Two

Adelle stiffened and she scooted back on the couch. She didn’t know a lot about babies herself, being a relatively new mother, but from the awkward way Dennis held Raymond, it appeared he knew less than she did, which supported his remark about not being the baby’s father. She tried to think of a reason why a single man would be alone on a country road with a baby who wasn’t his and in no rush to contact the parents. She couldn’t think of anything except for a kidnapping.

She tried to stifle her fear and convince herself that she was being unreasonable. She didn’t know anything about him except that he was stranded and, unless she picked him up, both he and the baby would have frozen to death in the blizzard.

She wanted to do the Christian thing and give him the benefit of the doubt. He did see to the baby’s needs before his own, and he seemed much too nice to be a kidnapper, but then again, she had never met a kidnapper before. She didn’t know anything about him, including if he was telling the truth about his name. She had thought that Shawn was nice, too, and she had never been more wrong about anything in her life.

The wind howled outside, reminding her that she needed to go gather some firewood, but now she didn’t want to leave Rachel unattended with him.

Adelle shook her head and stood. Dennis wasn’t going anywhere. Nor was she. The force of the wind had increased and the snow was coming down harder than ever. The drive to the cabin had been more difficult than she had anticipated and now it would be impossible to get out until the storm abated. Realistically, it would be days, maybe even a week, before they would be able to dig out.

The wood in the fire popped, again drawing Adelle’s attention to the fact that there was only one log inside the cabin. With conditions continuing to worsen she would need to gather a large enough supply of wood to last the length of the storm, however long that might be. The longer she waited, the worse it would be and she only wanted to go outside once. In addition to the wood, she also had to bring in the groceries, her suitcase, and the baby supplies from the car before nightfall. Already, the sky had darkened, and it would be pitch black within an hour.

She laid Rachel down in the car seat and tucked a flannel blanket around her. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get everything inside while I still have the chance.”

He looked down to Raymond and the bottle, which was still half full. “I can do that. It’s okay.”

Adelle shook her head. “I’m dressed for these conditions, you’re not. Besides, Raymond hasn’t finished his bottle, and I have to do it right away, before the groceries freeze.”

She slipped her boots back on, fastened her coat, donned her hat, scarf, and gloves, and stepped outside, needing to get away from Dennis so she could think without being too near him.

The force of the wind made her stagger until she braced herself against it and forged through the knee-high snow. Instead of thinking about her problem, all she could think about was protecting herself from the cold and carrying as much as she could each time.

The first few trips back and forth from the car to the cabin were the most difficult, but once she created a path for herself as she plowed through the snow, the trek became easier. First she brought in the groceries, which were half of what she and her family would have needed without going back to the city for two weeks. Now, Aunt Min and Uncle Bob weren’t here, and she had a second mouth to feed. While she was in the kitchen, she flipped on the fridge and hot water tank, and went back outside to get everything else.

The suitcases were easy to carry, but Adelle struggled with the playpen, the only baby accessory she brought. She planned to set it up near the woodstove to provide a safe and warm place for Rachel to sleep.

After emptying her car, she plowed through the snow to the woodpile stacked against the tool shed. The mountain snow was powder fine, but it had been drifting against the building and had already covered the wood. She worked hard to dig through it and filled her arms with the limit of what she could carry. The snow was now past her knees, making it difficult for Adelle to trudge through as she made a new path back to the cabin carrying the extra weight.

She didn’t care that she was panting when she reached the door. Her only thoughts focused on how many more trips she had to make. She nudged the door with her foot to open it, just as she had done when unloading the car. But this time, it didn’t budge.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She had been careful not to fully close the door so that she could get back in easily. The wind must have clicked the latch shut.

A fresh gust of wind sent a frigid blast beneath her coat and whipped her scarf into her face. Despite the heavy wool coat, Adelle shivered. Rather than drop her armload, she kicked the door a few times and waited.

Inside, Dennis called out that he was coming. Through the closed door, she heard the old springs of the couch creaking, followed by muffled footsteps. Instead of the door opening, she heard the thunk of a bottle hitting the wood floor, followed by a barely audible “oops,” and the start of baby whimpers.

The door squeaked open. Adelle shuffled in and pushed it closed with her foot. Dennis stood to the side, struggling to cradle Raymond with one arm. In his free hand, he held the bottle at a most awkward angle.

“You’re making me feel so guilty. I should be doing that,” he said, then returned to the couch, where he began to lower himself by just bending his knees, not using either hand to support himself, as he was still feeding Raymond. In the process, he lost his balance and flopped down, struggling not to jostle the baby as he landed.

Adelle stomped the snow off her boots, piled the wood against the wall, and then left the cabin for another load. Again, she left the door slightly ajar and prayed that, this time, it would remain unlatched.

Fortunately, when she returned, the door was as she left it. The bottle lay on the floor empty. Dennis sat with Raymond in his lap half perched on his knee, but mostly leaning crooked against his chest, and he was diligently patting the baby on the back.

