A Snowy Night by Layla Skylar

A Snowy Night
     
    Anna watched the snowflakes drifting lazily on the breeze. It had been snowing lightly with sun breaks in between for some time, after the dense snow showers earlier in the day. The world was white, the banked snow sparkly when the sun hit it. Strange season for such a storm – it was only a week past Thanksgiving. Maybe eight inches had fallen earlier in the day. Enough that her car was essentially stuck. No one would dig out her private road unless she did it herself. And that wasn’t how she saw spending the afternoon.
    She was stocked with enough food, water, and other essentials to last a week, easy. This was just a nice excuse to call in for a couple of extra days of vacation. Of course, she didn ’ t get a cell signal here, and there hadn ’ t been a landline in ages, so she wasn ’ t sure how that would work out. But she wasn ’ t expected back until Monday, and it was only Saturday. Tomorrow she ’ d worry about the implicatio ns of being snowed in, if that’s the condition she found herself in .
    For now, she was going to enjoy a solo afternoon in her favorite spot in the world, the family cabin.
    Her parents had inherited this cabin when her grandmother passed, a few years back. Anna could remember times here throughout her childhood. It had been a family refuge for her entire life. It wasn ’ t extravagant, but it had once been a permanent home, and that showed in the care given the details.
    Her grandparents had lived here for about ten years after they ’ d retired. It was their dream. A cabin in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Now it was a vacation home again, but the whole family appreciated the unique history of the place. Being here felt like a hug straight from childhood. Anna always felt restored when sh e came back from the cabin, just from being here where she remembered so many times with her family, with friends she ’ d brought along, with David when they ’ d been engaged...Anna decided abruptly not to go there.
    They said all wounds heal with time, but she still wasn’t over losing David when he decided to move across the country for work, and she couldn’t bring herself to leave the Northwest . Some things just weren’t meant to be. It had been almost a year, though, and maybe soon she’d finally be ready to move on. She had dated, but no one compared with the man she’d lost, and it had taken her a long time to stop making those comparisons.
    A sudden glimmer of low afternoon sunlight burst through the clouds and turned the snowflakes into sparkles of light. Anna smiled at the beautiful sight, which seemed to be just for her, and made a promise to herself. The next time I meet a good man, I’ll let go and see where it takes me.
    She went to the kitchen to get another cup of tea. It was one of those afternoons where you should just curl up with a good book and a throw over your lap. She intended to do just that once she had her refill. There was a perfect spot in an overstuffed chair right by the large front window. She could watch the snow while she caught up on her reading.
    Anna ran to her bedroom while the water for her tea reheated. She threw on her red heart pajamas and a pair of fuzzy socks, whistling a happy tune.
    There was something about the feeling of being snowed in. She knew no one could possibly bother her, and that meant she could do absolutely whatever pleased her. She could stay up until two reading this cheesy romance novel. No one need ever know that was her deepest desire at the moment .
    A knock on the door startled Anna out of her thoughts.
    Who was knocking on the door of her vacation place, where no one but her parents knew she was for the weekend, during a snowstorm?
    With trepidation, Anna went to the front of the house. She peered out the front window first. In the last of the afternoon sun, she could see a tall man at he r door. He stared right at her, eyes gray as the sky during today’s snowstorm caught