"Fuck."
I glared down at the engine as if that might magically make it start, reaching out to fiddle with some sort of knob and pulling back quickly with a hiss as it singed my fingers. Popping them in my mouth, I raised a hand to shield my eyes from the pouring rain, looking up and down the curving mountain road in hopes of seeing the glow of windows or headlights through the looming, darkened trees.
Nothing. And nothing more for miles and miles, as I knew far too well. I'd only passed a handful of cars since turning onto this desolate road nearly an hour before, the last at least twenty minutes before my car made an awful spluttering sound and died without warning.
A roll of thunder covered the slam of the hood as I ducked my head against the downpour, hurriedly sliding back behind the wheel with a frustrated sigh. I was soaked through after only a few minutes of braving the storm, the scent of ozone and wet pine needles clinging to my skin as I did my best to wring out my t-shirt.
My towels were all in the trunk, and I opted to skip the extra drenching I'd get trying to retrieve them, settling for wiping off the worst of the smudges of engine oil off my fingers with a handful of crumpled napkins. I held my breath as my phone tried to connect to an emergency number, only to be rewarded with nothing but signalless silence on the other end of the line.
"Alright then," I muttered, tossing it onto the passenger's seat and hugging myself tightly to keep the worst of the shivering at bay. "Guess I'm waiting until someone finds me, or I die of starvation. Fucking fantastic."
A quick search of the car revealed a well-worn hoodie under one of the seats, and I pulled it over my head gratefully. It was far too big for me, my hands disappearing into the oversized sleeves as I buried my face in it and inhaled deeply out of habit. There was still a lingering trace of its previous owner around the collar, the faded scent of sweet cologne surrounding me like a security blanket, keeping the worst of my panic at bay as I waited for rescue.
I didn't dare use up the battery on my phone with games or music, settling for curling up in a ball and watching the rain pensively. Time dragged by, turning from minutes to nearly an hour in the blink of an eye with only the reflection of my hazard lights on the wet asphalt for company. It was fully dark now, the woods surrounding me growing sinister as I double-checked the doors were locked, clinging to the tiny bit of safety they provided as I waited numbly for rescue.
It felt like forever until a tiny flash of light caught my attention. Coming up through the fog in my rearview mirror was a pair of headlights, winding their way through the trees and coming up fast. I resisted the urge to jump out and start waving my arms as the vehicle came around the bend and slowed as the driver spotted my car, the giant truck pulling over on the shoulder behind me.
"Please-please-please don't be a serial killer..." I chanted under my breath as the driver flipped on their own hazards and stepped out into the torrent of rain. The man ducked his head against its onslaught, his face concealed by the brim of a well-worn baseball cap as he made his way to my window.
He rapped on the glass with his knuckles, and I rolled the window down just a crack as he leaned down to look inside. A wisp of all-too-familiar sweet cologne entered along with the scent of the forest, and I realized who I was looking at a split second before he did, the blood draining from my face as a slow grin spread across his.
"Well, well, well," he drawled, eyeing me with undisguised delight. "Ain't this a pleasant surprise. Thought you ran away?"
"I did not run away," I said with a forced laugh, thankful the sleeves concealed my shaking hands as his eyes flicked down to the hoodie, his grin widening. "What're you doing out here, Joel?"
"Could ask you the same thing. I was just heading up to Paw's old cabin for a few nights," he said, water droplets flicking from the brim of his hat as he jerked his head up the road. "Need a lift?"
I shook my head reflexively even as my common sense screamed for me to take the help, giving him my best customer service smile. "Nope, just waiting on a tow truck, I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer though, it's good to see ya. Bye now!"
He huffed out a silent laugh as I rolled the window back up, crossing my arms tightly and staring straight ahead as I waited for him to leave. A long moment passed before he moved, walking to the front of the car and tapping pointedly on the hood.
"Pop it for me," he called through the downpour. I bit my lip, staring at him for a long moment through the rain before giving in and pulling the hood release. As he propped it open and lit up the flashlight on his phone I pulled the hoodie up over my head, hurrying out to stand by him and folding my arms against the wind with a shiver.
"How long you been out here?"
I swallowed the urge to lie, fidgeting from foot to foot as Joel leaned over the engine. "Not too long. An hour or so."
A low hum was his only answer as he reached down and messed with something I couldn't see deep in the guts of the car, holding up the tattered end of a hose.
"There's your problem."
"What is it? Can you fix it?"
My heart sank as he snorted, shaking his head. "Not a chance in hell. You said you called a truck?"