She’d never seen anyone try to burp a baby like that, but kept her thoughts to herself.

Along with the burp, Raymond spit up all down the front of Dennis’s shirt. Dennis froze, staring at the smelly white trail oozing down his shirt. His face paled and his chest jerked as he inhaled sharply then held his breath.

“Let me get something to wipe that with,” Adelle mumbled as she tried to quickly empty the logs from her arms. When he gulped for air, his color worsened. Adelle let the logs drop and ran to the kitchen to find the roll of paper towels. Quickly, she ripped open the plastic wrap, tore off a wad of paper towels, and ran across the room.

The closer she got, the more rancid the odor became. She arrived in front of him just as he started to gag. She reached for the baby and handed him the paper towels in one motion. In trying to wipe the mess, he only smeared it worse.

Even more color drained from his face. He looked up, his face white and his teeth chattering. “I think I need some fresh air,” he mumbled.

In the blink of an eye, he ran out the door, without his jacket. Except for the odd crackle from inside the woodstove all was silent inside the cabin, but outside, over the howl of the wind, she could hear Dennis retching. Between the lingering stench of the baby spit-up and having to listen to what was happening outside, Adelle’s own stomach churned.

She couldn’t force her feet to move, so she simply stood in one spot, holding Raymond.

After a few minutes the door burst open. Dennis strode in without a shirt, visibly shaking. Without a word and barely slowing his pace, he grabbed his suitcase and strode into the washroom. The door closed behind him with a bang.

Rather than stare at the closed door, Adelle lowered Raymond to his car seat and tucked one of Rachel’s flannel blankets around him, then removed her coat and headed to the kitchen.

Fortunately, he hadn’t dumped the water he used to heat the bottle. Until the hot water tank finished the cycle, it was all the warm water they had. She began to wipe down the counter so she wouldn’t have to set the groceries into the dust that had accumulated since the cabin was last used.

Dennis emerged from the washroom wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

He shivered again, rested his suitcase beside the washroom door, and walked to the woodstove, where he set out his wet sneakers and a pair of socks. He then ran his fingers through his hair and approached Raymond in the car seat, bent as if to pick him up, then halted. Raymond gurgled, but didn’t cry.

Dennis straightened with his arms empty, looked down at the baby, and rammed his hands into his pockets. He stared for a few seconds out the window, then turned back to her.

“He seems okay, so I think I’m going to leave him there. I’m not very good at this baby stuff,” he mumbled, staring at a blank spot on the wall.

For the first time since she picked Dennis up, Adelle had a chance to really look at him.

He was quite a handsome man, now that his color had returned. She figured he was around thirty years old, and since she’d seen him without a shirt, however briefly, she knew he was trim and reasonably fit. His dark brown hair was slightly wavy, and the color almost perfectly matched the color of his eyes. Together with his long, straight nose and strong eyebrows, the combination gave him quite a regal appearance.

She couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“Need some help? I don’t want to stand here doing nothing.”

Adelle nodded as she began to empty the contents of the grocery bags onto the counter. “I’ve put a bunch of stuff that has to go into the fridge over there.” She pointed to the section of counter nearest the fridge. “Can you put it in for me?”

He picked up a package of frozen meat, and smiled hesitantly at her. Adelle nearly dropped the spaghetti. When he smiled, she wanted to trust him, but logic told her that she knew nothing about him. She didn’t know if she was being an accessory to some crime by having him at the cabin.

He tucked a few packages of frozen food into the freezer. “This seems so strange. The freezer motor is still running, but it’s colder outside than it is in there.”

Adelle forced herself to nod and concentrated intently on stacking the canned goods before she loaded them into the cupboard. “I just turned the fridge on a few minutes ago. I thought of putting the frozen stuff outside, but I worried that it wouldn’t be too long and I’d never find anything again. It’s snowing even heavier than it was an hour ago.” She also thought of his soiled shirt, which he’d discarded outside, and wondered what her aunt and uncle would think when they found a man’s shirt in the yard when the spring thaw came. Especially if, by that time, she was dead by mysterious causes.

“Do you have a radio? Maybe they’ll have some kind of idea how long this will last.”

She crossed the room to the corner designated for the living room and turned on the radio, which was the only form of entertainment available besides the portable CD player she had brought.

Before she returned to the kitchen, Adelle parted the curtain and looked out the window. The night was pitch black, with no moon or stars visible through the heavy storm clouds or blowing snow. The force of the wind had increased again, and every once in a while a branch hit the cabin’s outer walls. “It’s getting worse,” she muttered to herself more than to Dennis, who was still on the other side of the room, in the kitchen.

She was stranded, with a stranger.

At the end of the song, the announcer advised of the road and highway closures, repeated the weather warning, and instructed people in the area to stay indoors. Adelle stiffened when he announced that the Weather Advisory Branch said the storm was expected to last for at least another forty-eight hours, probably into nightfall of Christmas Eve.

