No way could she crawl from this stupid bed. Even beneath five blankets, she was fighting not to shiver. What was wrong? The old furnace had been working when she went to sleep.
And how long had she slept, anyway? Groping the nightstand for her watch, she was shocked to discover it was already nearly eleven o’clock. She’d been exhausted, true, but she had too much to do to lie here any longer.
Deciding to test the temperature again, she slid the blankets down. Sheesh. Frigid air assailed her body and made every hair stand on end atop giant goose bumps. Yanking the covers back into place, she curled into a ball and fought tears.
Unfortunately, her bladder was screaming at her.
It took her another five minutes, but she finally talked herself into making a run for the bathroom. Throwing off the covers, she leapt from the bed and sprinted through the small house to its lone bathroom. She cranked up the shower to the hottest setting to try to build up steam, and dashed through her morning routine despite the shivers wracking her body. When the water in the shower finally reached a reasonable temperature, she jumped beneath the spray.
It took a full two minutes before she felt heat return to her beleaguered limbs. And when she stepped out of the shower, she gloried in the steam that filled the small bathroom. Mostly dry, she gazed at the door leading to the rest of the house.
“It’s like I know there are a thousand snakes on the other side of it, yet I have no choice but to go out there,” she muttered before laughing at herself. “This is ridiculous!”
Wrapped in a towel, Natalie took a deep breath for courage and opened the door. Yep. It was as bad as she’d expected. She darted back to the bedroom and made a beeline for the dresser. After yanking her undergarments on, which wasn’t easy—she was shaking more violently than a single leaf in an autumn breeze—she found her warmest pair of wool pants.
Next, she piled on four shirts, a sweater, and a coat that didn’t want to fit over the bulk of her cleverly “layered” clothes. The only shoes she’d brought were not going to cut it, and she was kicking herself for that now. Her toes were going to turn black and fall off with frostbite before this Montana adventure was over.
Once she’d clothed herself as best as she could, she moved over to the blasted furnace, which was really just a glorified space heater. Not knowing what else to do, she slammed it hard with palm of her hand and stood there shaking as she waited for a miracle.
Nothing happened.
“All right. Time to go shopping.”
She’d never thought she’d be the type of woman to wear hopelessly unattractive long underwear, but if she was going to survive a Montana winter, she’d dang well better get used to the things. She didn’t even care what color they were, just as long as they kept her warm.
Rushing outside, she gazed at her “new” car, a small blue Toyota probably from the Pleistocene era. It had most certainly seen better days, but it was hers and the heater worked, and nothing at the moment was more beautiful than the thought of a burst of warm air blasting from the vents. It took the old metal heap about five minutes before the heat actually began flowing, but once the warmth hit her, she smiled in delight.
“Not so bad,” she muttered. It occurred to her that maybe she was talking to herself just a little too much. “Oh well.”
Driving into the almost comically small town, Natalie was surprised by the lack of traffic. No one seemed to be around. What was going on? These people had to be used to driving in the snow. But all she’d seen on the roads were big plows clearing the streets.
She reached a stop sign and tapped on her brakes, and in the blink of an eye everything began to go wrong. Though her taps were growing urgent—hell, they were stomps now—the car wasn’t responding, and in front of her was a gigantic black truck.
“No. No. No!”
Nope. That didn’t work. Her car kept on going, and she crashed into the back of the behemoth. And even though she was going less than fifteen miles per hour, her tiny Toyota had no chance of surviving.
Her car went beneath the truck’s bumper. Her hood crinkled, and steam flew up into the air as her radiator was impaled. The impact jolted her head forward, but the small car’s air bags didn’t deploy for some reason and she felt the sting of her forehead connecting with the steering wheel.
Dammit! She hadn’t even insured the car yet! Now what in the heck was she going to do? Tears sprang to her eyes, but with a will borne of hard times, she blinked them away and stepped out of what was once a running car. At least she hadn’t suffered more than a couple of bruises and a huge dent to her pride. She really hoped the bulk of the physical damage was only to her car and not the other vehicle.
“What in the hell are you doing out on the road if you can’t even do as simple a task as stopping at a big red sign? Did you decide that today would be a great day to plow into a complete stranger?”