Shelter from the Storm Read online

  The heat of a blush rose up her neck and across her cheeks. She cast a covert glance at Jesse. He was staring straight ahead. A muscle twitched in his clenched jaw. He hadn’t forgotten their last conversation.

  After weeks of dropping hints about her feelings for Jesse and her desire to get married, she had finally confronted him point-blank and proposed marriage with disastrous consequences. He’d laughed at her and told her to go home. She had countered by confessing her love and throwing herself into his arms. He’d abruptly put her aside. The scowl on his face and his words still echoed in her mind.

  You’re not in love with me. You’re a foolish, spoiled baby looking for trouble. One day you will find it unless you learn humility.

  She wasn’t proud of her reaction. She said things she hadn’t meant, but she was sure Jesse had meant what he said. He’d walked away, shaking his head, leaving her crushed and fuming. Her humiliation had been complete when she learned some of her friends had overheard their conversation. Her parents had been appalled as the gossip quickly spread. Rather than face it down, after a few months she had packed up and moved to Florida to start a new life.

  The sad part was that she really had liked Jesse. It was knowing that he had been disgusted by her behavior that hurt the most.

  She dared a glance at him, but his attention was focused out the passenger’s side window. She clutched the front of her cloak and sat quietly beside him as Dale chatted away about his ex-wife and her poor cooking.

  About thirty minutes into their trip, it began snowing heavily. Fat flakes smashed themselves against the windshield and were swept away by the wipers. As the snow became thicker, Dale grew quieter and concentrated on his driving.

  Ahead of them were several semi–tractor trailers. Dale hung back to keep out of their spray. Suddenly the last truck in line went into a skid on the bridge ahead. The rig jackknifed and clipped the rear end of the truck in front of it as it tipped over. The sound of screeching metal reached her as both trucks hit the sides of the bridge. Dale maneuvered his pickup off to the side of the road. Both men got out. Gemma saw the flickering of flames through the windshield that was being quickly covered with snow.

  Jesse paused to look at her. “Stay put.” He slammed the door shut and jogged away with Dale into the snow.

  Gemma had no idea how long she sat in the truck. She prayed silently for all the people involved. The sirens of rescue vehicles announced their arrival before they pulled up alongside her. With police and firefighters on the scene, Dale and Jesse finally returned to the vehicle.

  “Is everyone all right?” she asked Jesse as he opened his door.

  “Both drivers survived.”

  Dale knocked the snow off his boots before climbing in behind the wheel. “That is a mess. The bridge will be closed for hours yet. You should’ve seen Jesse pull the door open on that tipped-over cab and lift that fellow out. If it weren’t for him, that guy would be toast.”

  Jesse stared straight at her. “Sometimes it pays to be as big as an ox.”

  She didn’t know how to reply. He continued to stare at her for a few more seconds, then he looked away. She was left with the feeling that her long-ago comment had hurt his feelings. Had it? She’d only been concerned about her own humiliation at the time.

  Not that it mattered. Once news of her condition got out, he would be eternally grateful he had avoided her bumbling advances.

  * * *

  Jesse stared straight ahead. He had given Gemma the opportunity to apologize for her painful comments about him. Either she still believed he was big and dumb or she didn’t care about his feelings. She once claimed to love him. If she still harbored tender feelings for him, she was hiding it well. His Amish faith demanded that he forgive anyone who had wounded him. He thought he had done so, but having her so close beside him proved some of his resentment remained.

  He had been taunted and ridiculed about his size since his school days. He wasn’t the smartest kid in the class, and he knew it. That only made him try harder. He endured the teasing until one day in the fourth grade he hit his antagonist in the face. Wayne Beachy had ended up with a broken jaw. Filled with remorse, Jesse never allowed his temper to take control again. Enduring teasing was far less traumatic than seeing the results of what his fists could do.

