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But where is that exactly? And will they recognize me?

If they do mark me as a Gibson, then there’s no chance they’ll come to my rescue. I’m sure they’d rather let me freeze to death than help.

And I agree with them that what my dad did was wrong.

But the reasons why he did it weren’t.

People forget that life is not dealt with in absolutes. It would be easy to classify people as either “good” or “bad,” but the reality isn’t that simple. Good people do bad things when they are backed into a corner, and even the worst villain has some redeeming qualities.

But I’ll never stop paying for the sins of my father and Montana will never be home for me.

Coming here was a huge mistake.

Gavin has already come to my defense on two occasions, and he is the only person left in town who would even think about saving me now.

But I don’t know his phone number. Plus, he has a ranch and people he loves to take care of, so I’m not even a consideration for him.

Not anymore.

This story isn’t a fairytale and Prince Charming isn’t coming to my rescue, so I need to save myself. There’s got to be a way to get the gas from the SUV into the generator. Or to get this damn fire going.

I have hardly any battery left on my phone and should probably save it in case of a real emergency, not that it would be easy for a rescue vehicle to get up the steep, icy road anyway.

But the more pressing need than an emergency that might never happen is learning how to start a fire. And YouTube has never failed me yet.

I grab my phone, ignoring all the messages from friends in Chicago, and use my icicle fingers to find a video on basic fire starting.

Halfway through the clip, the phone screen turns black and dies.

Great.

How symbolic of my life.

Now I only have two options. I can risk driving in whiteout conditions with no clear sense of where I’m going. Or I can sit inside the SUV with the heat on until the gas runs out, the power comes back on, or the visibility clears and I can safely navigate the roads.

The storm is expected to last for days, and the power could be out for just as long. I doubt restoring it to such a remote area with only a few homes in the vicinity is a priority, and most of the people around here have working generators anyway.

Okay, I was wrong.

Everything is not going to be fine.

I’m totally fucked.

Chapter 9

Gavin

Atallcosts,Ineed to make sure that I can drive back home. Being stranded in a tiny, remote cabin with Ashley is not an option.

I need to just check on her and immediately get back on the road.

Coming was probably a mistake, but I didn’t want to send emergency personnel away from where they need to be just because I have a hunch that my old girlfriend isn’t okay.

The drive up the mountain was treacherous to say the least, but at least there weren’t any other vehicles on the road. Even the snowplows aren’t out, so clearly, I’m the only madman who is willing to risk life and limb during the worst part of the storm.

When I pull into what I hope is the driveway of the Gibson place, I can’t see shit. This adventure won’t be a quick drive-by. I’m actually going to have to get out of the truck, lay eyes on her, make sure she has what she needs, and then get out of dodge.

I’m bundled up enough to survive the sub-arctic, but I still pull up as close to where I think the cabin is as I can manage. The halogen lights on my truck cut through the falling snow and give me some limited – very limited – visibility.