cecil and me is private and absolutely none of your business!”

Her passion for defending Cecil is the most heated I’ve seen her in years. I can’t wrap my head around this. The last time I saw them together, Cecil was dating a blonde woman from work who looked like she was constantly sucking on sour prunes, and my mother was chasing after some English lord.

Now they’re together?

“Well?” Mom demands, crossing her arms over her middle. “You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me like some lunatic!”

I have to get out of here .

The look in Mom’s eye is one I’ve seen countless times before. She’s far too concerned with saving face and protecting someone else to give a shit about me. I can already hear her telling me to deal with Ashton myself, and that’s not something I can do.

“I’m sorry, I have to?—”

I stumble out of the room without another word, and neither of them follows.

That’s fine.

Whatever. I don’t need them.

I need…

I need Nina.

Heading away from the elevator, I stumble toward the stairwell and use my shoulder to push open the door while digging my phone out of my purse. Tears fall irregularly down my cheek and my body grows numb with each passing heartbeat.

I can’t breathe.

My abusive ex is here, and my mom is shacking up with my uncle-not-uncle, all while staring at me like it’s my fault for keeping it a secret.

I need someone on my side, and Nina is the only person I can think of.

In these heels, each step down the stairs is a gamble, so after the first flight, I kick them off and leave them in the corner. Nina’s number flashes up on the screen, and I hit dial as I descend to the next set.

Instead of the connection click that I crave, my phone gives two long beeps and the call dies.

No reception.

What the hell?

Assuming it’s because of the stairwell, I hurry faster down the stairs and out into the ground floor hall. The cold of the floor barely breaches my thoughts as all I can think of is calling Nina.

I need to hear her voice.

I need help.

“Fuck,” I murmur, tapping the call button again. Once again, the call fails.

What the hell is going on?

My wobbling steps take me outside where a sudden cold wind pulls at my dress and stabs across my clammy bare shoulders. Yet, just like the cold tile floor, the drop in temperature barely registers in my mind.

No service flashes in the corner of my mobile, and I vaguely remember something on the radio about a change in the weather. A few steps further outside and my bare feet sink into ice-cold snow, but I don’t feel it.

My body still runs impossibly hot, fueled by my exhaustive, racing heart and spiraling mind.

If I can’t call Nina from here, then fuck it, I’ll call her on the way to the airport. I can’t stay here. I fucking can’t.

The picturesque ski lodge, with all of its twinkling lights and dancing reindeer on the roof, becomes dull in my mind. I slide through the snow, not feeling the fat flakes that drift down from the sky and land on my skin and hair, or the biting wind that cuts across the parking lot.

All I focus on is getting out of here.

It takes me no time at all to locate the small parking booth and swipe a set of keys from the stand inside. Then I wander the parking lot, blinking through tears for the telltale flash of lights indicating which jeep the keys belong to.

A big blue Jeep answers my button press, and I make a beeline for it. My frozen feet continue to slide on the snow while my quick steps become slower as I wade through the rising snow on the ground. None of it matters.

Once inside the jeep, I toss my purse into the opposite seat, slam the keys into the lock, and bring the jeep to life. Then I pull out of the parking lot and take a left toward the airport.

Or was it right…?

While driving, I have one hand on the steering wheel and the other on my phone. I repeatedly try to call Nina.

“Please,” I whisper into the dark of the car. “Please let me make the call. Please, please.”

Each call attempt fails, claiming a lack of reception. Even my attempts to access my flight information and the local airport to check flight times fail. How can a ski lodge like that operate with no reception?

With my attention split between my phone and the road, I don’t notice the increasingly heavy snowfall or the fact that the once grey road becomes completely white. The snow swallows up the trees alongside the road, and within minutes, I’m driving right through the center of a marshmallow.

The entire world is whiter, with signs and indicators swallowed up by the storm that descends within seconds.

My attention remains down on my phone, tapping the call over and over.

This can’t be happening. I need her. I need to get out of here.

I should never have come.

Fucking Ashton is here? How has he managed to worm his way back into my circle once again? And with those threats of telling everyone the truth about what happened that night six years ago… will he do it?

Will people take his side once they know the truth? Will they remain blind to what he put me through?

Probably. I certainly can’t count on my mother, given how her focus in the bedroom was on protecting her and Cecil and not her distraught daughter.

It feels like I’ve liked a week in a matter of hours, and now that I’m driving to the… to the…?

I finally give where I’m driving my full focus and realize pretty quickly that I have no clue where the hell I am. The storm has descended so quickly that I could have driven past the airport for all I knew, if I even took the right turn to begin with.

The wipers squeak furiously as they fly back and forth, fighting to provide me a clear line of sight to the white road in front of me. Snow swirls around the car, and I feel the cold for the first time.

The entire car is frozen.

I’m frozen.

My bare feet throb in time to my heartbeat and cold clings to my shoulders like a shawl.

“Fuck…” Just as the gravity of my decision hits me, the entire Jeep suddenly slides to the left as if there’s no more road to drive on. I drop my phone with a gasp and clutch the wheel with both hands. Pulling it to the right, I attempt to guide the Jeep back to where I think the road is, but the vehicle has absolutely no traction on the snow-covered ground.

In a panic, I slam both bare feet onto the brake pedal. The Jeep screeches loudly, and I’m thrown to the side as the vehicle starts to spin.

I have no control. No matter how I pull the wheel, intense pressure fights against me with every movement, and eventually, the rubber slips from my cold fingers.

“Fuck!”

There’s a split second when I’m thrown upward and I’m entirely weightless, then the vehicle and I slam down. The car shudders to a painful stop while I’m thrown around against my seatbelt like a rag doll. I’m barely able to suck in a breath against the pressure of the belt, and I reach for the steering wheel like it’s some kind of lifeline.

“Oh… my God… ”

The headlights flicker, illuminating a tree I was inches away from slamming into, and the wipers continue to streak back and forth across the windshield. Snow tosses back and forth, and an eerie silence follows.

The only sound is my own panting.

Fucking hell.

What have I done?

Peering out the windows, I see nothing in terms of signs to tell me where I am or even how to get back. I can’t stay here, though. The longer I stay here, the more snow will pack in around the Jeep and driving back will be impossible. Placing the Jeep in reverse, I step on the gas and… the Jeep doesn’t move.

Tires spin, sending vibrations through the vehicle, but I don’t move an inch.

Am I stuck on something? Given how quickly I spun out of control, I wouldn’t be surprised if a branch or something got caught under the wheel. With limited options and a mind still fogged with earlier fear and confusion, I unbuckle myself and open the door.

I’ll take one look and then call the emergency number. That will still work, right?

But when I swing my legs out of the Jeep and hop down from the vehicle, there’s no ground to meet me.

A terse scream rips from my throat as I immediately plummet down and my hand gripping the door handle for balance becomes a death grip to save my own life. My body jolts, and my shoulder pulls painfully as I manage to catch myself at the last second.

The Jeep slid to a stop on the edge of an incline, and a yawning darkness stretches out beneath me as I dangle from the open door.

“Fuck!” Kicking my legs out in search of anything to step on, there’s nothing but soft snow that caves the moment I come into contact with it.

My fingers slip. The cold I’ve ignored up until now hits me full force, and my entire body is suddenly completely numb.

My fingers slip an inch more.

Snow falls around me, and then a single chilling flake lands on my knuckles.

My grip fails, and a scream of terror escapes me as I lose my hold and plummet down into the darkness below.