  That was why his continued resentment of Gemma Lapp troubled him and why she was never far from his thoughts. He didn’t understand his reaction. He only knew she made him uncomfortably aware of his size and his lack of intelligence. Gemma was tiny compared to him. Her sharp wit had made her a favorite among the young people in New Covenant. It was only after her best friend, Bethany, married Michael Shetler that her wit took on a cutting edge.

  He should’ve been glad when she decided to move to Florida, but he hadn’t been. For some unknown reason, he had missed her.

  She looked at Dale. “What now? Do we wait here, or do we go back to Cleary?”

  “I might have a third option.”

  “What?” Jesse asked. He had to get to his bank before the close of business today.

  Dale half turned in his seat to face them. “You remember that I told you I used to work for a logging company in this area?”

  Jesse nodded. “I remember.”

  “About two miles back, there is a logging road that cuts off this highway and goes about twenty miles back into the hills. It comes out on this same highway about twenty-five miles up ahead. I figure it’ll be rough in places, but we’ll lose less than two hours of time, which will be better than sitting here waiting for the bridge to be cleared. What do you think?”

  “What about the weather?” Jesse asked.

  “The snow is letting up. We’ll stay ahead of it.”

  “I say go for it,” Gemma said. Clearly the last thing she wanted to do was spend more time than necessary with him.

  “What do you say, Jesse?” Dale asked.

  “I’ve got to get home by this afternoon.”

  Dale grinned and turned the pickup around. “All right, folks. We are about to see some fabulous Maine backcountry wilderness.”

  * * *

  Dale had been right. Not about the weather, the snow continued, but about the beautiful scenery and the road being rough. It was more of a trail than an actual road. As they bounced along the narrow track through towering pine trees, Jesse and Gemma were constantly tossed against each other. He had been in many uncomfortable situations in his life but none as uncomfortable as trying to remain indifferent to the little woman continually apologizing for jamming her elbow or her shoulder into his side.

  She wasn’t doing it on purpose, but that didn’t make it any more comfortable. He was tempted to slip his arm around her and pull her tight against him, but he didn’t. She might think he was trying to take advantage of the situation.

  They reached a more open area, and Dale picked up speed. Suddenly, a bull moose galloped out into the road directly in front of them. Dale swerved. Jesse threw his arm across Gemma as he braced for the impact. The moose sprang forward at the last second. Dale missed him but lost control of the pickup and careened into the trees. The front wheels hit a large fallen log and stopped abruptly, throwing them all forward. Gemma slipped from under Jesse’s arm and cried out as she hit the floorboard.

  After a few seconds of stunned silence, Jesse pushed himself away from the dash and back onto the seat. “Gemma, are you hurt?”

  She had ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor. Dale was slumped behind the steering wheel.

  Gemma looked up at Jesse with pain-filled eyes. “Something’s wrong with my ankle. I think it may be broken.” She tried to lever herself up. He stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

  “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  “Give me a minute.” She flexed her neck, shrugged her shoulders, then opened and closed her hands. She shut her eyes and pressed a hand to her
midsection.

  “What is it?” he asked, concerned by her stillness.

  Sighing, she held out a hand. “It’s just my left foot. Help me up.”

  “How bad is it?” He lifted her gently to the seat. The movement caused her to grit her teeth as a deep frown creased her brow.

  “Bad enough, but I think I’ll live. Are you okay?”

  “A few bumps and bruises.” His right arm hurt where he had braced it against the dashboard, but it was likely a strain and nothing more. He was a little surprised she had asked.

  Turning to the driver, Gemma touched his shoulder. “Dale? Dale, are you okay?”

  He moaned and sat back, raising a shaky hand to his head. “I’ll get back to you on that. What happened?”

  Jesse rubbed his shoulder. “The good news is you missed the moose. The bad news is that you struck something else.” The front end of the truck was tilted up at a fifteen-degree angle.

  “Anybody hurt?” Dale blinked rapidly as he tried to focus.

  “Gemma thinks her foot is broken. I’m fine. How about you?”

