Pride Falls Like Snow - Part 1

Pride Falls Like Snow

Kelly Manning stood on the sidewalk trying to maintain her balance. She gritted her teeth together to stop them from chattering. Kelly didn't want Davis Williams to see it. The man was impossible.

"Mr. Williams," Kelly enunciated through cold lips. "I need to get home."

Davis shook his baseball-capped head. "You have snow up to your knees. Your car is already buried halfway up the sides." He pointed out. "You're not going anywhere."

"I don't need your condescending tone." Kelly fired back. "All I need is what men are usually good for which is tools and brute strength. If you would be so kind as to take one of your tools and use your brute strength to remove the snow from my car, I will be on my way."

Davis shook his head again and went back inside his store.

Kelly huffed out a breath then made her way carefully back to her own store, opened the door and went in. She was determined to show that man she could do anything she set her mind on.

Stepping back outside, the wind cut through her coat. She used the piece of cardboard she had retrieved from the store to move the snow away from the tires. Her fingers had gone numb despite her gloves. Snow was sliding down the back of her neck. Kelly managed to get the snow away from the driver's side door. The cardboard she used was already pretty soft and would soon be useless. She used it to scoop the snow off her front windshield only to realize it had iced over.

Her windshield scraper was in the car. She moved the snow away from the driver's side back door and unlocked the doors with her key fob. Grasping the door handle, she yanked on it, but it wouldn't open. She gave it another hard yank, throwing herself off balance, sending her feet out from under her. She landed flat on her back in the snow.

The weather report said they were expecting four inches of snow. Kelly didn't think anything of it. The weather so far this December had been cold, but the roads had stayed dry and clear. She had no idea the freak snowstorm would cause whiteout conditions in a matter of hours.

Kelly had tried earlier to leave before the snow got any deeper. She couldn't see a thing out of her windshield. She could stay in the store overnight, but it didn't have non-electric heat. The snow had knocked out the power. She owned a boutique with a lot of clothes in it; it wasn't the same as a warm blanket and insulation.

Davis, on the other hand, was set. His camping store had everything he needed to sit out the storm in comfort. He could even use the covered outdoor area they shared in the back of the building. He set his grills out there every summer. It annoyed her that she had to keep the back door closed when he did. The smoke would waft into her store making everything smell like barbecue.

He had been her neighbor for two years and while he was one of the best looking men she had ever seen. He was also the most irritating.

She lay there in the snow grateful for landing on the softness of it and not directly on the pavement. She cursed to high heaven then growled to herself, Davis was laughing.

***

God but that woman is stubborn. Davis watched her slide her way to her car earlier, get in and start the car. There was already too much snow and ice for the tires to get traction. He watched her slide her way back to her store.

Davis had been getting ready to leave. The snow was high, but he had his chains in the truck, and it sat higher off the ground. If he left quickly, he could make it home with plenty of daylight left. Davis was stuffing his backpack when he saw her out there.

Poor thing was miserable. Davis hated to see Kelly like that. She was pretty when she wasn't too busy looking down on people. She had the prettiest dark skin. She had meetings after hours for some of the women in town. As they were leaving, she stood outside to say goodnight. The street lights would make her skin shimmer. It was like watching moonlight on dark water.