Chapter 3
765 Words
Early the next morning, I was packing my things. Noah pounded on my door. When he came in, his face was grim. His tone left no room for argument.
"Chloe's family has been pressuring her hard about marriage. The stress is destroying her. She's almost depressed. Before our actual wedding, I'm going to do a run-through with her. Just a formality. Something to calm her parents down."
I stared at him. My hands stopped moving. My chest filled with bitterness. When I spoke, my voice came out hoarse. "And what about me? Noah, what am I to you?"
He looked irritated. He didn't even think before the words came out. "It's just going through the motions. I'm still marrying you in the end, aren't I?" A pause. "Besides, who else would you marry? Elena, can you just be reasonable for once?"
My nails dug deep into my palms. I couldn't tell if my hands hurt more, or my heart.
Exhaustion crashed over me like a wave.
"Fine." My voice was hoarse. It even trembled a little. "I'll go. But Noah, this is the last time."
The irritation on his face faltered. His voice softened. "See, that wasn't so hard. Get ready. You'll head out soon." He turned and walked out without a backward glance.
Before I left, my friend Mara Vance checked my gear again and again. "Elena, do you have to go today? The forecast says heavy snow."
I looked back at the cabin behind me. The walls weren't thick. I stood there in silence for a long time. Not a single word of protest came from inside.
I glanced back once before heading into the mountains. Through the window, in the warm yellow light of the living room, I saw him bent over, pressing a heat pack onto Chloe's ankle. He always said she had a weak constitution. Couldn't handle the cold. He never knew my left knee had an old injury too. Every snow season, the pain drilled into the bone.
It felt like someone had taken a knife from my already battered heart and carved out another piece. My eyes stung. Pathetic.
Mara hugged me one last time. "Elena, you're coming back safe! You hear me?" She also told me there were plenty of eligible young men in the village. I knew what she was trying to say. She thought I deserved better. She was angry for me. I smiled but didn't respond.
I told myself I'd settle things with the past for good once I got back.
But the blizzard sealed off the path behind me. I lost my way completely in that vast field of snow. My body temperature began to drop. My life force slipped away, bit by bit.
In the final moments, as my consciousness sank into chaos, my life flashed before my eyes like a slideshow. I remember the first time I went up the mountain alone. Noah had gotten down on one knee in front of me, eyes red, and sworn an oath. "Elena, I love you. I'm not good with words, and I'm set in my ways. You're the only one who ever came close to me. The only one who ever gave me warmth." He'd said, "Once you get this body down the mountain, let's have our wedding in the snow. Okay?"
Even later, when the wedding got pushed back again and again, I'd tell myself it was because he cared so much about getting it right. I'd feel a secret little thrill. Back then, I really thought I was finally going to have a home. I thought I'd weathered the storm long enough to see the moon.
And then Noah rescued Chloe from the mountain. She was like a spring flower blooming in March—delicate on the surface, but tough and radiant underneath. The moment he laid eyes on her, he was captivated. A light cough from her and he'd be tearing the place apart looking for medicine. She'd say she was thirsty and he'd have warm water at her lips before the word was fully out.
When he saw me watching, he froze for a second. Then he introduced us. "Elena, this is Chloe. She took a fall and got hurt. She'll be staying with us for a while to recover."
It had happened before. When Chloe first decided to settle at the base of the mountain, I'd even been glad to have a new companion for our quiet life.
I never imagined—not once—that she'd be the reason Noah and I would end up like this.
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