Holly and Snowflakes Pt. 01

"Is everything okay, ma'am," a smooth, deep voice said from behind her.

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Holly jumped at the unexpected voice behind her and slowly turned around, reaching up with a gloved hand to shield her eyes from the bright light coming from the spotlight mounted to the side of the police utility that had pulled up behind her, the red and blue LED lights from the light bar flashing in the falling snow, and the beam of the flashlight directed at her, lighting up the night. She hadn't heard the other vehicle approaching, her mind was preoccupied with dealing with her flat tire, or the sound of his booted feet as he walked up behind her.

She looked up at the sheer size of the man standing a few feet away from her, his right hand instinctively resting on the grip of his holstered pistol. He was at least six feet if not over by a few inches and his dark blue jacket was zipped up over the bulk of his tactical vest, making him appear that much larger and even more intimidating. The light coming from the inside of her car lit up the reflective stitching of his name on his right breast and the patch on his left in the shape of the city's police badges, not that she didn't doubt that he was a police officer but still she liked to stay cautious. "No, everything is not okay. I have a flat tire and no spare. I was on my way to the hospital and now I'm not going anywhere. I have-"

Gabe held up his gloved hand, silently shushing her as he quickly gave her the once over. She had a green hat with white faux fur trim perched on top of her red hair, elaborate make-up that sparkled under the light coming from his flashlight and the spotlight, her bulky parka covering up her body and tight green leggings that clung to the shape of her thighs and knee-high black leather boots that were not made for the snow. He was pretty sure with the way that she was dressed that she was going to or coming from a party, but he couldn't smell any alcohol on her breath and even though it was Christmas Eve he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. And he hated seeing anyone stranded on the holidays. "Did you call for a tow truck yet?" he asked her and when she shook her head no, let out a long sigh and started to shiver in the cold, the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. The town only had two towing companies and he knew from experience that if an officer didn't dispatch them to the scene of an accident, they sometimes took their dear ol' sweet time getting to the location they were needed at, and he wasn't going to leave her sitting out in the snow along the side of the interstate.

He looked at his watch. His shift was over in fifteen minutes, and it had been a relatively slow day and there was nothing other than printing out his reports to keep him from making sure she got safely to her destination. He had plenty of spare time on his hands afterwards; he certainly didn't have any plans for the rest of the night. He looked over at her in the falling snow, watched as she reached up with a gloved hand to brush a strand of red hair back from her face that was clinging to her lashes, shivering slightly in the cold. He tugged down the zipper on his jacket again and reached inside, taking out his cell phone. He needed to call the other officer on duty and let him know that he was going to do a courtesy transport to Riverton and that he needed to meet up with the other officer that was coming on the night shift. "Just sit tight. I'll make sure you get safely to wherever it is you're going," he said, reassuring her with a slight smile.

She nodded her head and let out a long breath, watching as it turned to a small visible puff of white before disappearing in the cold night air as she sat down on the open cargo hold of her Jeep, the raised hatch giving her protection from the falling snow. She gazed at his backside as he walked away from her, stopping at the front fender of the Explorer and blocking the bright beam from the spotlight with the bulk of his body. She assumed he was checking in with his wife, letting her know that he was going to be late because if he was calling a tow truck for her, she figured he would have just used his police radio to have dispatch get them to her faster. She pulled her cellphone from her pocket and looked at the time on the screen. It was ten minutes to seven and it was a fifteen-minute drive to Riverton, thirty minutes in weather like this and he was chatting with his spouse. She really shouldn't be complaining, after all he was making sure she was going to get there safely.

She slipped her phone back in her pocket and looked up at him just as he was tucking his own phone and flashlight back inside his jacket and zipping it up, walking towards her. Her gaze briefly roamed over him, but it was hard to really make out any part of him in the darkness of the night, just the sheer bulk of his body and from what she could tell, it wasn't from fat, it was from muscle. And when he stopped a few inches away from her, the light from the inside of her Jeep clearly illuminated his features and she had to swallow hard, pushing the sudden knot that had formed in her throat back down into her chest. He had to be one of the most strikingly handsome men she had ever seen. "Is- Is everything okay, Officer," she asked, not really trusting her own voice.

