Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Wrapped in a blanket because the meagre heat from the electric fire barely managed to take the chill off the room, Angela stared out of the window. She was getting worried. The snow had started to fall much more heavily again, although the strong winds that had piled it up earlier in the day had dropped, but the snow itself showed no sign of abating. The weather forecast on TV had not helped either – promising as it did, a full twenty four more hours of the same. She was in serious danger of being snowed in at her cottage in the beautiful Lake District, which was not good. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a problem – in fact she had sometimes quite looked forward to the isolation when it had happened before; she was used to it. Single and enjoying her own company at times, she was also used to being alone and mainly worked from home anyway, in her normally cosy house, but on that occasion the boiler was broken and she had neither hot water, nor central heating.

“Damn!” she muttered to herself, knowing full well she should have arranged for the repairman to call the previous week when the problem first occurred. However, she’d had to go down to London on business and, as usual, had stayed in her tiny flat in Hampstead, telling herself she would sort things out when she returned home. Now it was too late! There was no way the maintenance company would send an engineer along in that weather and he probably wouldn’t get to her even if they did. She’d telephoned, of course, but the not very helpful schoolgirl at the other end had told her, “No way, luv. Not till next week at the earliest.” Apart from the fact that she had no desire to be anyone’s “luv” at that moment in time, let alone some seventeen-year-old female’s, the utter disinterest in the girl’s voice had annoyed her, but it had been little worse than she expected.

Recalling this, Angela sighed and turned resignedly from the window to go through to her large kitchen and make coffee – at least it would be warm! She shivered. “Damn!” she repeated. “Damned boiler!” It was when she was just pouring herself a second cup, that she heard what sounded like a muffled knock at the front door. “Who the hell…?” she murmured rather testily and, since releasing even a tiny bit of the limited warmth she had in the house was not something she wanted to do, went very reluctantly to see who it might be.

She opened door only part way to reveal a man in a hooded, snow covered coat and wearing thick gloves… hence the muffled nature of the knock. “Sorry to intrude,” he began. “I’ve got a bit of a problem and I wondered if you’d be unbelievably kind and help me out.”

Angela at once found herself in a quandary. Admittedly the man was well spoken and, from the little she could see under the hood, appeared quite interestingly handsome – he was perhaps in his mid thirties. Her dilemma, though, centred on her need to keep heat in the house and yet he was a stranger and not someone she would immediately invite into her house. The desire for heat won. “Come in. Don’t stand out there freezing.”

“Er… thanks.” He frowned. “You sure?”

“The bloody boiler’s on the blink and heat is pouring out this doorway. Come in, or go away!”

The man stamped the snow off his feet and shook himself and then stepped into the cottage. “Thanks,” he said as he pushed the hood back from his head to reveal a shock of blond hair, a disarming smile and the fact that he was not just handsome, but extremely handsome. “Sorry about this,” he added and then stuck out his hand to be shaken. “My name’s John and I’ve not long moved into the next house two miles down the road – Badgers Den.”

“What? Brian’s old place? The nice old man who died a few months ago?” she asked, taking the proffered hand.

“That’s it. Brian Morgan. My dad.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Then she added, “It really was such a shame he died. I really liked him.”

“Yes. He was great… but we both knew he was likely to drop dead any time. Weak heart for years.” John explained.

“Doesn’t help much though, does it?”

“Not really – no.”

Angela drew a deep breath. “Oohhh – so you’re the Johnny he was always talking about?”

John grinned disarmingly. “Guilty, I guess.”

For the first time since she’d returned home the previous day, Angela smiled. “Oh, you needn’t worry. He never had a bad word to say about you.” Reluctantly, she let go of the hand that held hers. “So what’s the problem?”

“What? Oh, yes – my problem. Yes, well it’s a bit of a cheek I suppose, but the battery on my cellphone’s flat as a pancake, the in-car charger’s bust and the road’s totally blocked a quarter of a mile further on from here.”

“The phone’s there if you want to use it.” Angela waved a hand in the direction of a telephone sitting on a small table just inside the tiny entrance hall. “Angela, by the way – Angie.”

John grinned again. “I know.”

“Oh? How?”

