Page 139 of Bang

Crud.

Now, I'd need to apologize for flipping out on him.Again.

My shoulders slumped.This day just got better and better.

With growing dread, I trudged onward until I reached the main entrance. What I saw through the big glass doors made my eyes widen in surprise.

Outside those doors, I didn't see a regular snowstorm. I saw a raging blizzard, even by Petoskey standards.

One time for a school project, I'd had to look up how many inches of snow Petoskey averaged in any given year. The total was over a hundred inches, nearly four times the national average.

And yet, what I saw in the mall parking lot left me speechless. The wind was raging, and the snow was falling so hard, I could hardly see beyond the sidewalk outside the glass doors.

Great. Now I owed Mason a double apology.

As far as the blizzard, I wasn'tthatworried for my own safety. Mason's house was only twenty minutes away, and the SUV had four-wheel drive, along with tons of safety features.

Plus, I was more than willing to take my time.If the drive took me an hour, so what?

In fact,twohours would be even better, considering what awaited me at Mason's place.

With a sigh, I reached into my purse and pulled out my gloves. Before braving the snow-covered roads, I'd need to call Mason and explain that Willow wasn't with me, if only to keep him from venturing out himself.

On second thought, I decided, I'd just send him a text.

The less contact the better, right?

Stalling, I decided I'd first make it to my vehicle and take it from there.

With my head down, I trudged through the swirling snow, trying my best to keep from falling on my backside in the slippery parking lot.

I wasn't even sure what was more frustrating – that the weather had caught me by surprise or that Mason had been annoyingly correct about the need to leave quickly.

Hehadn't been caught by surprise. And he'd warned me, too.But had I listened?

No.

But then again, he'd only called me like fifteen minutes ago, which would have made nearly no difference – except for the fact that he'd now have the pleasure of saying,"I told you so."

Terrific. Something else to look forward to.

On the upside, the blazing orange SUV was impossible to miss, even now, with the visibility so awful.

In my purse, my cellphone was buzzing every minute or two, just like it had been doing ever since I'd ended the call with Mason. Into the swirling snow, I muttered, "Jeez, hang on, will ya?"

By the time I reached the SUV, I was a freezing, snowy mess. As I yanked open the driver's side door, my phone buzzed yet again.

With a muttered curse – arealone, by the way – I practically dove into the driver's seat and slammed the driver's side door shut behind me. Without wasting any time, I started the SUV's engine, figuring I'd let it warm up while I caught up on my messages.

From Mason, there were half a dozen texts along with a couple of phone calls, too.No voicemails.

As far as the texts, they were more of the same, urging me to head home ASAP. He meanthishome, of course, because by now, it was pretty darn obvious, my plans for driving to Petoskey today were utterly ruined.

And on top ofthat, the SUV's windshield was completely covered in snow – not the fluffy kind that could be easily brushed off, but the icy kind that required defrosting.

This meant I still had at least five more minutes before I could even think of leaving the parking lot.

To Mason, I tapped out a quick text."Willow's safe at Arden's. Making cookies. Not shopping. Ok?"