Angel Without Wings by Mari Manning

Author:Mari Manning
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, contemporary
Publisher: Crimson Romance, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Jesse pushed the van as fast as he dared and made good time climbing the nearly vertical grade into the mountains. Considering the crappy conditions.

But when he veered off the interstate just west of Idaho Springs, the driving got dicey. The wind had nearly erased the only road into Winter Park. The faint ridges of snow left by the plows and a thick forest of Douglas fir on either side of the highway were his only guide. He navigated along the serpentine road with growing unease. Not a single vehicle passed them. If the van slid off the road, it could be days before help came.

He glanced over at Lin. Her face was pale.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Fine. I’ll be better when we get there.”

“Yeah. Should be just a few more miles.” He turned back to the road. They passed under a tall Douglas fir. Its top branches, heavy with snow, bent precariously toward the road. As they drew near, a loud crack shattered the air. Jesse pulled the wheel hard to the left, skirting the range of the tree, and the van fish-tailed across the road. He steered into the skid and held his breath. The van righted itself inches from a snow bank. He began to breathe again.

Lin gasped and twisted around in her seat. His eyes shifted to the rearview mirror. Behind the van, a six-foot section of the tree crashed into the road.

She turned to him, wide-eyed. “I hope your friend has extra beds.”

He hoped so, too.

He pressed lightly on the accelerator. The van’s tires spun beneath them. “Come on, baby,” he whispered under his breath. He put the van into reverse and rocked back, then pushed it into first gear and depressed the gas pedal again. “Come on. Just a few more miles.” The van groaned, and after a loud, clanking protest, it lurched forward again.

Lin sighed in relief.

“Keystone’s lodge should be coming up soon. It’s before the town. Look for a sign on the right side of the road. I’ll take the left.”

Lin turned her head as he gently eased into second gear, and the van valiantly huffed and chugged its way up to Winter Park.

“There! I see it.” Lin bobbed up and down in her seat.

He squinted at the snow-spattered sign up ahead. Through the thick flakes blowing across the windshield, eyston odg appeared. A surge of relief shot through him. Tapping gently on the brakes, he slowed the van to a crawl and turned in between the sign and a wrought iron lamp. The globe was dark and snow-covered. He felt a twinge of doubt. In a heavy storm, with visitors expected, Keystone should have it on.

Snow drifts were piled high on the driveway. It didn’t appear that any vehicles had passed this way since the storm began. The underbelly of the van wasn’t clearing the snow, and the front fender pushed the snow forward for several feet then stopped as the wall of snow grew too high to plow forward.

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