Cupid's Test (2 page)

“I think I can handle that, you need it now?” He smiled he loved being able to cause trouble. They all took off back to where Jay was. Already the temperature had been dropping and it only took Jack a few seconds to start building a large snow storm. “That should keep them in for a while. Give you a good go at getting them together.” Jack smiled, “what are you going to do after it clears and they get to go home?”

“Oh these two will see each other again. Hop
efully they will be so attached to each other it won’t matter that they are on opposite sides. They are not going to be happy next time they meet.” Cupid answered glaring at Tooth Fairy. He was sure she knew about the upcoming events before she picked these two. Watching them for the last two weeks he knew that if he didn’t work some good magic this week, while they were stuck inside together, they would never make it passed what was coming.

“So what, after they leave here it’s going to be up to them?” Tooth Fairy asked surprised. “I thought you just kept shooting love at them until they believed they loved each other.”

“No I try to remind them of what attracted them to each other before the anger starts but once they really start the relationship I’m kind of out of it. I can’t force them together. It has to be their decision. That’s why I had to meet them before Okaying that I would try this. It’s a bit more complicated than you would think.” Cupid answered glad that he was able to start teaching her about his work. Clearly she had the wrong impression about him. Which he couldn’t really blame her for, it wasn’t like he explained what he did. He just boasted about it all the time. Maybe he shouldn’t be so cocky. He shrugged pushing that thought aside. He looked down to find Jay already moving.

*                                                                           *                                                                      *

The temperature dropped dramatically since he arrived. When it started to snow the fire wasn’t keeping him warm anymore. He realized that this might not be a light dusting like the news said it was going to be. Dumping water over his fire he quickly packed up his campsite in search of one of the cabins he knew the place rented out. He would just have to explain to the owners after the storm and pay the difference. He’d be damned if he was willing to go back though. He needed this time to himself.

The trail he was on was supposed
to have a cabin at the end of it. He was glad that he had grabbed a map of the campground before going to his campsite. No one would choose the last one in the place to go to when the others were all open near the front. Jay just hoped that the door would be unlocked. As he pulled up he found a cute little cottage with a small wood shed right behind it. There were about four steps then a wide porch with a grill and patio set on it. Right over the door was a small overhang protecting you as you unlock the door from rain, or snow in this case. He tried the door and was happily surprised to find it unlocked.  Opening it he found a small living room with a couch, fireplace and rocking chair. The kitchen had a small four person table and straight back he saw two doorways both were open. The room was still quite chilly so he decided to go out to the wood shed and stack up some wood inside and have extra next to the door on the porch. If he was right this was going to be a cold week.

*
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Lillian walked out of the bedroom and looked at the door. She could have sworn she just heard it open. Shrugging she walked into the bathroom deciding she was just hearing things there was no way someone else would be up here and in her cottage.
She climbed into the shower trying to warm up and relax more. The drive had been longer and harder than she expected in her little car. As it was she had to leave it down quite a ways because the road was so rough. She had to drag all her things up to the cabin and it had taken two trips with all the food she brought as well as her clothes and work papers. She wished she had packed lighter by the time she was done.

*                                                                              *                                                               *

Jay opened the door and set his arm full of wood near the fireplace before leaving again to get more. Maybe he should stack it all inside, if it was snowing the wood would only get wet and buried outside on the porch. It was going to take quite a few trips to get all that he wanted. Looking at the sky he worried that even he didn’t realize how big a storm was coming. The power could go out and with it his heat source. After his third trip he was sure that he finally had enough. He went back to his truck and grabbed his bag as well as his cooler and food. He really didn’t want to have to come out again. The snow fall was getting thicker and even in the gloves his hands were freezing. Locking the SUV he dragged all his things to the house.

*                                                                              *                                                                *

Lillian walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel; at least the water was nice and hot. The heat in the place wasn’t doing a very good job though. Before she went to her room she walked out to the living room, thinking about getting wood to make a fire. Surprised she found a large pile it near the door. She shook her head she must have missed it when she came in the first time. She hadn’t really been looking for it before. She had just put her food away before going to the bedroom to put the clothes away. She walked into the bedroom to get dressed in warm comfortable clothes.

*                                                                              *                                                                 *

Jay finally got his stuff up the steps and opened the door dragging it inside the soft carpet made his banging around remarkably quieter. Shutting the door he first went to the fireplace and started making a pile of kindling and wood, only to realize he didn’t have a lighter he had left his in the truck. He walked into the kitchen hoping to find one in a drawer. He did not want to go back outside. “Who the hell are you?”

“Holy Crap!”
He exclaimed as a voice jumped him out of his skin. He whipped around to find a woman in warm looking pajamas glaring at him hands on her hips. Her long hair was wet and pulled back into a ponytail. She was tall, probably six feet which to most men would be a turn off but at his 6’4” was perfect. He couldn’t tell in the clothes but he thought she would have an athletic build. She was very pretty and, it seemed, very pissed. “What are you doing way out here?”

“You’re asking me what I’m doing here, I rented this cottage what the hell are you doing here? Are you a squatter? Who are you?” she wasn’t backing down in fact she seemed to be standing straighter. He couldn’t help smiling she was probably used to intimidating people with her size.

“I’m not a squatter.” He said disgusted “I rented a campsite down the trail a bit.”

