Snowed In 56

***Hello, Oren here! Welcome to my first ever published story. Although this is far from the first story I've written, there was no doubt in my mind that I'd share this one first. I will thank you in advance for giving it a read and hope that you enjoy yourself as much as Spencer does. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.***

"Just keep your eyes out for her ok? I have no idea why she thought it was such a good idea to make that trek up there today of all days." said Rebecca through the cell phone.

The service out here was horrible, but that was part of the charm I guess.

"I will watch for her, Beccs. If she gets stuck, I can make my way down and help her up the rest of the way, no stress." I replied.

She thanked me and we said our goodbyes and our I love you's before I ended the call. I stood in the living room of the cabin, staring out the window as the snow fell in massive flakes. This storm had come out of nowhere, taking a random turn to the West on its way North and blanketing massive parts of the western United States. We aren't strangers to snow here in Oregon, but god damn this year we got slammed.

I guess you need some context, I'm getting ahead of myself, I do that alot. My name is Spencer, and the lovely lady I was talking to was Rebecca, my fiance. We've been together for three years now, one of them spent being engaged. We met at a concert in Las Vegas after bumping into each other at the concessions stand. One thing led to another and we exchanged numbers, found out we both lived in Oregon, started dating, became engaged, yada yada yada. I love her to death and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Hopefully that still happens...

It's Christmas weekend and every year, her family spends the weekend in their family cabin, high up in the mountains and away from civilization, just like her father wanted. This is the first year I have joined them, as the first two years we were just dating and it didn't quite feel right to invade on such a special family occasion. This year her parents insisted, so here I am.

The cabin is super nice, bougie as all get-out. I'm talking flat screen televisions, four huge bedrooms, a massive living room, hot tub on the wrap-around porch that looks down over the mountain... you name it, they probably have it. Well, except cellular service or anything like that. The idea was to get away from technology and spend time together in the present without faces buried in screens. Her dad, Kevin, is well off financially, having his own law firm and all, and he is an intense son of a bitch. But beneath the tough guy exterior, he is a great guy and an awesome father to my fiance and her sister Annie.

Rebecca's mom, Susanne, is very sweet, like a box of chocolates. Not the brightest bulb in the drawer, but extremely caring. And not bad to look at either, if I say so myself. I only bring that up because they always say if you want to know what your woman will look like when she ages, look at her mom. She is a stay at home mom, although both Rebecca and Annie have moved out and have their own places, she has two teacup poodles that take up her time: Rosemary and Thyme.

Annie, whom our phone call earlier was in reference to, is the younger of the two at twenty one years old, where Rebecca is twenty three, like myself. She is a spitfire and extremely abrasive and vulgar, which she hides from her parents very well. Her and Beccs are cut from different cloths and couldn't be more different if they tried, but watching them together is hilarious. Rebecca, my fiance, has brunette hair, which she keeps no longer than her shoulders. She has brown eyes and a gorgeous smile. Physique is, in my opinion, banging with curves in all the right places and an ass that I'd die for. Her breasts sit at just over a C-cup, which is an added bonus. Annie, who I will describe later, could not be more different.

The four of them, not counting the dogs of course, have been super accepting of me since I entered their lives and were happy when I popped the question to Rebecca. My parents divorced at an early age and I don't have any siblings, running with the single child card, so entering a new family dynamic has been the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Back to the situation at hand. I drove up to the cabin yesterday after taking a few extra days off from work. Kevin had agreed to let me head up early, although I could tell he hesitated when Rebecca and I had asked him last month over Thanksgiving dinner. I had been saving my PTO all year for this weekend and wanted to have the place to myself for a couple nights to help settle in and enjoy the peace and quiet. Rebecca was going to drive up tomorrow after work with her parents, she unfortunately got stuck doing a presentation and couldn't skip, and her parents didn't want her driving up the canyon alone. Annie was supposed to be with them, but decided to come up tonight, in the middle of the fucking storm.

