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“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 (#uad603436-d11b-5ee9-bc04-14e26edd2116)
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 her. 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.
* * *
When Jesse had his anger under control, he glanced at the truck. Gemma’s head was bowed and her shoulders were shaking. Was she laughing at him? He’d been the brunt of her teasing before. He’d give a lot to know what she found funny in their current situation. As he walked past the truck bed, he caught the smell of gasoline. Leaning down, he checked under the truck but couldn’t see anything wrong. The undercarriage was resting on a snowdrift but the smell of gas was stronger. He wished he knew more about trucks, but he knew enough to be sure it was dangerous to run the vehicle if the gas tank was leaking.
He pulled open the cab door. Gemma wasn’t laughing. She was weeping. His anger evaporated. “I’m sorry, Gemma. Don’t cry.”
“I can—can cry if I—I want to.” She wouldn’t look at him as she sniffed and wiped her nose with a tissue from the box on the dash.
“We need to turn the truck off. It’s leaking gas.”
Her eyes widened. She quickly turned the key and the engine died. “Is it dangerous?”
“Not unless something sparks. We’ll have to get by without the heater. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. Please forgive me.”
“I’m crying because my ankle hurts.”
He sighed heavily. “Then I’m sorry I made your ankle hurt worse.”
“Go away,” she snapped and sniffed again. He took a step back. She looked up and held out her hand. “I didn’t mean that, Jesse. Don’t go. Get in here where it’s warm. You’ll catch your death out there.”
“I’m pretty tough. A day in the cold is nothing new for me.”
“Please?”
He got in the truck, gently lifted her injured leg and placed her foot on his thigh. “You should keep it elevated. Is the snow pack helping? Am I forgiven?”
She bent her other knee and scooted forward an inch to make her position more comfortable. “It’s hard to be upset with someone who is being kind.” She rubbed both eyes with her hands.
“I will make it a point to be kind more often. I think we should get your shoe off, but that is up to you.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “I’m already crying. I guess now is as good a time as any.”
She braced herself, but he was incredibly gentle as he pulled her shoe off her swollen foot. It immediately relieved some of her pain. He placed her shoe and sock on the dash and settled her foot on his leg again. “It needs to be taped up.”
“With what?”
He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a roll of duct tape he had noticed yesterday. “This might work. I’ll need to put your sock back on. I don’t want to plaster this to your skin.”
After a few minutes, he had fashioned a crude brace for her foot. “How is that?”
“Okay. Better I think.”
“Warm enough?”
“The blanket helps.”
“I don’t know how. It has more holes in it than a cheese grater.” He reached over, tucked it tightly around her shoulders.
“How long do you think it will take Dale to get help?”
“It’s hard to say. Four hours, maybe less.”
She leaned her head back against the glass and untied the ribbons of her bonnet. “Then we won’t be rescued anytime soon.”
“You might as well try to get some rest.”
Far from sleepy, Gemma closed her eyes anyway, but she could feel his gaze on her face. She endured it as long as she could. She opened one eye. “What are you staring at?”
“I was trying to figure out what is different about you.”
“I’ve got a suntan. The sun actually shines during the winter in Florida, unlike this place, which is dreary from late September until May.”
“You think these beautiful snow-covered pines are dreary?”
“I do.”
She could see he was disappointed with her answer. If he thought the snow-covered woods and gray skies were beautiful, then he was odder than she had imagined. She waited for his next comment. She had never had this much of a conversation with him before. When he didn’t say anything else, she closed her eyes but her throbbing foot allowed her to sleep only fitfully. Sometime later, the cold roused her. She raised her head and found Jesse rubbing the frost off a spot to see out.
“Are they here?” she asked hopefully.
“Not yet.”
“Oh.” She leaned back and pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. “Can we have the heat on for a while?”
“I don’t think we should risk it.”
“Not even for ten minutes?”