“Really, a campsite?”
She scoffed who would rent a campsite in this weather?

He pulled out his re
ceipt from his back pocket. “Yes, a campsite. I set up my camp only to realize that it was not a light dusting like the weather said. I decided I better get inside. I really didn’t want to go back home so I decided to just wait it out in a cabin and pay the difference after the storm.”

She took the receipt glancing at it quickly. Sure looked like a receipt for a campsite. “Why in the world would you go camping at this time of year?” She asked relaxing a little.

He shrugged turning around to continue his search for a lighter. “I like camping. This was the only time I could do it and I wasn’t going to pass it up. I needed to get away. AH, here you are.” He held up the lighter happily and passed her to go to the fireplace.

“You don’t think you’re going to stay here do you?” She asked annoyed again and following him the short distance to the living room.

“Well you’re not going to make me go back out there are you?” He stood back up and walked to the window pulling back the curtain. It was really snowing outside now you could hardly make out the trees surrounding the cottage. “By the way where is your car? Did you walk here? I would have known you were here if your car was here.” He went back to the fireplace determined to get a good fire going.

“My car isn’t very good on trails so I left it back at the main road and walked up here with my stuff.” She answered finally sitting down, so much for a relaxing week by herself. She very well couldn’t send him out in that mess as soon as it stopped snowing though this guy was out of there.

The fire was lit and Jay turned around looking her over again. She must have the athletic build he thought her to have if she made that hike it was pretty far. “Please don’t tell me you have one of those crappy battery powered cars do you?” He groaned standing up and going back to the kitchen to put his food away.

“So what if I do? It’s better for the environment and it I don’t have to pay as much in gas. It gets great City miles compared to most cars.”
She sat with her back to the arm rest of the couch and watched him in the kitchen over the back of the couch curling her feet up around her. “So, that’s all your camping stuff?” She asked still a little suspicious.

“No most of it is in the SUV, which I’ve got to go get, my sleeping bag.” He turned around a huge grin on his face “unless you want to share the bed with me.” He laughed outright at the look on her face and as it grew red.
“I’m just teasing you.” He opened the cooler and put his stuff in the fridge. Then grabbed his jacket, “be right back, I might get some more wood too it’s getting really bad, don’t want the door to the wood shed buried in snow and we freeze.”

As soon as the door shut behind him Lillian was off the couch. She went to the fridge first and found that he mostly had meats. She wasn’t sure how he thought he was going to cook this stuff when he had a campsite
. She didn’t do much camping herself so she didn’t know what he might have in his truck for it. She found he also added some beans and meats in a can to the cupboard. Coffee had been added as well as hot chocolate and some other random items that she wouldn’t have thought would be good for camping. She felt bad as she snuck to his bag next but it would be stupid of her not to look. What if he had items for killing someone in that bag and she had the perfect chance to keep him out of the house now but she didn’t look? She was a little surprised to find just regular clothes and some books in the bag, nothing out of the ordinary. His phone was on top and when she tried to turn it on it only came up with a passkey lock. She quickly put the phone back zipped up the bag and sat back on the couch.

The door opened seconds after Jay was covered in snow as was his pillow, sleeping bag and blanket that he was carrying. When he dumped his load in the chair she found that he had two lanterns and some flashlights in his hands. “No telling if the power will hold out with this storm. I moved my SUV as close to the house as I could. I’ll be right back I’m
gonna get a lot more wood.” He was gone again and Lillian, more for something to do started unfolding his blankets and laying it all out on the floor near the fireplace to dry. He came back twice dropped and armload of wood before leaving again without saying anything.

When he left the third time Lillian decided to make some coffee. It really was the least she could do. If he hadn’t shown up it was likely she would freeze in the house. She hadn’t noticed how the weather had turned and she never would have thought to stock up on wood
and find flashlights. When he came back he didn’t have wood this time he had another large duffle bag that sounded like it had a lot of metal in it.

She looked at it cautiously. “Still worried I’m going to murder you in your sleep?” Jay asked laughing. “You can look in that bag too.” She looked up at him surprised. “I watched through the window, I figured you were going to look.”

“You know it would probably help me out if you’d told me your name.” Lillian tried not to get embarrassed but she could feel her cheeks get warmer. She stood and went right to the bag. Placing it on the table she opened it cautiously. “What is all this stuff?” She asked pulling out pieces.

“You don’t
go camping do you?” He asked laughing again. “I’m Jay.” He walked over and held out his hand.

“Lillian, and no I don’t go camping.” She shook his hand she had to admit that he was very handsome and strong. He carried a lot of wood into the house and didn’t have any trouble with it. She looked him over now that she wasn’t shocked and pissed that he was there. He had to be at least 6’3” because she was around 6’ and he was taller than she was. He had
short brown hair that was sticking up. It looked like he had run his hand through it when it was wet and was now drying that way. It looked good on him though. He wasn’t thick but not too thin either, just right in her opinion. She shook her head and looked back at the bag again.

“This is a coffee maker, this one is to heat up water,
this one is my propane stove. He pulled out a large rectangle and set it on the table. Pulling up the top she could see two burners. “You just take this and screw it on here and it uses the gas just like a regular stove all the rest in there is just my cooking stuff and plates, cups, silverware.”

“What were you going to do for water?” She asked. She saw some noodle boxes at the bottom of this bag and he had coffee how was h
e planning on making that stuff?