One thing about Annie, which I alluded to briefly, is her tenacity to be headstrong and immovable when she wants to do something. Having decided last minute to pack up, hop into her tiny Corolla and head for the cabin a night early, caught everyone by surprise. Her family did their best to talk her out of it, with all the weather advisory alerts asking nobody to drive up the canyon for at least another two days when they could clear most of the roads. But Annie being Annie, is on her way up the canyon as we speak.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed. The idea of having a couple nights alone up here was all I had been thinking about for months. And the storm would give me another night while we waited for it to pass. It's not that I don't want to see Rebecca and her family, but alone time is a rare commodity nowadays. A chance to read in peace, a cup of coffee in the morning or whiskey at night, maybe a few beers. I had an ice cold 24-pack on the porch with my name on it. But solitude had an end I guess.

I continued to watch the snow fall, adding to the already impressive amount on the ground. I grabbed my coat and headed out onto the covered porch, pulling on my gloves and beanie. I sit on one of the rocking chairs overlooking the front, focusing on the clearing in the trees where Annie would hopefully be coming through any minute now. It's a gorgeous fucking view, and it's eerily quiet. It's amazing how snow does that, packs around and muffles the noise of anything around you. My own personal snow globe.

An hour passes with no sign of life as I continue to rock in the chair and I start to get worried. It's a mixture of annoyance and stress and it pulls at my stomach. How would I possibly tell her family if Annie had an accident while coming up the mountain, perhaps falling off the side? I look at my truck, parked under the covered parking space next to the cabin and debate hopping in to make my way down. I have four wheel drive, but the idea of driving in this makes me nauseated, so I tell myself I'll give it another half hour before I make that commitment.

The snow continues its relentless downfall, blanketing everything it can touch. At this rate, the mountain is going to be closed completely for the weekend, meaning I could very well be stuck up here with Annie for much longer than anticipated. Worse things could happen, but as I watch the white fluff overtake everything, my stress elevates. I decide it's time and I stand from the rocking chair and head inside. I snag my keys from the counter, cursing in annoyance that she just had to drive up today. What the fuck was she thinking?

I head back outside and down the snow-covered steps of the porch into the powder. It's deep enough that I sink down to my shin. Fuck. I make my way to the truck and hop in. As I turn the key to bring it to life, I look out my windshield and chuckle. Sure as shit, Annie's white Corolla clumsily pushes its way through the snowy path and into the clearing of the cabin. I kill the engine and watch as she slips and slides her way over to the covered parking and parks next to me. Her car turns off and I open my door to go greet her.

"What in the actual fuck were you thinking, Annie?" I ask her as she steps out of the car.

"Good to see you too, buddy," she replies, a sheepish grin on her face. "Be a gentleman and help me unpack will ya?"

She is usually pretty good at keeping her composure when stressed, but the color in her face and tousled hair tell me all I need to know. She had a hell of a time driving up the canyon and she couldn't convince me otherwise. I help her with her bags, and can't help but notice she overpacked. We lug the bags through the snow, using the same prints I made on my way over to the truck and make it safely back into the cabin.

We take her bags into her room and I drop them on the floor, watching as she flops onto her bed. The room is rather large, bigger than my own bedroom in my apartment and it has an ensuite bathroom with toilet and full shower/bathtub combo. I looked around the place when I got here, marveling at the sheer size and scope of it but until now I didn't realize which room belonged to who, except of course the very apparent master. Her dad made it very clear that Beccs and I weren't to share a room, very fucking old school, so I had occupied the room right across the hall from Annie's, unbeknownst to me.

"Well, have fun settling in, I'll just be out here hanging out if you need anything." I told her as I turned to leave.

"Shut the door on your way out, if you wouldn't mind. Don't want you getting a view of me changing." Her tone was sarcastic.

I laugh and shut the door, making my way back to the living room, hanging my coat back up and setting my gloves and beanie on the table next to the door. I grabbed a soda from the fridge along with my book, settling onto the couch so I could disappear into my fantasy world. I glanced back outside as the snow picked up, which I didn't think possible. I sent a text to Rebecca, telling her that Annie made it safe. She thanked me and said she would keep me posted on when it was they would be able to make it up. Judging by the weather, I wasn't optimistic it would be anytime soon.