“I have my spies.” The grin broadened. “No, actually, Dad told me a lot about you – what a gorgeous young woman you are and all that. His description wasn’t even close though.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Oh no! Quite the opposite. Stunner might have been a better description.”

“Oh, right.” She commented, disbelief in her voice. “You can see that, of course, wrapped in this blanket and shivering like crazy, the way I am.” Angie waved at the phone again. “Like I said, there’s the phone anyway.” She turned and began to walk back towards the kitchen. ” You want coffee?” she called back over her shoulder. “I’ve not long made it.”

“Ooo, yes please – if it’s going – black, one sugar.” He paused and then called out to her. “Actually, what I really wanted was to charge my own mobile phone. I’ve got the mains charger here with me. If that’s okay?”

Angie returned with two cups of coffee, both black. “Sugar’s in this one,” she told John, handing a cup to him. “There’s a socket over by the phone – over there.” She pointed to the table she had previously indicated. “It’s underneath it. The table that is.”

John plugged in his mobile phone to charge and checked it was working right. “Thanks. An hour should do it – half an hour at a push.” He hesitated and, as further explanation seemed required, he continued. “With the road blocked like it is, I’m going to have to leave the car and walk. It looks pretty tough and I could maybe get trapped. It’d be a bit stupid to wind up stuck in a snow drift  without at least some means of contacting people – especially now it’s getting dark.” The grin returned. “So I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”

Angie frowned.

“One, I feel lost and alone without a mobile phone – silly I suppose, but it’s habit – and two, I wanted to meet the gorgeous creature Dad told me so much about.”

The smile appeared again. “Oh, right. I see. You were really just checking out the local talent then?”

John shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands. “Well, like I said, not only, but sort of. You can’t blame a guy for wanting to know, though. Glad I did too.”

“Really?”

“Oh, definitely!” Yet another grin lit up his features and then he became serious. “So, what’s happened to your boiler?”

It was Angie’s turn to shrug her shoulders. “No idea. It just stopped working and I didn’t get it fixed when I had the chance. Now I’m stuck with it till next week at least.”

“What sort is it? Gas?”

“Yes – and it’s not long been serviced, either.”

“You tried re-starting it?”

“Why?”

“Maybe the pilot light just went out.”

“What pilot… whatever?”

John sighed. “Show me where it is, eh?”

“In the kitchen.” She led the way and then pointed to a cupboard in the corner. “In there.”

John opened the cupboard. “Balanced flue combi,” he murmured. “So the back of the cupboard is an outside wall?”

Angie nodded and then said, “Yup,” as she realised he wasn’t looking at her.

“Oka-ay.” John fiddled around for a while. “It won’t re-start. You got a Philips screwdriver?”

“A what?”

“A screwdriver that looks like a cross on the end.”

“There should be a toolbox in there somewhere. I’ve no idea what’s in it, though. There’s a light by your right shoulder by the way.”

John flicked on the light and searched around on the floor. “Ah… at the back,” he said and then continued. “You fancy making us some more of that superb coffee?” He removed his coat. “It might not be very warm in here, but it’s a heck of a lot colder outside,” he commented, by way of explanation.

Briefly, Angie eyed the muscular physique that his expensive shirt failed to hide. “Strip off all you like,” she told him and then regretted it, since she had known him for perhaps half an hour, rather than the half a lifetime she was beginning to feel was the case. “Joke,” she explained.

“Oh.”

Just when she had finished making the coffee, she peered into the cupboard as John was replacing a cover on the boiler. Amazingly, she could see the reflection of the blue flame. “You got it going!?”

“Uh huh. Let’s hope it keeps on working.”

“What was wrong?”

He hesitated. “Unless someone’s been poking around in there,” he eyed her questioningly, “the guy who serviced that hadn’t got a clue.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Well… that or he didn’t bother to do the job properly at all.”

Angie stepped forward on an impulse and reached and kissed her saviour on the cheek. “Thank you. Thank you so-ooo much!” was her heartfelt exclamation.

John grinned. She was beginning to love that cheeky grin. “Entirely self interest,” he assured her.

“How so?” she queried, smiling too.

“Well… I need to stay a while to make sure it gets up to temperature and then restarts automatically, which means I get the company of a delicious female who makes wonderful coffee for a while longer and… maybe… just maybe… if the house warms up enough in time, I’ll get a peek at you not wrapped up in that goddamned blanket before I leave.”

