Virgin Territory by Kenna White

Author:Kenna White [White, Kenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594935152
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2016-10-04T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

Jan parked the car but kept the engine running and the heat gently flowing into the backseat while Elise finished her phone conversation. She tried not to listen but she could tell Elise wasn’t happy being stuck in the backwoods of New Hampshire, no happier than she was about it. The dispatcher at the car service would need to be told but there was nothing the company could do.

“How long do you think we can stay here in the car?” Elise asked. “It’s clean and warm. And thankfully bug free.”

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want but eventually I’ll need to turn off the engine so we’ll have enough gas to at least find a filling station tomorrow. Maybe three hours, tops.”

“That’s all? It’s going to get down in the twenties tonight. We’ll freeze to death.”

“Sorry. There’s a V-eight engine under the hood. It doesn’t sip gas ladylike. It guzzles it. Why don’t you sit here for a few minutes while I go see if I can get a fire going in that wood stove?”

“You don’t mind cleaning it out? It looked pretty nasty.”

“Did you want to do it?” Jan mused. “You’re the boss. I don’t want to infringe on your enjoyment.”

“No, no. Go right ahead. Please.” She handed Jan the key.

“You might want to charge your phone while you’re sitting here.” Jan climbed out and started for the path.

Elise put her window down and called to her, “Should I be offering to come help? I don’t want you to think this is part of your duties. It’s not expected.”

“Nope. I can handle it. We’ll consider it auxiliary responsibilities.”

“I really appreciate it.” Elise hated the quiver in her voice. All of this was beyond her control and she hated it.

Jan leaned down and looked in the open window. “Ms. Grayson, this isn’t your fault. It just happened. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I don’t blame you. You shouldn’t either.” She tapped her knuckles against the window. “Put your window up and keep warm. I’ll be back shortly.”

Elise plugged her phone in to charge while she checked a few emails. Immersing herself in work was the only way she knew to ignore the situation. She was ready to send a text when Jan opened the driver’s side door and climbed in.

“All set.”

“You got a fire started already? I bet that wasn’t fun, considering what you had to clean out of the stove first.”

“It wasn’t too bad. I used some dried pine needles and a couple paper napkins for kindling. I found a key hanging on the coat tree that fit the padlock on the shed. The well pump has been wired to run off an auxiliary gasoline powered generator but there’s no gasoline to run it. I wish I could tell you we had running water but we don’t.”

“I know what you’re trying so delicately to tell me. No running water means no functioning bathroom.”

“But we at least have heat.” Jan retrieved a flashlight from the glove box and checked to see if it worked.

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