Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

Chapter 22 Gwen

22

C H A P T E R

Gwen

A fter dinner, Gwen noticed Elaine staring out the window. She had her arms tightly wrapped around herself. Elaine was shivering slightly.

Gwen grabbed one of the blankets off the couch and wrapped it around Elaine’s shoulders.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Elaine sighed heavily. “Do you remember that we told you that Jeff was on a photography mission and we all decided that it would be fun to tag along? Well, that’s only partially true. Part of the reason for this trip was so that Jeff and I could work on our relationship.”

Gwen stood silently by Elaine, giving the woman space to talk as much or as little as she wanted.

“Jeff was great when we first started dating. He was every bit the gentleman.” She laughed harshly. “The only thing I care about women’s lib is the right to vote, wear pants, and earn the same wages as men. I want someone to make me feel special by opening the car door, bringing me flowers, etc. He used to do that.”

“That is always nice,” Gwen said. “It’s the little things that really make a woman feel special.”

“Exactly. Then, all those things stopped. It got to the point where he didn’t want to take me out anymore. He was happy coming over to the house and having me make dinner for him.” She shook her head. “He wasn’t contributing to the grocery bill, but sure does eat them up. It would have been okay, maybe, if he brought dessert, a bottle of wine, or heck, even a dandelion he picked out of the yard, but there was nothing.”

Gwen searched her mind to think of something she could say to make Elaine feel supported but couldn’t come up with anything.

“Then, he started getting possessive and jealous. If I smiled at the person bagging my groceries, he thought that I was flirting. If we did happen to go out and I talked to someone, he would go ballistic. And you saw what he did to Darren,” Elaine said, the despair evident in her voice. This whole trip was supposed to help us, you know? We’ve been struggling, and I thought... I thought being out here, away from everything, might fix things. But now...” She trailed off, her voice thick with frustration and sadness.

“That is very hard, and forgive me if I’m overstepping my bounds, but that sounds like a very toxic relationship,” Gwen said.

“It is. I hate confrontations, but I’ve decided that I can’t take it anymore. I’ve talked to him about it, and when he thinks that I’m about ready to call it quits, he promises to do better, and he does for a couple of weeks.”

“You can always stay with Maddie, Samantha, and I. Emilia stays in the living room with Zaid. It’s freezing cold in there at night, but we do have thermal sleeping bags, so it’s not that bad once you’re all snugged in.”

“You’re sweet, but no thank you. I’m going to wait until we get off this bloody mountain and get home. We don’t live together, but he does have a key to my apartment. I’m going to change the locks, invite him out to dinner so he can’t do anything stupid, and then drive myself home.”

“That sounds like a solid plan. Meanwhile, if you do need an out here, he won’t touch you or do anything to you. There are too mean people here who will make sure that his body wouldn’t be found until the spring thaw.”

She made a sound that was half a giggle and half a cough. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

They stood silently for a couple of minutes staring out into the darkness. Gwen felt sad for Elaine but was glad that she was strong enough to end the relationship before anything terrible could happen to her.

Jeff walked up behind them. “What’s up, ladies?”

“Nothing, just hanging out,” Elaine said.

“Uh-huh,” Jeff said. George and Jen want to play cards. Let’s join them.”

Elaine mouthed, “Thank you” to Gwen and walked away with Jeff.

Daniel was sitting in the corner of the parlor tinkering with the radios. Everyone was silent when they heard the word “resort” come through.

“Hello, this is Daniel from Montagne Maudite. Can you read me?”

“He…” and then there was static.

Daniel tried to get through for another ten minutes but all they could hear was static.

“Feeling like we got through and then nothing is worse than not being able to get through at all,” he said.

“No, not really. They heard something from here, so they know that we’re still alive,” Sawyer said. “It might make them more determined to cut through that road.”

“True,” Daniel sighed, sounding depressed.

Everyone went back to what they were doing. Gwen sat next to Zaid and Emilia.

“I hoped he would get through,” Zaid said.

Gwen’s heart clenched. He sounded so weak. The pain was etched on his face, which was flushed from fever. Emilia quietly rinsed out a washcloth and put it on the back of his neck to try to bring down his temperature. He smiled his thanks at her.

“I’m going to die on this mountain, you know,” Zaid said. “Maybe I’ll be one of the ghost stories people tell when they come up here.”

“Hush your mouth,” Emilia said. “You aren’t going to die.”

It was obvious that she was trying hard to hold back tears. Gwen reached out and put her hand on Emilia’s.

“At the very least, I’m probably going to lose my leg. Sawyer is already worried about a blood infection. I know he’s trying to put it off as much as he can. He’s a good man,” Zaid said.

“He definitely cares about you,” Gwen said.

“Back in the day, they would have the Civil War soldiers bite a belt to keep from screaming. I don’t think that would work for me. I’ll be screaming.”

Gwen shook her head. “As Sawyer said, we have what is needed to make chloroform.”

“That makes me feel better,” Zaid said sarcastically. “Now, we’re done talking about this. It’s depressing. How do you like being a teacher?

“It has its days,” Gwen said. “One day, I’m looking over my classes and think about what amazing, smart human beings they are each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The next day, I’m reminding them not to pick and eat their boogies in class.”

“Ewww,” Zaid and Emilia said at once.

“I tell all my students that they are my heroes. They all go through stuff and life isn’t easy. Yet they bring the very best self they have to school every day,” she said. “The long hours, the low pay, being blamed for everything that goes wrong in the world, and unrealistic expectations are all worth it when that one kid comes to me and tells me that I made a difference.”

“Sounds like you’re an awesome teacher,” Zaid said. “I might have paid more attention in class if I had a teacher who actually cared.”

“Most teachers do, in their own way. It’s hard for them, though. I’ve lost a couple of students, and I haven’t been teaching that long. I’ve had two die in car accidents and three who took their own lives. I’ve had a couple shot and several end up in prison,” Gwen said. “But I had one who ended up on the streets at sixteen, was drinking all the time, and had some bad stuff happen to her. She kept up with her homework though, and now she’s in college, clean, and working hard. She graduated pregnant, but she’s managing to do her classes, work, and take care of her son. She lets me know every now and again how well she’s doing.”

“Amazing. All I do is make old cars go again and make them perty,” Zaid said.

“That brings happiness to others and makes your soul happy, then that’s a good thing,” Gwen said. “What about you, Emilia?”

“Civil engineering. I’ve always loved intricately designing things and I love nature, so it was a good fit.” She looked around the parlor and laughed. “Okay, so I might not go out in nature for a while after we get back. I will sit on my couch, with the heater going, and my television.”

They all laughed. The three of them talked for a while longer, and then Zaid started to get sleepy.

Gwen found Sawyer in the library. He was staring into the flames of the fireplace as though they could give him the answers he so desperately sought.

He somehow sensed that it was her before she said anything.

“I’m scared, Gwen.”

She stood beside him and grabbed his hand. “I know you are.”

“I don’t know what else to do. We’re out of antibiotics. We’re trying the inner bark of the aspen trees, garlic, and every other home remedy we can think of, but it’s not enough.”

Gwen winced at the anguish in his voice. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her. They stood there, in front of the fire, holding tightly onto each other.