  “Other than an aching noggin, I think I’m okay.” He pushed open his door and looked down. “Wow. This is not good.”

  Chapter Three

  Dale turned off the vehicle, got out and squatted to look under it. His expression told Jesse he wasn’t happy with what he saw. Jesse had to force open his door to get out by hitting it with his aching shoulder several times. Gemma stayed put. Her foot had twisted under her awkwardly when she was thrown to the floor. Jesse’s arm had kept her face from smashing into the dashboard.

  Jesse and Dale conferred outside. Dale took out his cell phone and held it up, turning from side to side. He slipped it back into his pocket and came to the open driver’s-side door. “Do you think you can walk, Gemma?”

  She shook her head, turned sideways and lifted her legs onto the seat. Her right ankle was twice as big as her left one. She peeled down her stocking and hissed at the pain. Her ankle was already turning black-and-blue. “I doubt I can stand on it, let alone walk.”

  Dale scooped up a handful of snow and held it against the bump on his head. “This truck isn’t going anywhere. The front tire has busted loose, and the body is high centered on a boulder. It’s going to take a tow truck to lift it off. The problem is, I don’t have phone service in this spot.”

  “What are we going to do?” Gemma looked around them at the thick forest.

  “We’re gonna have to hoof it to where I can get cell service and call for a tow truck. Maybe we can fix a crutch for you.”

  She shook her head. “I’ll wait here. Even hobbling, I’d only slow you down.”

  Jesse glanced from Dale to Gemma and back to Dale. “I don’t think we should leave her by herself. I could go, and you could stay here.”

  Her eyes widened, and she gave a tiny shake of her head. “I’ll be fine alone for a few hours.” Her smile was half-hearted at best.

  He pulled a large blue handkerchief from his pocket, packed it full of snow and handed it to her. “Put this on your ankle. It will help the pain and swelling.”

  “Danki.” She took the compress from him and placed it around her lower leg.

  Jesse turned to Dale. “I’ll stay with her. Are you sure you are up to the hike?”

  Dale managed a lopsided grin. “Fortunately, I have a hard head and my legs are fine.” He blinked hard as he stared at his watch. “It’s only a little after nine. I don’t think we drove much more than ten miles, do you?”

  “If that far.”

  “Even if I have to walk all the way to the highway to get service, which I know I won’t have to do, I should still get back with some help before two o’clock.”

  “We’ll be fine.” Jesse tried to decide which would be more uncomfortable, waiting in the cold for Dale’s return or sitting beside Gemma in the truck for an unknown number of hours.

  Dale reached under the seat and pulled out a moth-eaten green army surplus blanket. “This should help keep you a little warmer.” He shook it out and handed it to Gemma. She spread it over her legs. Her thin socks and low-cut walking shoes were suited for winter in Florida, not for winter in Maine.

  Jesse looked up at the sky. “At least the snow has stopped.”

  “For now,” Dale said. The men exchanged worried glances. They had watched the local forecast on the TV before leaving the motel. They were calling for more snow and the possibility of a blizzard in the coming days.

  “Is it safe for you to walk? What if you get lost?” Gemma asked and nibbled at the corner of her lip.

  Dale winked. “I’ll be fine. All I have to do is follow the tire tracks back the way we came.”

  Dale sent a speaking glance to Jesse and jerked his head toward the rear of the vehicle. The men walked to the back of the truck to converse out of earshot. Dale pulled his gloves from his pocket and put them on. “It’s going to get real cold for her just sitting. Use the heater for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. The truck has enough gas to run all day if you don’t waste it.”

  “Right. I’ll take care of her.”

  Dale patted Jesse on the shoulder. “I know you will. What I’m saying is, get her talking. That way she’ll have less time to worry about her situation. Women need more reassurance when things go wrong.”

  That hadn’t been Jesse’s experience. The women he knew handled the unexpected as well if not better than most men. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Make sure to keep the muffler clear of snow when you run the truck. I don’t want to come back and find you passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning or, worse yet, dead.”

