“Jake, it’s a blizzard out there now! An actual blizzard, just like in the movies!” I nattered nervously, peering out through the windshield of Jake’s 4x4 pickup. He had four on the floor, extra-wide tires designed to grip snow like they had snowchains on, everything you’d need to go up in the mountains in January to try to get in some skiing. Me, I was a beach bunny being transplanted by dint of my relationship with Jake, I had never even seen snow before, much less experienced it when it was coming down hard and fast like this, and yeah, I was beginning to lose my sense of adventure in a hurry. Jake was a snow bunny (yeah, I know “bunnies” are girls, but the appellations fit us both well enough, if you define “bunny” as a person whose prime avocation in life outside of their job is either the beach or the mountains. One of each of us in Jake’s pickup, Jake was prime blond-haired, sleek, muscular Nordic male, a true snow-bunny who lived for the thrill of racing downhill on a couple of skinny sticks. To be fair, he had the same horror at me shooting the curls of a bodacious wave. But it was January and we were on his turf now, and I was out of place and feeling it. “We ought to turn back, it’s coming down too hard!”

“We’ll make it to the cabin before it sets in.” Jake assured me. “It’s just another couple of miles down the road.”

“But we’ll be snowbound!” I nearly shrieked. Beach bunnies like me are not snow bunnies like Jake; I was out of my element. “We’ll lose our way in this blizzard and be lost, we’ll be like those guys they only find the bones of come spring!”

“We’re on the main highway, Phil.” Jake said patiently. “And look, up ahead, they’re clearing the road for us.”

It was true, there was this truck spraying something on the road. Whether it was just compressed air or some kind of salt or something, I don’t know. I couldn’t see it was doing any good, though I admit the road itself was mostly free of snow even now. “Are we going much further?”

“No, the turn-off is just up ahead.” Jake informed me.

“Turn-off?” I whimpered. For we were leaving the main road and turning into a road that looked like it hadn’t been dug out at all! Jake’s truck bucked as it climbed up on the snow which had piled up on the road, and then we were plowing rather than driving, his front grille had a set of big bars across it as a grille for the grille, if you know what I mean, and that was helping us knock the snow aside. Our speed slowed to about five miles an hour, but Jake was unfazed, and I tried to do the same (if you don’t count the way I was gnawing my knuckles quietly as I pretended to look out the passenger window). We drove like this over two miles, I think, and then Jake said, “Here we are.” and he pulled up to a patch of the snow that looked to me like every other patch of road.

“We’re here?” I asked, panicked. “Where’s here?”

“Over there.” Jake pointed. I looked and saw a lump in the snow. Okay, it was the cabin, but it had as much snow on top of it as it had around it. There were the sides visible, the windows were covered up to their middles, and we’d have to dig our way into the door. I pointed that out to Jake, who only nodded and grunted, and pulled the shovel out of his supplies. “I’ll dig us out while you unpack the truck.” he said.

The blizzard was still going strong, and I gave up talking while we got unloaded. Jake did a jig job on the digging a ramp down to the doorway, and I was more than glad to lug a heavy set of bags through that door so I could get inside. When Jake came in with the gear off the top, he looked at me and I just shook my head, the rest of that stuff could wait as far as I was concerned!

He grinned and waded back out into it. No doubt about it, my new lover was 100% crazy, going out in this snowstorm! He could freeze to death out there!

Dark in here, I looked around for a light switch, found it near the door (well, duh!), and went over and flicked it.

Nothing happened. I flicked it again and then again. Okay, don’t panic, Phil, I told myself, it just means the lightbulb is burned out. Open the refrigerator and see the light come on.

I did, and the fridge was dark. Stuff in there, like some butter and ketchup and mayonnaise, enough to make me sure that the fridge had been operating until recently.

Jake came in and I said, “The power’s out.”

“Have you checked the main fuse box?” Jake asked.

“Uh...I was going to.” I said.

Jake just grinned, he knew I was lying through my teeth. “You do that and I’ll build us a fire. It’s getting cold in here.”

I knew this place had central heating (it was part of the pitch Jake had used to get me up here), so I shivered even though the place wasn’t that cold (more evidence the power had been on until a short time ago) and looked for the fuse box. I found it in the closet near the front door, and I optimistically threw the main switch off and on again. Nothing. I went through every one of the six breakers in there, and nothing did a damned thing. I went over and turned the light switch to the other direction and then tried it all over again. Nothing.

“The power is definitely out.” I said.

“It must be the blizzard.” Jake said. “Phone’s over there, try the speed dial for the manager, he ought to know what’s going on.” This cabin was one of several in the area, yeah, the manager would know what to do.

So I called. “Ye-up.” he said. “Power’s out all over the mountain. They’ll fix it soon as the storm blows over. Ought to be clear by morning.”

“Morning?” I shrieked. “What are we going to do until morning in the dark? We’ll freeze to death!”

“There’s plenty of firewood.” the manager said. And so did Jake. “Just build up a big fire and have some wood you can put on during the night.” the manager went on.

“I’ll get some more wood in so we can stay warm all night.” Jake and this manager were on the same wavelength. Must be a deformity the snowboarding crowd develops after a while.

As for beach-bunny me, I showed my confidence in my our abilities. “We’re going to die up here!” I wailed.

Jake just laughed. Damn him!

I was helpless for the rest of it, other than a bit of unpacking. The fire did warm things up, and there were candles to keep it from being pitch dark (the fire helped a lot on that). Jake and I used a couple of metal rods to roast wieners and put them on hot dog buns. We had just eaten the only food in the house we had that could roast like that. Try doing that with a can of beef stew or chili! But it was nice enough. Jake broke out the bottle of wine and that warmed me in another way, especially after the second glass. Sitting on the bearskin rug while drinking wine with a roaring fire the only light in the room was as romantic a time as you can get this side of a movie screen.

“I just looked outside.” Jake said when I came back from the bathroom. “It’s still coming down. Maybe this isn’t going to be such a great weekend to ski after all.”

“I thought the more snow, the better.” I threw some enthusiastic words he’d given me to get me to come along on this trip.

“Well, usually it is.” Jake muttered. “But when the drifts get too deep, you don’t dare ski. You’ll find a small tree or a rock the hard way.”

“So we don’t even get to ski while we’re up here?” I said. Hey, this blizzard had some pluses to it after all! “Gee, and I was all ready to spend my time falling on my ass while trying to learn to ski this weekend, too.”

“Asshole.” Jake said, but he said it softly and with a smile.

“I was going to decorate my leg cast with flowers.” I went on. “All psychedelic type flowers.”

“You wouldn’t let me sign your cast?” Jake asked me.

“Of course.” I said sincerely. “That be the centerpiece.” I said. “The flowers were intended to accent it, and keep anyone else from putting their names too close to yours.”

“Really?” Jake asked and I nodded. He seemed dazzled by that. “Damn, and I thought you were hating everything about this whole trip.”

“It had one redeeming feature.” I grinned at Jake, my handsome, blond-haired lover, all ruddy in the firelight. “It had you alone with me all weekend. That’s worth going through a few tumbles in the snow for.”

“I love you.” Jake said.

“And those three words are worth a broken leg or two.” I grinned even wider, as Jake sidled over to sit next to me. “Maybe even three.”

“How do you break three legs?” Jake wanted to know.

“I don’t know.” I said. “But you’d be worth it if I did.”

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