Bring Me Home for Christmas

half-hour later, she saw the mound of snow that had been Denny’s truck. A lot was going to have to happen to transform that igloo into a moving vehicle.
    In all her trips to ski slopes, Becca had never seen anything quite like this. Even in the heaviest of snowfall in the mountains, this was her first time in a tiny town that was buried by snow. People were shoveling and snowblowing their way out of the homes and driveways, standing on ladders to shovel and scrape some of the weight off roofs. Kids were throwing snowballs, building forts and snowmen. Dogs were rollicking in the snow. There was exactly one narrow lane plowed down the street—just enough room for a vehicle, one at a time.
    Becca couldn’t suppress a brief fantasy about being completely snowed in with Denny. Not in their little room above the garage, but in a house with a fireplace and a nice, functional kitchen. She’d be more than happy to lose a few days that way….
    Jack drove her to the bar. Rather than parking in the back as usual, he pulled through two feet of snow to take a narrow space in the front and left the truck running. Preacher, all bundled up, was shoveling off the stairs and a path to the street.
    As Jack carried her past, Preacher said, “Help yourself in the kitchen, Becca. I’m going to be tied up awhile.”
    “Thanks,” she said with a laugh.
    When Jack put her down right inside the door, she found an unexpected flurry of activity there. There were canned goods, bags of nonperishables and miscellanea lined up on the bar and on tables. Mel and Paige stood behind the bar, sorting and creating piles. Their four kids were coloring at a table in front of the fire. Jack went immediately to a stack of unconstructed boxes and began to fold them into shape and tape them.
    “Hi,” Becca said to the women. “Getting those Christmas boxes ready?”
    “We have to try to get them all delivered right away,” Paige said. “We have more weather on the way.”
    “It would be awful if people didn’t get them before Christmas,” Becca said.
    “It would be awful if they didn’t get them,” Mel said. “Some of these people need them. They might be hungry even as we speak, and if they’re also snowed in, have no way to get food. If we wait even a day and can’t get down some of those back country roads…” She shuddered. “One of the local farmers is plowing a lane out to Cameron’s house. He’s got the Hummer—our ambulance. He has to be able to get to town to the clinic. It’s heart-attack season, not to mention slips on ice, broken bones, strained muscles, cars sliding off roads, et cetera.”
    “Heart-attack season?” Becca asked.
    “First dramatic snowfall of the year,” Mel said while making groupings of foods for care boxes. “Shoveling and heart attacks. All the warnings in the world just don’t seem to help. During an ice storm a couple of years ago, we had a school bus go off the road. Jack and some of the guys rappeled down the hill to them. First responders had to carry the kids up one at a time. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but it could’ve been disastrous. Three years ago, we had a teenager lost and half the town went in search. Oh, Jack!” she said, turning her attention to her husband. “Paul Haggerty called—he’s plowing the stretch from 36 into town so if we have to get to the hospital, we can. And once he has access, he’ll bring some heavy equipment into town along with the construction company’s fuel truck.”
    “Good. We could get gas out at Buck Anderson’s ranch—he keeps a good supply for his equipment—but getting there could be a problem.”
    Becca felt a sudden surge of panic. “Is there any way to check and be sure Denny got out to the farm all right?”
    “I’m sure he did or Jillian would have called asking after him,” Mel said. “But go in the kitchen and use the phone. Her number will be in the listing by the phone. Matlock. Jillian Matlock. And then get yourself something to eat—I bet you haven’t had breakfast.”
    Becca worked those crutches very quickly.
    “Yes,” Jillian said. “Denny and Colin are out clearing, plowing and removing snow from the roofs of the greenhouses. Most of it melted from smudge pots warming the inside, but sometime in the night, the snow and cold overwhelmed us and covered our paths to the greenhouses. How are things in town?”
    “Very active,” she said. “Everyone seems to be very busy.”
    Jillian laughed into the