“I really should phone my aunt and uncle and let them know I’m here.”

He nodded and turned his attention to loading the last of the groceries from the counter to the cupboard.

Adelle wondered who she should call first, her aunt and uncle, or the police.

❧

Dennis watched Adelle as she dialed. He concentrated not on what she was doing, but on the woman herself.

Without the bulk of winter clothing, Adelle Wilson was tiny. She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the higher cupboard, and her lack of height was equally matched by her small stature. While she wasn’t thin, he acknowledged the woman recently had a baby, so he really didn’t know what she was like before. He guessed her to be about twenty-eight years old, which was only a year younger than himself.

Her curly brown hair framed a face with kind, brown eyes and soft, full lips. She wasn’t all that pretty, yet she wasn’t ugly, either. But when she smiled, she had the face of an angel.

Dennis praised God for Adelle as his angel. The situation he found himself in could have been very different. Not only were he and Raymond safe and warm while the blizzard raged outside, but Adelle had enough food to last a week, even if he wasn’t going to be here that long. The minute the snow stopped, he would call for a helicopter to come and get him. As soon as he found out exactly where they were, he and Raymond would be airlifted home. Of course he would offer the same to Adelle, but since this was her family’s cabin, he had a feeling she would stay. When the roads were cleared, her family would be able to come. They’d just be a little later than planned.

He was curious about her phone call. She said she was phoning her aunt and uncle who owned the cabin, but didn’t mention calling her husband. Dennis wondered why.

She turned her back to him as she dialed. He wished he could have given her some privacy to make her call, but the cabin was small, and not being able to go outside forced them into close company. He expected things to be awkward since they were strangers, but so far, she was being gracious. Dennis planned to do all he could for her while he was here.

Again, he praised God that he was safe and wondered what he could do when he got home to thank Adelle and her family for what she had done for him and the shelter they provided.

Not wanting to overhear her conversation, he walked back to the ugly ’70s style orange couch and sat down. He tried to focus his attention on the babies, but they had both fallen asleep, and weren’t very interesting to watch.

Within the confines of the small, quiet cabin, he could still hear every word Adelle spoke, despite her lowered tones.

“Hi Aunt Min. I’m at the cabin. I didn’t hear the weather advisory until I was already here.” Adelle nodded her head a few times as she listened to her aunt. “Don’t worry, I certainly have enough food, and everything is okay here. I’ll be fine.” She paused. “Yes, I heard. We’ll just have to see what happens and hope it ends Christmas Eve like they predict.” Another pause followed. “Uh. . .I’m, ah, not exactly alone.” Adelle laughed nervously. “I sort of picked up a stranded motorist and his baby on the way, expecting you and Uncle Bob would be here. Except you weren’t.”

This time the pause was longer, and Dennis could see that she nodded a few times, which he thought kind of funny, since her aunt couldn’t see her.

“I know, but what could I do? He’d had an accident and his car was wrecked. I was the last one your friend Officer Paul let pass. If I didn’t pick him up, he would have frozen to death in the blizzard.” Her voice dropped to a bare whisper, but with so little distance between them and the perfect quiet, he could still hear what she said. “He said that his name is Dennis Bancroft. He says he’s from Vancouver, and he has a baby with him.”

As she listened to her aunt again, she hunched her shoulders, and her voice dropped to a forced loud whisper. “I know. I’d appreciate it.”

He had a feeling that Adelle’s aunt was going to check him out to make sure he wasn’t an escaped felon or something, except she wouldn’t find anything, because his phone number was unlisted. He stood, ready to take the phone and give Adelle’s aunt his phone number, as well as the numbers of some of his friends and his pastor, so both Adelle and her family could be assured that he wasn’t a serial killer.

Before he’d taken a step, she said a quick, “I’ll phone often. Bye,” and hung up.

She turned to face him, and then froze when she saw him standing. She cringed almost imperceptibly.

Dennis shuffled back as far as he could, without having to sit down again. “I couldn’t help but overhear your end of the conversation, and I really can’t blame you for being nervous. After all, you don’t know me or anything about me. I wish there was a way I could assure you that you’re perfectly safe, and that I’m an honest and trustworthy man. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize you or your baby’s safety. Quite the opposite, in fact, since you saved our lives and took the chance on having us here. I’m deeply moved by your generosity and trust. I’ll be forever in your debt. Please relax, I’m quite harmless.”

“It’s okay,” she mumbled.

Dennis resisted the urge to run his hand down his face. Instead, he checked the time. It surprised him that it was already dark out, yet it wasn’t really that late, although it was suppertime. “Actually, there is a phone call I have to make. No one is expecting me until tomorrow so no one will be worried, but I guess I’ve kind of been putting it off.”

He paused, and sucked in a deep breath. “If you don’t mind, I have to call my fiancée.”