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But as I slowly pulled onto the road, I wondered if I was wrong. If Amma weren’t there, then she would be stuck in this alone.
All the warnings I’d heard played back in my head. This area was going to lose power. People could die if they didn’t have a backup generator or some sort of fireplace to keep warm.
Amma had a stove, but that was it. She would know how to use it, but would Stella?
The idea of her being alone distracted me just enough from the road to slide off of it. I came to a rough stop,knowing that I could probably get the truck out of the ditch if I worked hard enough. I’d put cat litter in the back seat for this very reason. Still, I would lose valuable time.
Besides, gettingmyselfout of it was the last thing on my mind.
THREE
STELLA
I disposedof the charred remains of Amma’s bread pudding and hoped she didn’t look too closely at the trash. Now that Alden was gone, I was no longer half focused on listening for the noises he was making around the house and I could think straight.
If Amma asked, I was going to blame the burnt food on him.
In reality, I was overwhelmed. Amma helped me make soup, but I got distracted putting it away and forgot to set a timer for the pudding. Cooking used to be second nature to me, but now I felt like it was all new.
And I hated that I felt that way.
I was free to feel the sinking misery again. Alden was a good distraction from it, but the anger was simply a front. I didn’t want him to see how low I’d gotten.
“Hey, Amma,” I called. “Um, the bread pudding isn’tdone, but the soup is. Do you need anything else? I should probably call Nick to get out of here soon.”
Only silence answered me.
I paused. I had beensosure she had come back. Had I been wrong?
“Amma?” I called again.
The only answer was the blowing wind, which wasloud.
A prickle of anxiety crawled up my spine.
Then the phone rang.
Amma had one of those wired wall phones—a vintage thing from the nineties. She said she would never get rid of it as long as it worked because she preferred to live without a cell phone.
I didn’t know whether or not to answer it. The idea of answering a call at all didn’t sound fun, but one without any caller ID sounded worse.
When the answering machine clicked on, I heard Amma’s voice.
“Hi, kids,” she said. “The weather is getting really bad out there. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, but you might wanna stay where you are. This is a real kicker of a snowstorm. Stay safe, you two!”
My heart stopped. She thought Alden was still here, but he wasn’t.
I had kicked him out like a fucking fool.
Maybe Amma was kidding. After all, it couldn’t have gottenthatbad that quickly. I checked the time, eyes bugging out when I saw I’d been cooking forhours.
Breath stuttering, I ran out the door, begging the sky to hold off for long enough for me to call Nick and get out of here.
The brutal wind hit me first, and I regretted telling Alden to take his coat back. As I emerged from the porch’s protection, my feet slid out from under me, and my back thudded painfully on the gravel below.
Ice crystals hit my face. The strong wind was blowing against the house, bringing pure ice down on the earth.
“No,” I groaned. “It’s ice.”