Frigid Affair(29)

Determined to stop thinking about all the negatives, I managed to sob myself into a peaceful slumber.

A familiar sound of a tree falling sent me shooting straight up in my bed. I looked at the little boy sleeping soundly across the room, thankful he hadn’t been disturbed. Ava started growling, making me feel like she sensed something near the house. Since I knew it wouldn’t be Jensen, on account of him not being clinically insane enough to risk his safety, I figured it was either an animal, or the tree had just rattled her.

I crouched down on the floor beside her and scratched her ears. “It’s okay, girl. We’ve made it through worse,” I whispered.

Trees fell all the time, especially when they were weighted down by heavy snow. I anticipated more to succumb to the same fate before the storm was over.

Just to make sure the house was still out of any danger, I headed downstairs to check the windows.

It was hard to make out anything. The wind had froze the falling snow to the glass. I wasn’t stupid enough to try to open the front door, because I knew I might not be strong enough to close it.

With nothing apparently broken, I headed back upstairs in hopes of getting more much needed sleep, but it never came. I was too worked up listening to nature falling victim to another frigid weather condition.

By early morning I was a sight for sore eyes, and speaking of which, mine were almost completely swollen shut. I was scared to death to look in the mirror and see what I’d done to myself.

Since I was in a fowl mood, I found it difficult to give Christopher my undivided attention. I went to plug something into the electric fed off the solar panels and discovered they hadn’t charged because they’d been buried by the snow. I looked around the room, and then in the kitchen. I didn’t have instant hot water without electricity, and since I’d been home and Christopher was walking around I didn’t heat things up on the woodstove because I was afraid he’d burn himself out of curiosity. He was going to get hungry, and I’d need to make him something warm. This was terrible.

I quickly powered up my phone and tried to get a signal so I could check the weather, but even in the highest point of my upstairs I was unsuccessful. Not even one bar showed. In fact, all that lit up on the screen was a big X instead of a service signal. “Shit!”

A little voice repeated me from below. I shook my head, disgusted with myself.

“What else today?” I mumbled.

After closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths I got my shit together and stopped freaking out. I could manage without power. I’d done it before.

Once I collected all the baby gates I had around the house, I made a barrier surrounding the woodstove, then I got out my largest pots and filled them with snow I gathered by opening the front door. It had blown against the house, making it seem a lot deeper than it actually was. Ava, loving the snow, went flying out, clearing her own path as she did it. Knowing her, she’d stay out for a while playing, only coming in when she finally got too cold to stand it any longer.

I had several large gallon jugs of water in the small pantry. I fetched one, using it to fill the pots the remainder of the way. Then I stuck them both on the woodstove, followed by a tea kettle. I’d use that for Christopher’s oatmeal and some tea for me. I filled the woodstove with dry kindling and waited for everything to heat up. It would take a while before it boiled. It wasn’t like we were pressed for time.

When I noticed it had been nearly thirty minutes since Ava went outside, I stuck my head out the door and began calling her name. I whistled and called some more, waiting for her to come out of a patch of woods covered in snow. It was still coming down pretty hard, making visibility difficult. I gave her one last call and closed the door, hoping the chill hadn’t been enough to cool off the house. It was always colder in the morning because the woodstove was running on what was left from the night before. Thankfully, as soon as the door shut I could feel warmth. I picked Christopher up and kissed him, carrying him over to his highchair. “Where do you think Ava went?”

“Ayba.” It was how he pronounced it. “Ayba,” he repeated.

“She’s outside. I hope she’s okay.”

“Ayba.”

I tried to smile, but I was a bit worried. I knew she was just a dog, but she was as close to a best friend and I had. She’d been with me when I first moved. I loved her as part of my little family.

Since I was the mom, I knew it was important not to let Christopher see me worried and upset. I gave him a sippy cup of juice and started mixing the water in the kettle with his oatmeal. Lately he’d been feeding himself, even though it made a huge mess. He still got a kick out of trying to be a big boy. I handed him his spoon, showing him three times how to hold it, only to give up when he insisted on using his whole fist.

I sat down in a chair beside him and dabbed a teabag in a cup full of steaming water. “It’s going to be a long day, buddy.”

He tossed his cup across the room and laughed at himself. I got up to get it and heard Ava barking. Quickly I made a beeline for the front door. When I opened it I saw her standing beside Jensen. Down the hill a ways sat a snowmobile. I hadn’t even heard him driving up because the wind was so intense. “What are you doing here?”

“Your dog was on my porch. Since you don’t have a phone I figured I’d bring her home. I, uh, I wanted to check on you. Last night was brutal and …”