Renata shook the doorknob again. With her luck today, whatever fail-safe someone had used for the door—a rock—had been rolled away when they strolled inside. Lovely! She kicked the rock with disgust and then jammed her toe. Damn it!
With only four hours to spare until the wedding, the maid of honor and the officiant were trapped in the basement. Behind a door thick enough to hold back a friggin’ nuclear blast.
She knocked on the door a few times. “Can anybody hear me? There’s people locked inside!” She hit the door harder. “Hello? Help us please!”
“Do you have your cell phone?” Max asked. “Mine says no service.”
“Me, too.” The meager bar she had this morning was long gone. Somehow she held in the curse on the tip of her tongue.
“Just calm down, somebody has to come,” Max said. “All the vintage liquor is stored here and there’s a wedding about to take place.”
She took a deep breath and tried to relax. His words usually made her feel better. “So we don’t have any signal, but maybe this cellar has a land line,” she suggested.
“Might as well check the place out.”
She glanced around. They didn’t have much space in the rectangular room. The walls around them extended about ten feet in the air with square holes for bottles from waist-height to the ceiling. Renata reached out and brushed her fingers against the smooth, dark wood. Icy, too. The structure was just as cold as the air in the room.
“I don’t see much of anything in here. Are all wine cellars this cold?” The thin shawl only provided so much warmth. Of course she’d get stuck here in a strapless dress.
Ignoring her question, Max ran his hands along the wall opposite the door.
“What are you doing?” She crossed the room to his side.
“There’s a faint breeze coming through the gaps over here.”
She pulled out a bottle of red wine and peered through the hole. There was nothing but darkness on the other side, but the gust of dry air was unmistakable.
Max reached into an empty gap, and then, with a faint click, a door-sized section of the wall swung inward.
“Oh, how neat.” She followed him into the next room. “I’ve always wanted to find a secret room.”
With only the light from the room they came from, Renata followed him closely from behind
Max stopped abruptly and she ran into his back with a hard thud to her nose. “Are you okay?” he asked with a chuckle.
She backed away to give him some space. “A bumped nose is the least of my problems.” The room suddenly filled with light. He must’ve found the switch. This new place was circular with a thick wood table in the center and more shelving for liquor in custom slots. An overpowering scent of polished wood filled the air.
She twisted around to see him on the other side of the room wearing an apologetic expression. “Today was supposed to be a good day. I’m sorry. I got you into this mess.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’d rather be trapped down here with you than with a lot of other folks I know.” She flashed a smile instead of thinking about how terrible she looked. “Besides, it saves me from having relatives see me like this. I’d be horrified.” She gestured to her dress. “I’m a steaming hot mess right now.”
A funny look passed over his face. “No you’re not. You look really . . .” He trailed off without finishing, turning away to search along the counter.
She let her eyes follow his movements, but couldn’t see a phone or anything that might help them out of their predicament. Only a few boxes and such along the table and counters. “There’s no phone down here. We’re gonna have to try something else. There was a window in the first room—”
“Good idea.” He left the room and she followed.
The supposed exit wasn’t much of one. The window, a few feet above their heads, was rectangular, and appeared to be only big enough for Renata to stick her head through. Not much else. Not as promising as she first thought, and it looked a little bit dangerous besides. “I don’t think we should try.”
“We don’t have many other ideas.”
“What side of the building does that wall face?” she asked, because this part she knew he was good at.
The engineer answered with a blink. “It faces the east. Toward the parking lot.”
“Maybe somebody parking their car will hear us if we call out the window?”
He shrugged in reply and then scratched the back of his head. “Push me up when you’re ready,” he said, with a wry expression that made her place her hands on her hips.
“I think it’s safe to say you can hold my weight far longer than I can hold yours,” she said with a snort.
“I don’t know . . .” He finally revealed his mischievous grin.
“This isn’t the time to put on your I’m-a-judgmental-jerk T-shirt, Max.”
“I’m just kidding.” He put his hands up in surrender. “So, umm, how do you want to do this?”
“Cup your hands.” She slipped out of her heels. Thank goodness she didn’t put on pantyhose. They would’ve been ancient history after a stunt like this. She hoped and prayed he didn’t have to lift her too high to reach the window.
“Your shawl might get snagged . . .”
Her grip on the fabric tightened. Her face reddened, thinking of the gap in her gown. Had the dress stayed put?
Max chuckled. “I promise not to look—unless you straight up flash me.”
She shrugged off the shawl and placed it over his right shoulder. After their search through the parking lot and lodge, the safety pin had long given up and had disappeared. With no sentinel to hold it back, the stubborn zipper had crept down a bit, but not enough for her dress to start slipping down.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a sweet smile. “I’ve seen you a lot more jacked up than this.”
“You’re really asking for it, Houston.” She reached out for the wall to support her ascent, and with a push from Max on her heels reached the window. Only to be greeted by nothing but the sight of flowers and rocks. She couldn’t see beyond the shrubbery to the parking lot, if it was even there.
“What do you see?” Max wobbled a bit, then steadied himself.
“Flowers are blocking the way.” She felt along the windowsill.
“Does it open?” he asked.
“I’m trying. Hey—” She slipped a bit in between his hands. “Don’t drop me!” He let go of the hold to brace her foot with one hand and leg with the other.
“Sorry!” he grunted. “Can you balance okay on one foot?”
“I’m doing fine. I’m pretending I’m a cheerleader.”
He chuckled. “How’s that going for you?”
“About as well as this morning.” Nothing along the edge so much as budged. She tapped on the window for good measure. The glass was too thick. Yelling wouldn’t do her any good.
Although it might make her feel better.
“Can anybody hear me?” She yelled and beat against the window, but not even a squirrel stopped by to mock her. “I give up.”
He eased her down, grabbing her hips when she tilted a bit in the wrong direction. She fell down hard, forced to grab his shoulders to keep herself from meeting the floor face-first. “Ugh! Whatever happened to graceful landings?”
“They don’t exist.” His warm hands slid up to her waist, lingering briefly at the gap to touch her chilled skin. Her gaze caught his, but she looked away.
“Yeah.” He quickly let go of her. “I agree.”
When she backed up a step, he caught her wrist. “Wait.” Max brushed his fingers from her elbow to her wrist. The pleasant sensation formed goose bumps on her skin.
“What?” Did she have a bug on her or something?
“You’re cold.”
“It’s not that bad.”
He handed her his jacket. “Just stop it and take it. I didn’t notice.”
She smiled her thanks and accepted the garment. Not only was it warm from him, but it smelled like Max. His familiar spicy, yet faintly citrus, cologne made the coat all the more welcoming. A pleasant comfort.
“So that idea was a dud.” She paced around the wineglass racks with her hands on her hips. “You’re the engineer, do something.”
“Like build a bridge? I’m a materials engineer.”
“I don’t know. I thought you guys knew how to do cool stuff. Like all you’d need is a toothpick, a paper clip, and a hot-glue gun to build something magnificent for our grand escape.”
“I wish I did have a glue gun for somebody’s mouth.”
She smirked at him. “Will anybody come looking for us? Maybe the wedding planner?”
“I’d hope so. If she’s any good. Let’s hope Julie Winter is wondering where we are and she’ll come for us, right?”