*

As is normal when I read, I checked my phone to see that I had cruised through three hours. I rubbed my eyes and shut the book, setting it on the sofa next to me. As if on queue, Annie's bedroom door opens from down the hall and I hear footsteps approaching the living room. I watch her come out, her dark black hair damp from her shower, hanging down to the middle of her back. She is wearing an old band t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that may be a size too small as they hug her hips and legs tightly. Maybe that's just the style, but I prefer clothes that don't cling to me like plastic wrap.

She walks past the couch and into the kitchen where she grabs two cans of beer before heading into the living room, sitting on the sofa opposite me. She cracks a beer and hands it to me across the coffee table that separates us. I thank her and grab the cold can, raising it up to her as she cracks hers and takes a swig.

"Thanks for sharing." She says.

"Hard not to when you help yourself." I admit.

She laughs and takes another sip before setting it on the table, on top of a coaster of course. The table, along with most of the furniture in here was probably worth more than all of my possessions combined. I sip from my own beer and set it on the table in front of me, before lounging back into the couch.

Annie's eyes are an icy blue and she uses them to shoot daggers more often than not. The joke we have is her constant resting bitch face will scare off any man who dares get close to her. I don't quite believe that, and Beccs doesn't know this, but I feel like it adds a sense of allure. She looks at me, not unkindly, but the RBF is on full display. Her small lips hold a firm line, not smiling or frowning. She has a tattoo of a rose on her left collarbone, a portion of red is poking out of the collar. As she sits back into the seat, crossing her legs underneath her, I realize she isn't wearing a bra, her nipples pushing against the fabric of the fading shirt. Typical Annie.

"So, I'm curious," I say to her. "What the hell prompted you to come up today? Surely you saw the weather warnings."

"The warnings said it would get really bad by tonight, figured I could beat the worst of it. But as I've come to expect from the damn weather people, they struggle predicting it more often than not."

"Sure, but why come up early when your family isn't heading up until tomorrow?"

She looks at me intently, her eyes squinting. "Do you have any idea what it's like riding up with the three of them? The music they play alone is enough to drive me fucking mad. I'd rather sit through an enema than listen to the country bullshit they play."

"They make headphones, and I know you have some." I reply with a hint of sarcasm.

"They make it a game to annoy me because they know I hate it. They tug them out of my ears, screaming along with the backwater music about loving their dog or their truck...Don't tell me you like country too?"

I stifle a laugh. "Fuck no, can't stand that shit at all."

She laughs and sips her beer, I follow suit. We talk back and forth while we finish our drinks, and I get us each another one. I had a moment of annoyance, watching half of my beer go towards someone else, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy the company in this moment. Annie and I had never really hung out just the two of us since Beccs and I had been together. I guess it would make sense, why would I ever need to be alone with my fiance's sister?

"But what's the real reason you came up early? Surely it couldn't have just been to avoid the country music, as bad as it may be." I ask her.

She eyes me again while rotating the can of beer in her hand. Her painted black nails reflect the light of the chandelier above us. She smiles gently, her white teeth showing briefly between her lips before she closes them again.

"Is this where you expect me to say that I wanted some alone time with you? My sister's fiance?"

I start in shock, not expecting that response at all. I swear up and down that thought never crossed my mind and now being presented with it, I feel awkward as fuck, thinking to myself that I should probably retire to my room and read in bed.

"What the fuck, no!" I shout, louder than I intended to. "I thought you had a plan to come up and drink, maybe get stoned or some shit before your parents get here. Not...that!"

She laughs, a sound that prickles my ears a bit and makes my hair stand on end. I don't know if I have ever heard her laugh that hard. I let her laugh, watching her slap her thigh a few times as she catches her breath. My face warms in embarrassment, surely I look like a lobster.

"Holy shit," she says between breaths. "You should have seen your face, Spencer!"

"What the hell do you expect when you hit me with something like that?" I ask her.

