Bring Me Home for Christmas (Virgin River #16)(60)

“Hi,” Becca said to the women. “Getting those Christmas boxes ready?”

“We have to try to get them all delivered right away,” Paige said. “We have more weather on the way.”

“It would be awful if people didn’t get them before Christmas,” Becca said.

“It would be awful if they didn’t get them,” Mel said. “Some of these people need them. They might be hungry even as we speak, and if they’re also snowed in, have no way to get food. If we wait even a day and can’t get down some of those back country roads…” She shuddered. “One of the local farmers is plowing a lane out to Cameron’s house. He’s got the Hummer—our ambulance. He has to be able to get to town to the clinic. It’s heart-attack season, not to mention slips on ice, broken bones, strained muscles, cars sliding off roads, et cetera.”

“Heart-attack season?” Becca asked.

“First dramatic snowfall of the year,” Mel said while making groupings of foods for care boxes. “Shoveling and heart attacks. All the warnings in the world just don’t seem to help. During an ice storm a couple of years ago, we had a school bus go off the road. Jack and some of the guys rappeled down the hill to them. First responders had to carry the kids up one at a time. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but it could’ve been disastrous. Three years ago, we had a teenager lost and half the town went in search. Oh, Jack!” she said, turning her attention to her husband. “Paul Haggerty called—he’s plowing the stretch from 36 into town so if we have to get to the hospital, we can. And once he has access, he’ll bring some heavy equipment into town along with the construction company’s fuel truck.”

“Good. We could get gas out at Buck Anderson’s ranch—he keeps a good supply for his equipment—but getting there could be a problem.”

Becca felt a sudden surge of panic. “Is there any way to check and be sure Denny got out to the farm all right?”

“I’m sure he did or Jillian would have called asking after him,” Mel said. “But go in the kitchen and use the phone. Her number will be in the listing by the phone. Matlock. Jillian Matlock. And then get yourself something to eat—I bet you haven’t had breakfast.”

Becca worked those crutches very quickly.

“Yes,” Jillian said. “Denny and Colin are out clearing, plowing and removing snow from the roofs of the greenhouses. Most of it melted from smudge pots warming the inside, but sometime in the night, the snow and cold overwhelmed us and covered our paths to the greenhouses. How are things in town?”

“Very active,” she said. “Everyone seems to be very busy.”

Jillian laughed into the phone. “Yes, when Mother Nature pulls one of her tricks, the town rallies to make sure everyone has what they need. In big cities, you have whole agencies on the job, but out here, the wait could be a little too long. And there’s no agency to dig out my greenhouses or make paths to them for the gardenmobile! Luke and his helper, Art, are coming out to help as soon as the road to his house and cabin is cleared. He’s got a plow attachment for his truck. Slow going, but effective.”

“So you guys are okay out there?”

“Oh, yes,” Jillian said. “I have a major snowball fight scheduled for later today. Hey, Denny tells me you guys are heading south to begin whole new lives together. I hate to lose him, but congratulations, Becca! Even though you’re taking my best guy away from me, I wish you endless happiness.”

“Thanks,” she said somewhat meekly. She was taking the favorite son away. She felt kind of bad about that.

“I’ll get him out of here as quickly as possible so you can gather up your stuff and be ready to get on the road before this storm gets any worse. At least once you get off the mountain, you won’t have any more trouble. Just maybe a lot of rain….”

Except that the little truck is buried, she thought.

“Be sure you get that last ounce of help out of him,” Becca said.

Jillian laughed. “You’re a sport. Just so you know, I made Denny promise that you guys would be up for a visit. Many visits!”

“Sure we will. Tell Denny to drive back here real careful!”

“Oh, he’ll be careful,” Jillian said. “There’s no other option.”

Back in the bar, the television mounted high in the corner was turned on to the weather station and the volume was up. The blast of snow had hit the northwest, and the worst was in the mountains. The Sierras were socked in. South of town was rain and the inevitable flooding and mud, all the way to Southern California.

Becca heard a banging sound and looked out one of the bar windows. Preacher’s truck was backed up to the wood pile and, with Jack’s help, they were filling the back of the truck with split logs.

“What are they doing?” she asked the women.

“They’ll take firewood with them wherever they go today. The people around here have good survival instincts, but Jack likes to make sure they have wood on hand in case the heater fails or they run out of propane.”

Becca leaned heavily on her crutches, her bad leg lifted. This was driving her crazy! She wanted to be a part of this. “I want to help,” she said. “Tell me what I can do.”

Paige and Mel both stopped what they were doing and looked at her. “Well,” Mel finally said. “I guess you could color with the kids…”