Lynsay Sands - The Bite Before Christmas

The Bite Before Christmas

Lynsay Sands & Jeaniene Frost

Contents

by Lynsay Sands

T eddy woke up to find himself burrowed under the covers like a mole dug into the ground... and cold, which was unusual. He normally kicked off his blankets rather than burrowed, and he never woke up cold.

The heat must have gone off in the night, he realized. Tossing the blankets aside, he sat up and peered around the room. Stark sunlight was pouring through the window. It made it easy to see the cloud of mist that formed in front of his mouth with each exhalation.

Oh yeah, the heat was definitely off, he thought with a grimace and quickly slid out of bed. The carpet was cold underfoot as Teddy hurried up the hall. It opened into the main room at the end, a combination living room and kitchen/dining room. The left side was the carpeted living room area with a sofa, two chairs, a fireplace, and entertainment unit. The right side was a tiled kitchen and dining space.

Teddys eyes automatically sought out the digital clock on the stove as he moved to the wall thermostat, but he paused when he saw its blank face. His eyes then shot to the DVD player on the television, but it, too, was blank. Teddy was pretty sure what was wrong, by this point, but couldnt resist flicking on the light switch at the end of the hall, just to be sure. He wasnt surprised when nothing happened. It wasnt just the heat that was off, but the power itself. There was no juice at all.

Great, he muttered with disgust and hurried back to the bedroom. It was cold in the cottage and likely to get colder, at least until the problem with the power was fixed, which meant he was wasting precious body heat standing around barefoot in his flannels. He needed to dress quickly, pull on his outerwear, and head somewhere warm to call Marguerite and find out whom he should contact about the power.

His suier indtcase sat on a chair in a corner of the bedroom hed chosen. Teddy lifted the lid and grabbed the thickest pair of socks hed packed, and then grabbed a second pair for good measure. He started to turn away, intending to sit on the bed to don the socks, but paused as his gaze slid out the window.

It had been dark when hed arrived last night, and Teddy had marveled at how beautiful it all was as his headlights slid over the ice-encased branches of the trees and the deep snow on either side of the cleared driveway. It had all sparkled under his pickups headlights like precious jewels. It wasnt such a grand sight now, he decided, as he peered at what had to be at least two feet of fresh snow on the driveway and yard. His pickup was now a small snow hill beside the cottage.

Damn, he breathed and then returned to the matter at hand as his brain revised what had to be done. Dress warmly, find a shovel, dig his truck out of the driveway, and then head to town to find someplace warm with coffee and food, where he could call Marguerite in comfort.

Or maybe he should try to call Marguerite first, Teddy thought as he finished with his socks and dragged on jeans and a sweater over his flannel pajamas. It was going to take a hell of a long time to dig his way out of the driveway. By that time, whoever was supposed to fix the power might be here if he called before starting.

Deciding that was the better plan, Teddy finished dressing and headed out into the kitchen to find his phone. Hed plugged it in to charge before going to bed last night. Unfortunately, the power must have gone out shortly after that, because the battery was even lower now than when hed plugged it in. The warning that the battery needed recharging was all he could get before it shut itself off.

Muttering under his breath, Teddy shoved it in his pocket, dragged on his coat, scarf, and boots, then grabbed his gloves and opened the kitchen door. If he thought the cottage was cold, the mudroom was positively frigid, and Teddy grimaced as he stepped into it. He didnt slow, however, but tugged on his gloves, grabbed the shovel leaning against the wall, and headed outside.

The moment he stepped off the deck he was knee-deep in snow. Teddy trudged through the flaky snow to the drivers side of the pickup, leaned his shovel against the truck, and then brushed away the snow until he could find the door handle. He had some thought of starting the pickup, plugging his phone in the car charger, and turning on the heat and defrost so that the windows could thaw out while he shoveled the driveway. But hed locked the trucks doors last night and the lock was now frozen... and the de-icer was in the glove compartment, where hed tossed it while packing the vehicle for the trip. Not terribly bright of him to forget to bring it in last night, he acknowledged with a sigh.

This just isnt your day, Teddy muttered to himself as he turned to glance toward the road. The driveway was narrow and wound through the trees, which was great for privacy, but it was also long, which was terribly inconvenient now. It would take hours to shovee prs to shol the way clear himself. Fortunately, he was hoping he wouldnt have to do more than clear off the pickup and a bit around it. Marguerite had said the county cleared the roads and there was a handyman who cleared the driveway and took care of other matters for the Willan sisters, who owned the cottage he was renting.

Hopefully, by the time the road was clear and this handy feller could get in to clear the driveway, the door lock would be thawed enough that he could get the door open. Teddy supposed the best thing he could do was fetch some firewood from the shed, start a fire in the cottages fireplace, and warm up while he waited.

But some coffee would sure go nice with that fire, he thought and glanced toward the road again, wondering what the problem was with the power. Never one to sit around and wait on being rescued, Teddy started up the driveway. Hed just take a look and see what the situation was. If the road was clear, hed go back, build a fire, and wait for the handyman to show up. If it wasnt... well, he hoped it was.

It seemed to take forever to make his way to the road. By the time he reached the end of the drive, Teddy was sweaty and panting. His knees were also acting up and complaining over the walk, something they wouldnt have done forty or even twenty years ago. Getting old kind of sucked, he thought grimly as he surveyed the road, noting that it hadnt been cleared yet. At least it hadnt been cleared all the way to the cottage. The road twisted out of sight just ten feet from where he stood.

Sighing, he considered what to do. His stomach was gnawing with hunger, his legs aching from trudging through the snow, his mouth was dry, and while he was hot and sweaty under his clothes, his face was beginning to burn with the cold. Teddy readjusted his scarf to give his face more protection against the low temperatures and then forced himself to continue on. Another ten feet, he told himself. Hed just walk to the bend, take a look up the road, and then head back to the cottage and build a fire.

Once he reached the bend, Teddy almost wished he hadnt made the effort. The sight of the white-coated road stretched out before him was a truly depressing thing. Not only wasnt it shoveled, but one look was enough to tell him that it wasnt likely to be for a while. Either there had been a fierce wind with the snow the night before, or the heavy snowfall had been too much for a couple of the older trees. Two had fallen that he could see: one just ten feet past the bend where he stood and another farther up the road. They would have to be shifted before the snow-removal vehicles could clear the road to his driveway.

They were also the reason the power was out, Teddy noted as he saw the downed lines the first tree had taken out. That wasnt going to be a fast fix. It was looking like hed be without power for a bit... if he stayed, he thought with a sigh. Maybe once the trees were removed and the road was cleared, he should just turn around and start the six-hour trip back to Port Henry.