Snowed In Read Free

bed. She draped an arm
over her forehead and lay there staring at the ceiling.
    She
thought about Dex and what transpired in recent weeks. Callie had been born,
Ian had fallen in love with the child right away and so had Dex. Then Nina began
to have feelings , feelings for Dex. Sure, having a ‘thing’ for your boss
was dangerous territory. Yet, Nina could hardly help her emotions, they were
what they were.
    She
tossed and turned willing herself to fall back asleep, but couldn’t she was
much too restless. Nina turned in the direction of the radio clock and saw its
fluorescent lighting was off she turned the switch. Nothing. She got up from
the bed slipped on her robe and walked to the window. That’s when she noticed the
street lamps were off. It was a blackout!
    Nina
went very still but her pulse raced. The last time she’d in a blackout was when
she was seven years old and in Mrs. Wilkinson’s care. Her hands became clammy
and she hugged herself.
    The
memories and images of that long ago ordeal flashed before Nina and her body
trembled. “Stay calm.” She whispered and wiped her hands dry. She remained
standing right where she was for several minutes thinking and weighing out options.
    The
logical approach was for Nina to stay in her room and wait out the storm, yet she
knew it wouldn’t happen. She was far too anxious to remain inactive. Mrs.
Wilkinson’s ghostly face came into focus again and Nina’s stomach lurched. “Think,
think, think…” She said to herself. Okay. She would check in on Ian. There! It
was quite possible that the boy was up and scared senseless himself.
    Nina
glanced at the bassinet and was tempted to take Callie with her, but the child
slept comfortably. An instant later, a determined Nina was up from the bed. She
walked to the nightstand grabbed her key chain and headed for the door.

Chapter Four
     
    Outside
her room, all was silent and pitch black. Nina used the small flashlight
attached to the keychain as a guide. She made her way down the hall quietly careful
not to miss a step. Then a distant thump made her stop. She waited and a second
later a second thump. Nina turned and pointed the miniature flashlight down the
opposite end of the hall and saw nothing.
    “I
think she’s been deceased tops two hours.” One paramedic announced. “I’d say
Mrs. Wilkinson has been dead much longer than that.” A second paramedic
opinioned as the stretcher carried the woman’s body to the awaiting ambulance. “Can
you imagine that kid alone in the dark, with a dead body?” The paramedics chatted.
“Kid is lucky the blackout only lasted three hours, or else it’d been much
later before we got to them.”
    Nina
swallowed hard and pressed herself against the wall. Her brow dampened and her
mouth went dry. It’d been so long since that awful day that most of the specifics
of Mrs. Wilkinson’s passing were now very vague. And really that was fine by
Nina as she rarely wanted to call to mind the details of such dreadful
experience.
    The
thumping continued and after a moment of panic stricken idleness Nina made
herself move. “Go and check in on Ian like you said you were.” She spoke out
loud. But when the noise she’d been listening to became faint and less
intimidating Nina opted to head in the direction of the sound.
     It
was when she entered the living room that Dex’s shadowy figure came into focus
kneeling by the fireplace. She saw him work the logs using a poker to shove them
about. A pleasant walnut aroma
wafted
from the fire soothing her nerves.
    “Oh,
hi,” Dex said quietly when he spotted her, “I didn’t know you were standing there.”
    Nina
stared out the set of French doors and asked, “How long has the power been
out?”
    Dex
stuffed more logs onto the fireplace. “About an hour” he replied as he got to
his feet, “I was actually working on my laptop went the lights went out.”
    She
brought her attention to him and said, “I was going to check on