“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’ll pass it along to him,” she said as she stepped out.
Sure enough, she could feel the change in the wind as she walked towards the car. Already the rain had turned, and very light snowflakes were drifting slowly down, melting almost instantly on the warm ground.
Getting back in behind the wheel, she set her coffee down in the cup holder and pulled out a burrito while the attendant finished cleaning their windshield.
“What’s that?” Eric asked, frowning down at the food.
“Breakfast burrito,” she answered, with her mouth full.
“That looks and smells amazing.” He started to reach for the handle, but she held up the bag.
“I got one for you.” She handed over the bag.
“Really?” he asked, suddenly more awake.
She wiggled the bag. “Going once…” He snagged the bag quickly from her fingers, making her chuckle. “Men.” She shook her head and rolled down the window to hand the attendant a few dollars. “Thanks.” She smiled at him before rolling her window back up and pulling out of the station.
She finished her burrito just as she pulled back onto the highway. Within fifteen minutes, Eric was asleep again, having finished off his burrito and a whole bag of potato chips.
By the time she hit the Route 138 turnoff, the snow was falling faster than the wipers could clear it off the windshield. Glancing over at Eric, she made a quick decision and took the turnoff. It would add several hours to their trip to drive along the coast and then head back inland to Portland, but she figured they would easily make the time up avoiding the storm.
If the weather had held, they’d be less than three hours from home. Part of her didn’t want the car trip to be over that soon. She was pretty sure that once Eric dropped her off at her parents’ house, he’d disappear to his sister’s house or one of his brothers’ places, and she wouldn’t see him again for another year.
Almost a full hour later, what was left of her coffee was too cold to enjoy. She pulled into another gas station in Reedsport. This time, Eric didn’t even stir when she turned off the engine.
When she opened her door, the brisk freezing air hit him and he sat up.
“What?” He glanced out the window at the whiteout. “What the hell?”
“It’s snowing,” she answered. “And that coffee ran right through me. I’ll be back.” She ducked out and disappeared into the gas station.
She took her time reapplying some makeup and brushing through her hair, then she stepped out and glanced towards the car. Wondering if Eric had gone back to sleep, she paid for the gas and stepped outside.
When she saw him sitting behind the wheel, she cringed, wondering if he’d be mad at her for the detour.
“Where are we?” he asked, but the tone in his voice told her that he knew exactly where they were.
She swallowed. “Reedsport,” she answered cheerfully and put on her seatbelt.
“Why are we in Reedsport instead of Portland?” he asked, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“There was snow and… the woman at the gas station told me that Eugene was supposed to get bombarded with it. So I took her advice and went this way to avoid the storm.” The words rushed out of her as she opened her soda and took a sip.
“The most up-to-date weather report just said that it’s going to miss Eugene and hit the coast instead.”
She cringed. “Oh, well, we can always hit the one-twenty-six back over to I-five.” She glanced out the window as the snow continued to fall in fat flakes.
“If it stays open.” He turned on the car and pulled out of the station.
Twenty minutes later, the snow was getting so bad, Eric had taken to cursing under his breath every few minutes. Sure enough, Route 126 was closed due to whiteout conditions.
More than three hours later, they had traveled less than a hundred miles with no way back to the main highway, which had been reported to have closed less than an hour after she’d taken the turnoff.
“Either way we would have been stuck,” she said softly. “At least this way, we’re a lot closer to home than if we’d stayed on the highway.” She held on as the car started sliding.
“Easy,” Eric said to the car. “Just a little more.” He’d been promising his car that for the past hour.
“Why don’t we pull over? Find a place to wait the storm out?” she suggested. “There’s a little town…” She pointed to the sign, showing that it had all the amenities. “We can spend the night here and still make it home in time. It’s a full week before Christmas. How long can a storm last?”
“Yeah,” he said after the car slipped on ice again. “We’d better pull over, I guess.” He turned the wheel and almost put them in the ditch. “Son of a…” He gripped the wheel tighter.
“Are you mad?” she asked, once they turned into the small town.
“No,” he said softly. “Like you said… we made it farther than if we’d stayed on the highway.” He pulled into a small grocery store’s parking lot. “I didn’t see a hotel. Did you?”
“No, maybe someone inside knows of a place,” she suggested. “I’ll go in…” She reached for the handle.
“No, I’ll go.” He jumped out before she could tell him she had to use the bathroom again.
She followed him into O’Neil’s Grocery and smiled when the woman behind the counter welcomed her.
“It’s a rough day to be out in this,” she called to them both.
“Yeah,” Eric sighed. “Know of any place we can wait the storm out?”
“Well, now, are you two honeymooning it?” the woman asked.
“No,” Eric denied quickly. “Just trying to head home for Christmas.”
“Oh, well, Pride Bed and Breakfast is the only place with availability.” The woman smiled. “I’ve got a flyer right here.” She held it out. Alice moved quickly and took it from the woman.
“Bathroom?” she asked quietly.
“Just down the hallway.” She motioned towards the back. “You might want to stock up before you head out. Megan has some supplies, but it never hurts to have extra before the roads close.”
“Good idea,” Eric said. “I’ll grab us some supplies.” He motioned towards the hallway. “Go.”
She didn’t wait but disappeared down the hallway.
Spending more than a dozen hours sitting in a car drinking was making her look like she had a very small bladder.
Chapter 4
Eric filled a shopping cart with everything he thought they would need for the night, including frozen dinners and a bottle of wine for later.
He was paying for all the food when Alice walked back out from the hallway. She looked even fresher than when they had walked in. He was pretty sure that half of the time she was in the bathroom she was applying more makeup and fixing her hair. Now it lay in a long braid over her shoulder. She’d changed from the oversized sweatshirt to an off-the-shoulder sweater during one of their stops.
She was still wearing the tight yoga pants and her Uggs, but with the changes she’d made, she looked even more amazing than when he’d picked her up from her dorm yesterday.