Angie gave him a funny look and, on another whim, allowed the blanket to fall open and then drop to the floor.

John stared and gave a low whistle. “Now that’s more than worth a bit of maintenance work, for sure.”

Angie blushed slightly. “What? In this bulky old sweater?”

“Oh yes. No doubt about it.” He hesitated and then, just a touch nervously, he added, “You fill it beautifully – if you don’t mind me saying so.”

Angie giggled. “I don’t mind at all.” A thought occurred to her. “You want a proper drink? A beer, or a brandy, or something?”

“No, I’m dri…” He stopped. “No, actually, I’m not driving, am I? I’m going to be walking. So, yes… a very small brandy would be absolutely wonderful.” Another grin. “Extremely warming.”

Two and a half hours later, John stood up. They had talked and talked over a couple more drinks – mostly about his father and the area – somewhat isolated and yet friendly, with an old fashioned sense of neighbourliness. “I’d better be moving,” he told his attractive companion.

“There’s no hurry is there?” Angie asked, frankly and without thinking. Then it occurred to her. “Oh, sorry. You’ve probably got someone who’ll be wondering where you are. Do you want to phone ahead?”

“No. No, there’s no one. I live alone like you – according to Dad that is. But the heating seems fine now and I’m going to struggle to get past that blockage… it’s right in that bit with steep sides going up into woods and I think there’s a tree down in the road that’s been buried by drifting snow.”

They went together to the door and Angie was immediately horrified when she opened it. “You can’t go out in this!” she told him.

“No choice!”

“Why?”

“What else am I going to do? It’s either manage the walk, or try to drive back to town tonight – if I can even get the car out of this lane. I don’t fancy that one little bit!”

Angie eyed him thoughtfully. “You could stay here,” she suggested hesitantly.

John gave her an odd, sharp, questioning look.

“I have a spare bedroom,” she explained, quickly.

“Well… I don’t… I mean… Are you sure? It’s not…”

Angie put a hand on his arm. “Come on, let’s open a bottle of wine, shall we? Red or white?”

John only hesitated for a moment more. “Red,” he said, decisively. “If that’s okay?”

Back in the living room, Angie passed a bottle and corkscrew to John. “You open it, please,” she said. “It’s getting pretty hot in here at last and I’m just going to get into something a bit more suitable than this heavy jumper.”

When she returned, wearing electric blue silk… well… pyjamas he presumed it was, he was sure she had quickly showered and she wore makeup. “Phew! That’s better,” she admitted. “I’ve put clean towels and a robe in your room. If you want to shower, there’s an en-suite in the room.” She laughed. “The robe’s a man’s one – not one of my girly ones.”

“Thanks.” He handed her a glass of wine. “Nice wine,” he commented.

“Glad you like it… I haven’t got any male clothes though, I’m afraid.”

John smiled, but said nothing for a minute or two. “I’ve got a bag of sorts in the car – if I can get to it in the morning.”

“I can wash and dry your stuff overnight, if you want. “

“No. No – thank you all the same, but it’s okay.”

Angie put her hands on her hips and insisted, “Go upstairs, get your kit off and throw it down. I’ll stick it in the machine.” When John hesitated, she added, “The robe’s perfectly decent!”

John sighed. “Okay, okay. I might as well shower while I’m at it then.”

“It’s the room at the left. The one with the door ajar. Throw your clothes down the stairs first, though,” she called after him, as he made for the stairs. “Right?”

“Right,” he called back.

Just for a moment, Angie wondered if everything was going too fast, but he was a nice man, a decent man, she assured herself – and she was only putting him up for the night in her spare room. She poured another glass of wine.

When he came back downstairs, she had to admit he looked good in the robe. She pushed her long dark hair – as dark as his was blond – back from her forehead. “Something to eat?” she asked. When he declined, she persisted. “I’ll stick a frozen pizza in the oven.”

Two more hours later they made for their respective bedrooms. “Night,” she said. “And thanks again.” She kissed him quickly again on the cheek. “Sleep tight.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, hoarsely.

In the morning, Angie turned over in bed and couldn’t stop herself grinning. “Pretty comfortable for a spare bed, isn’t it?” she asked the beautiful blond man lying next to her.