| |
ROARING FIREPLACES.
Sandy’s homemade cookies being pulled out of a piping-hot oven.
Electric blankets turned on high and piled on top of her.
Sunbathing on a Florida beach on vacation with her parents.
Hot. So hot.
Why was she wearing this coat? She had to get it off ...
“Kennedy!” She didn’t want to wake up. Not yet. What was Willow doing here, ruining her perfect dream?
Come to think of it, what was Willow doing here at all?
“Kennedy,” Willow snapped. She sounded mad. Kennedy should apologize. She hadn’t meant to lie down in the snow.
Where were those cookies? The blankets?
“Wake up right now, and hold this baby while I try to get a fire going.”
“There already is a fire,” Kennedy mumbled. If she could just remember where she put it ...
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Snap yourself out of it and do it now. I’m not joking. I swear I’ll slap you if you don’t wake up and look at me. “
“I’m awake.”
“Look at me,” Willow demanded.
“Ok. Sheesh.” Kennedy tried to say something about being bossy, but her words were garbled.
“I told you to open your eyes and look at me.”
“I am looking at you.”
“No you aren’t. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kennedy. Open your eyes. Wake up. You need to take the baby so I can make a fire.”
“... Too hot for a fire.”
Something bit her cheek. “Ow.” Kennedy blinked.
Willow was staring, her hand still upraised. “You awake now?”
Kennedy nodded and rubbed her sore face. “I think so.”
“You gonna be able to hold this baby?”
Every thought Kennedy tried to process had to make its way through a wall of Jell-O. “Why am I holding the baby?” She stared at the newborn Willow had placed in her arms. Rylee was wrapped in blankets so that only her nose and eyes were visible.
“Because if I don’t make you a fire, you’re going to want to go back to sleep, and no matter what happens, no matter how cold you feel, you’ve got to promise to stay awake. Promise?”
“I wasn’t cold. I had blankets.”
Willow ignored her and started making a pile of twigs and branches. “I found a box of matches back at the cabin. Just give me a minute or two and we’ll get you warmed up, all right?”
Rylee yawned in her sleep. Kennedy started to giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Willow sounded cross. Was she mad Kennedy hadn’t made it to the highway?
“The baby made a face.”
“Yeah, well just hold her tight. You guys need to warm each other up while I get this fire going.”
Willow struck two or three different matches before the pile lit. “Here.” She took Rylee, bundled up in all her blankets, and nudged Kennedy closer to the small flame.
“I don’t feel it.” Kennedy frowned.
“Yeah, you’re probably already numb. It was stupid of me to send you out here by yourself.”
“I never made it to the road. I’m sorry.”
Willow shook her head. “Don’t be. We’ll get you warmed up, and then we’ll go together.”
Even though Kennedy’s body couldn’t feel the warmth from the fire, her brain began to slowly clear up, like a car’s windshield with the defroster on. “Where’s Brandy? Did you leave her back at the truck?”
Willow let out her breath. “A lot’s happened while you were out here trying to nap in the snow. Brandy’s dead.”