  “I know what to do.”

  “Okay, see you soon.” Dale staggered a few steps before Jesse caught up and steadied him.

  “Maybe I should be the one to go.”

  “I’m fine. You know as well as I do that the bishop and her father would much rather a fine, upstanding Amish fellow stayed with her instead of a not-so-upstanding non-Amish guy like me.”

  He was right, but Jesse hated to admit it. “Okay, go.”

  Jesse watched Dale as he walked off until he was out of sight, then he returned to the pickup, praying Dale could make good time in getting them help.

  * * *

  Gemma pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders. It was growing colder. She studied Jesse’s face as he got in the truck beside her. “You look concerned. Are you worried about Dale?”

  “I’m sure he will be fine. Gott is watching over him.” He tried to make his words sound encouraging, but he missed the mark.

  It was clear he was concerned for his friend. She could only offer him small comfort. “You’re right. I can pray for him, even if I can’t do much else.”

  Jesse nodded to her foot. “How is the ankle?”

  “It hurts, but I will be fine here. If you hurry, you can catch up with Dale. I know you’d rather go with him.”

  “Can you turn on the heater?”

  She lifted her chin. “Of course I can.”

  “Do it.”

  She stared at the unfamiliar array of gages and knobs until she found the word heat. She pushed the slide over, but nothing happened. She glanced at him sheepishly. “Okay, how does it work?”

  “The truck has to be running.”

  “That means turn the key, right?”

  He nodded. She grimaced as she scooted behind the wheel and turned the key. Nothing happened. “What am I doing wrong?”

  “Probably a loose battery wire.” Getting out, he moved to the front of the vehicle and lifted the hood.

  “I’d like to know how he expected me to figure that out,” she muttered. How often did battery cables come loose?

  After a few minutes, he stepped to the side. “Try it now,” he called out.

  She did, and the engine roared to life, startling h
er. She pushed the slide over to High. The air came blasting out of the vents. Jesse walked up to the open passenger’s-side door. She turned the knob the other way and the flow of air died down. She looked at him, knowing he was testing her, and she was failing miserably. “It’s just blowing cold air.”

  “The engine has to warm up.”

  Annoyed that she was looking foolish at every turn, she glared at him. “You could’ve told me that.”

  “You could have admitted that you don’t know anything about running a truck. Did you realize that you have to keep the exhaust pipe free of snow or you will die of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the cab?”

  “I didn’t. You just love rubbing my face in my ignorance, don’t you?”

  “That’s not true. Can you say the same?” He slammed the door shut and walked to the rear of the vehicle.

  Gemma’s irritation quickly gave way to guilt. She was in the wrong. She would have to apologize. She shouldn’t have snapped at him. Nothing was simple anymore. Every step she took pushed him away, when that wasn’t what she wanted. She moved until she was sitting with her back against the driver’s-side door and stretched her legs across the seat. In the side mirror, she saw Jesse kick a clump of snow away from the rear tire. He was angry with her.

  Why was it that they couldn’t have a civil conversation? They were going to be alone together for hours. She watched him pace across the trail behind them with his arms crossed over his chest. She could see his breath rising in white puffs. The snow had started falling again. She couldn’t expect him to stay out in the cold while she enjoyed the warmth of the truck. It was clear she was going to have to make the first move. She folded her hands across her abdomen.

  She had abysmal judgment where men were concerned. Robert was a prime example. He’d spoken about love and marriage, but he’d used her and cast her aside as soon as she gave in. She betrayed the vows she had made at her baptism and lost her self-respect for nothing.

  Love and marriage were out of the picture now. She was about to become an unwed mother. Someone to be pitied. To be talked about in hushed tones, pointed out as an example of what could happen to girls should they stray. She wanted to bury her face in her hands and cry. Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she scrubbed them away. They solved nothing, but she couldn’t stem the rising tide of her remorse.