The man (Jeff she reminded herself) had shed his winter coat and boots, and she realized with those articles of clothing gone he was not half as bulky or foreboding as first he had seemed. He was crouched in front of the fire, and as she watched he stirred it and threw on another log. When he stood she stepped further into the room. Turning around, he caught sight of her and veritably started; he was obviously a bit taken aback by her transformation. However, before either of them could say something she was ambushed by Cujo, who had trotted out from the bedroom and was now weaving happy circles around her, tongue lolling as he waited for praise. Cautiously Natalie gave him a pat, and when all she got in return was an enthusiastic hand-lick, she figured he was probably not really a vicious St. Bernard with Rabies.
Jeff seemed exasperated by his dog’s lack of manners and taking him by the collar hauled him away from Natalie. “Why don’t you come sit down,” he offered, gesturing toward the couch. “Would you like some coffee, tea…?”
“Do you have hot chocolate?” Natalie asked, settling down on an over-stuffed cushion.
Jeff nodded, “I’m pretty sure I do. Let me just make some up, then we’ll have a little talk.”
Natalie watched him bustle around the kitchen, grabbing a pan to warm the milk and switching the coffee-maker on. He was really quite handsome, she decided, with his disheveled sandy hair, strong jaw, and broad shoulders. His face had laugh lines, but there was also a sadness she could detect lurking beneath the surface. He sat down on the couch a polite distance from her and handed her a mug.
“Thank you,” she murmured, blowing on the steaming contents.
“You’re welcome.” He took a sip of his own coffee, then fiddled with the mug. “Do you want to tell me what happened out there?”
Natalie took a gulp of her drink, then choked a bit on the burning liquid. When she felt she could talk without spluttering, she said “I was driving up to my parent’s cabin for the weekend. The storm started and I could barely see what road I was on. I looked down at my map, and when I looked up again there was a deer in the middle of the road. I swerved around her and… well I don’t really remember the rest, just waking up here.”
“You’re not supposed to swerve around deer you know,” he lectured her, “If you can’t brake safely, the best thing to do is hit it.”
“I know that,” Natalie retorted, a bit annoyed at being treated like a five-year-old. “But in that split second I looked in her eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else. Can you say for certain you would have plowed into her?”
Jeff shook his head, “In theory, I’d say yes, but never having actually been in that situation, I guess I don’t for certain what my reaction would be.”
Feeling vindicated, Natalie nodded. “How did you find me anyway? And how did I get back here?”
“Well, Cujo and I were securing a few things around the outside of the cabin, it was getting extremely windy and I knew a big storm was coming. You must have hit that tree pretty hard, and with the wind blowing in my direction I could hear the impact clearly. I grabbed a sled and my snowshoes and started walking down the road. I could see where your car had skidded, and I found you unconscious against the steering wheel. I put you on the sled and got back to the cabin. That’s how you got wet. I couldn’t feel any broken bones, but there was nothing to do for your head except keep you flat and warm… and hope you would wake up. Concussions can be tricky things, you’re actually very lucky it wasn’t worse.”