shook her head. “We’ll be able to go a lot faster as soon as we outrun the snowstorm.”
Stubborn woman. He couldn’t argue with her statement. In fact, he totally agreed with her. The disagreement came in exactly when they’d outrun the snowstorm.
“Mind if I turn on the radio?” he asked. “We might get some weather news.”
“No, of course not. That’s a good idea.” She reached for the radio herself.
“I’ll handle the radio, since you’re driving.” He thought he’d put that tactfully, and her hand returned to the steering wheel, leaving it to him to find a station.
“This is a weather bulletin,” the announcer said. “Forecasters say the storm will still intensify for the next few hours. However, the snow should taper off by morning.”
“By morning!” Lindsay exclaimed.
Gil said nothing. He didn’t think urging Lindsay to give up would be effective. The hardheaded woman would probably refuse to do so because she didn’t want to give in to a man’s advice. He understood a woman’s resistance to male domination, but not in the face of common sense.
“Lindsay, the snow’s almost half a foot deep now. We’re not going to be able to go much farther. Don’t you want to look for shelter while we can?” he finally asked.
She said nothing, leaning farther over the steering wheel, her gaze glued to the road in front of them.
Gil sighed.
Abruptly, she put on her blinker light, taking him by surprise. “You’re stopping?” he asked.
Though her face remained grim, she nodded. “There’s a small town here, according to that sign. I guess we’d better stop while we can.”
“Good thinking,” he agreed, as if it had been her idea. He didn’t care who got credit for stopping, as long as they did so.
The exit road was downhill and they skidded several times negotiating it. When they reached the bottom, they discovered another sign, pointing out that the small town they’d sought was another four miles down the road.
“Rats!” Lindsay exclaimed, frowning fiercely.
“We can make it,” Gil assured her. Four miles on level road would be a hell of a lot better than trying to go uphill to get back on the freeway.
“We don’t have much choice,” she muttered, not looking at him.
“Want me to drive?”
She glared at him. “No.”
He drew a deep breath and leaned back, trying to give the impression of complete relaxation.
Half an hour later, they reached the city limits of Witherspoon.
“Where is it?” Lindsay demanded in frustration.
“I think I see a few buildings. Keep going.”
He was right. They discovered a filling station, obviously shut down, a Dairy Queen, no lights on, a couple of houses and finally the red fluorescent light appeared through the snow, flashing OTEL.
“I think we can assume that should say motel,” he said with a chuckle.
“I hope you’re right.” She turned off the road into the parking lot.
Gil studied as much as he could see of the motel and figured they’d be lucky to get a room. The parking lot was almost full.
“There’s the office,” he said, pointing to their right.
She eased the car through the crunchy snow and stopped as close to the office door as she could.
“If you’d like, I’ll go see what they’ve got available. I’ve already got my coat out,” he offered, careful to couch his idea as a suggestion.
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”
Surprised by her acquiescence without argument, he hurriedly got out into the storm before she could change her mind.
The cold sting of the snow attacked his exposed skin as he hurried toward the door, trying not to slip.
As soon as he got inside, closing the door behind him, he shook off the snow that covered him and stepped to the counter.
No one appeared to be on duty, but there was a button to push for assistance. After he’d followed directions, he heard footsteps. Then, a door behind the counter opened and an elderly man appeared.
“Evening. Didn’t hear anyone arrive. Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said, a genial smile on his face. “We don’t usually do this much business.”
Gil would guess not. So far he hadn’t seen anything in Witherspoon that would attract travelers. Of course, he hadn’t seen much in the snowstorm, so he could be wrong.
“You’re in luck,” the man said. “I’ve got one room left. You want it?”
Gil frowned. “Only one room? We need two.”
“Sorry, young man. But one’s all I got. If you don’t want it, someone else will probably come along.”
Gil felt sure he was right. “Is there another motel in town?”
“Nope. This is it.”
The sound of another vehicle on the road just barely penetrated the room above the sound of the wind. Gil didn’t want to do any more driving in the storm. He hurriedly agreed to the one room, pulling out his credit card.
“We, uh, had to up the price a little, because of the storm, you know. Had to hire extra help to get all the rooms ready.” The man avoided Gil’s cynical gaze.
He wasn’t surprised to discover price-gouging. It happened all the time. In fact, he figured the man had a hard time making a living wage most days.
He waited for the man to run his credit card, thinking about the reaction he was bound to receive when he announced to Lindsay Crawford that they were going to share a motel room.
The man handed over an old-fashioned key. None of those fancy plastic cards that the hotels used these days. Gil almost smiled as he pocketed the key. Just as he put his hand on the door to venture out into the storm, he looked over his shoulder. “This room does have two beds, doesn’t it?”
The man stared at him, and Gil got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Chapter Three
Lindsay shivered as the wind swirled around the car, making visibility impossible. She was glad they’d stopped, but she wished they could continue on. She wished she had her coat out of the trunk. She wished…A blur of movement stopped her thoughts.
Suddenly the passenger door opened and Gil slid into the car, bringing with him snow and wind. She