I winced as Joel slammed the hood, looking at me expectantly as he dusted off his hands. All the answer he needed was written on my face, in the way I was hugging myself tightly as the rain soaked me to the bone once more. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing up and down the deserted road.
"Alright then. Guess you're stuck with me for a bit, eh?"
Joel didn't waste time helping me up into the cab of his truck, tossing my luggage in the back with his own. Flipping the heater up to high and adjusting the vents to point at me, he pulled back onto the mist-covered road, my abandoned car falling out of sight as we rounded the first curve. Awkward silence filled the air between us for a heartbeat too long before he cleared his throat.
"So. What brings you back?"
I pretended to stare out the window at the dark forest racing by, keeping an eye on his reflection in the glass as I answered, "You remember my friend Britney K?"
"The one who forked the football field singlehandedly?"
"That's the one," I said with a tiny laugh. "Her bachelorette party was last night, and I promised her I wouldn't miss it. It was down at that fancy resort down by the lake, the one with the marina? And it turned out real nice, all the girls had a good time."
"Did you now?"
"We did! We really did, it was... It was good to see everybody. Are you, um, still planning on going to the wedding?"
He nodded, eyes on the road as silence fell between us once again. A lefthand turn onto an unmarked dirt road had me gripping the door handle, the size of the truck tires not enough to smooth out the impressive number of bumps in the muddy driveway. It inclined sharply before leveling out, a small log cabin set back into the treeline illuminated by the headlights as Joel cut the engine.
"Home sweet home," he said with a quick smile, coming around to help me hop down and leading the way to the door. The chill in the air sank right through my wet clothes, and I hopped from foot to foot in a bid for warmth, trying to keep my teeth from chattering as Joel forced the rusted lock open with an equally beat-up key.
The lights flicked on as I made my way through the narrow entryway into the main living area, which was divided between a small kitchen and equally tiny living room. It smelled a bit musty, but I was happily surprised to find the inside of the tiny cabin was already toasty warm. I said as much to Joel, who chuckled.
"Paw got sick of chopping wood in his later years," he said, setting my luggage and his own large duffle bag by the living room couch. "Set up a fancy heat pump out back so he could come up here whenever he wanted without worrying about the weather."
"Huh. Sounds like him."
"Don't it though?" We shared a smile at the memory of the old man, and I could feel myself blushing as his eyes lingered on mine just a bit too long. I was the first to look away, glancing in the direction of the hallway.
"Is there somewhere I can change?"
Joel showed me to the bedroom, making sure to point out the bathroom across the hall before shutting the door carefully behind him. I waited until I heard him rummaging around the kitchen to quickly strip, toweling myself off with the least dirty beach towel in my luggage.
My bra was a sodden lost cause, and after a quick search I realized I hadn't thought to pack a backup. I hesitated, glancing in the direction of the kitchen before tossing the undergarment onto the pile with the rest of my wet clothes and dressing in leggings and an oversized band tee. It's not like he hasn't seen them before, I reminded myself firmly, resisting the urge to throw the wet bra back on as my nipples stood prominently at attention through the thin fabric of my shirt.
I pulled the door open just a crack, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear before darting across to the bathroom. Taking care of business quickly, I went to wash my hands, catching a glimpse of myself in the large mirror hanging over the sink.
"Jesus..." I breathed, taking in my appearance with horror. I hadn't bothered to remove my makeup the night before, too tipsy on champagne and the natural high on being surrounded by friends for the first time in months to care. It had already been a well-worn when I left the hotel this morning, but now rain-ruined makeup streaked across my cheeks, a rats nest that used to be a bun crowning my head as escaped tendrils of damp hair stuck to my neck.
I used a few pumps of hand soap to scrub the worst of the mess from my skin, hissing at the sting as I wiped the last dregs of mascara off with a slightly musty washcloth. As I coaxed my wet hair out of its bun the elastic snapped, leaving me no option except to comb it out with my fingers as best I could, leaving it falling damply in waves around my shoulders.
When I was certain there was nothing more I could do to improve my bedraggled appearance, I padded down the hallway and poked my head into the kitchen. Joel was nowhere to be found, the sound of a truck door slamming heralding his return as the front door swung open.
"I thought there was a satellite phone around here somewhere," he said distractedly, stomping the mud off his boots and putting a large cooler down beside our pile of bags. "Should be able to call you a tow from that, since my phone doesn't work for shit out here. Hold tight, it might be in the back room."
Shrugging off his coat and hanging it by the door with a quick glance at me, he took a few steps toward the hallway before stopping dead.