The pressure leaves my stomach slightly, realizing she was cracking a joke. I watch as she takes a big swig of her beer and I again follow suit, chugging away to hide my flustered state.

"And what if I did want to get drunk and stoned before they get here? You going to try and stop me?" She asked, her composure sinking back in.

"It's not my place to stop you, I'm claiming ignorance."

"Fair enough." She said, her tone level and smooth.

I finish my beer and crinkle my can before walking over and tossing it into the trash. I look at the cans in the bin and look back to Annie.

"I think we are going to have to hide the cans in my truck. It's going to be hard to convince anyone that sees them that I drank these alone." I said to her.

"Smart man. Knowing my dad, he will bring up a bunch more too, along with some other stuff. Have you found his secret bar yet?" She asked, standing from the couch.

"Secret bar? Bullshit."

"Hand to god, or whatever higher power there is. Follow me," she tosses the can into the bin and heads down the hallway to the master. "But you don't know this shit exists, got it?"

I raise my hands in defense and let her lead the way. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I let my gaze fall to her ass as we walked down the hallway. Annie is smaller than her sister, but not by much. She can't be more than five and a half feet and she has a smaller frame. Her chest is smaller, can't be more than a B cup, but I'm an ass guy myself and the way Annie's sways in her sweatpants has me captivated. I can't see any panty lines, so either she is going commando, or she has a thong on.

We enter the master and she walks to the mirror in front of the bed.

"Parents like to watch huh?" I joke.

She turns around with a smirk on her face. "Probably. They get a little freaky sometimes when we are out here, you'll probably hear them quite a bit."

"Ugh fuck, forget I asked."

She turns back around and slides her hand behind the right side of the mirror. I hear a faint click and the mirror swings out a bit. She grabs the side and pulls it the rest of the way to reveal a dozen or more bottles of various spirits on glass shelves with puck lights above. I don't recognize any of the bottles, which tells me one thing. I couldn't afford any of this if I saved up for a decade.

"Ta-da," Annie said, motioning elaborately with her hands. "My dad's pride and joy. If you butter him up enough, I'm sure he will share some with you."

"Honestly, I'm not sophisticated enough to even know what would be good."

"IF he offers, and that's a big IF, then you drink it and say thank you and you act like it's the best damn drink you've ever had. That's your tip for the day." She said, pushing the mirror closed again until it latched.

I follow her back out into the kitchen where she grabs two more cans, handing one to me before going back into the living room, taking her spot back on the sofa. I look out the window as I head back to my spot and notice the snow is still coming down, with no signs of stopping. The sun has set and the dark of night begins to take over.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but it's starting to look like it'll be you and I here for much longer than we might have thought. They will definitely shut the canyon roads down and prevent anyone from coming up." I say while staring out the double panes of glass.

"Shucks, that's just too damn bad."

I look over at her, noting the sarcasm dripping through her tones. She cracks the can of beer and takes another big sip. I head back to my spot and sit, looking across the table at her. I can feel the start of a good buzz forming, the beer catching up with me. I think back to the last time I ate, which would have been this morning when I heated up some Eggo waffles. Not the fanciest of breakfast's but it got the job done.

"Why do I get the feeling that you loathe these cabin trips?" I ask out of curiosity.

"The first day, cake walk. It's the days after that get under my skin. I love my family, in small doses. Just like the country music, they find the things that drive me fucking nuts and they keep after it. I know they do it lovingly, but god damn it gets old very quick." She admits.

"Even Beccs?"

"Especially her," she says, rolling her eyes. "She is a great big sister, but that's what she is, a big sister and I swear to god it's in their DNA to be as fucking obnoxious as possible."

I sip my beer and think to myself that Rebecca can be a bit on the extra side. Several flashbacks flood my mind of me telling her that I'm just not in the mood, or to take it easy from time to time. I smile as the thought of the Energizer bunny comes into my mind, except it's Beccs, all pink and furry, holding the drum. I don't fault her for it, in fact I love that about her. I would rather take the energy overload than try to convince someone to loosen up.