Snowbound - Harlequin.com

16 SNOWBOUND
Voice pitched so only Fiona would hear him, Dieter
said, “If this is Thunder Mountain, the next town is
something like another hour. And that’s when the road’s
plowed. I don’t remember much in between.”
The others were offering opinions, but she ignored
them.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m going to back up. Can you
guide me?”
He left the passenger door open and talked her
through backing up ten yards or so. Then he shone the
flashlight on the tracks in the snow. Now Fiona could
see them, too. A vehicle had come from the other direction
and turned into an opening between trees.
Please God, she thought, let the driver have known
where he was going. Don’t let me follow someone else
as desperate as we are.
“See?” Dieter turned the beam on a dark bulk to the
right as she turned into the road or driveway or whatever
it was. “Let me go look.”
She watched as he plowed his way through and took
a swipe at whatever it was with his bare hand. Clumps
of snow cascaded down, exposing writing that the dim
beam picked out.
He yelled, “It is Thunder Mountain Lodge. Cool!”
When he got back in, Fiona asked, “Please tell me
it’s not another five miles.”
He laughed exultantly. “Nope. It’s like…I don’t
know, a quarter of a mile. Half a mile?”
“Okay,” she said. “Here goes.”
Whatever vehicle had gone before her had obviously
passed by a while back; it was a miracle that Dieter had