"It's Sergeant Grigori. Gabe," he corrected, looking down at her in the light coming from the inside of her vehicle, a shadow covering part of her beautiful, carefully made-up face but clearly shining on her hair. And that wasn't a shade of red that you got from a bottle, it was au naturel and he had to wonder if she had freckles and a fiery temper to go along with her gingery locks. He always did have a thing for redheads, but the natural ones were few and far between and he hadn't really been looking for anyone to date since he had moved, but maybe spending just a little bit of time with someone of the opposite sex on a lonely Christmas Eve might do him a little bit of good. She probably had a significant other anyway and hadn't had time to call him before he showed up. No need to get his hopes up, at least he could be her knight in shining armor for a few moments. He gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "And everything's okay. Get whatever you need from your vehicle. I'll drive you wherever you need to go tonight."

He pulled down the rear cargo door for her after she slid out of the back and he watched as she carefully walked along the left side of her vehicle in her knee-high boots that were more fashionable then functional to slide in behind the wheel to shut off the engine, claim her purse from the passenger's seat and stow her flashlight back inside the glovebox. He stepped back so she could open the rear passenger door and when she started to tug the oversized red velveteen bag stuffed full of odd-shaped items from the back seat, he said, "I got it," and reached around her with a large, gloved hand and grabbed hold of the ties, easily pulling it from the back seat. It wasn't heavy, just awkward. "May I," he asked even though he was already tugging the ties loose to inspect the contents of the bag, looking inside to see boxes of different sizes wrapped in red and green paper and nothing else.

Holly watched as he rifled around inside the bag. He wasn't going to find anything suspicious in there other than twelve boxes wrapped in festive paper, but then he was just doing his job. And the last thing she needed was him to start ripping the paper from all the packages that she had spent several days wrapping. "It's full of Christmas presents. Like I said, I'm on my way to the hospital," she repeated, assuring him that she wasn't up to anything criminal.

Gabe looked at her once again, finally noticing the pointed ears that poked out from her hair and put two and two together; the green elf costume, elaborate festive make-up and a bag full of presents, she really was on her way to the hospital and more than likely the children's ward. Now he really felt like he was coming to her rescue, and it was his duty to make sure she got to the hospital safely. Even as painful as it was for him, he knew he needed to put that sadness behind him just for the night so he could help her give several children a merry holiday. He pulled the ties closed on the bag and picked it up in his fisted hand. He knew he should have just given her the benefit of the doubt but in his line of work, and coming from a big city, he had learned to error on the side of caution and never really take someone on their word, no matter how cute and adorable that person may be. And she really was adorable. "Just doing my job," he said, stepping back from the side of her vehicle as she shut the back door and lowered the hatchback.

"Well, thank you for trusting me. And thank you for the ride," she said, smiling up at him as she shut the door and locked her Jeep with a push of a button on her key fob. She followed along behind him, her booted footsteps not as sure as his heavier ones in the falling snow and stopped next to the passenger's side of the Explorer as he opened the back door. She watched as he hefted the bag into the back seat, pushing it over as far as he could, making room next to the door for-her? She had never been in the back of a police vehicle, and she never wanted to be, but if she had to, she would, and that hard plastic seat didn't look very comfortable or warm and the thick Plexiglas between the front and back was so impersonal. But she wasn't under arrest so he would make an exception, wouldn't he? "Do I have to ride in the back?" she asked, looking up at him in the faint glow coming from the dome light inside the vehicle.

Gabe popped open the front passenger door and looked down at her, the top of her head just even with his shoulder. A small chuckle escaped him as he pulled open the door, grabbed the handles on the duffle bag that was loaded with all his gear and tossed it into the back seat, shutting the rear door. Rules and regulations said she was supposed to sit in the back seat, even for a courtesy ride, but he was willing to bend the rules for the holiday season, besides, the front was more comfortable and warmer, and his gut told him she was harmless, and his gut instincts were never wrong. "Not unless I put handcuffs on you," he said matter-of-factly, and when her eyes widened, he chuckled even more. "You can ride in the front." He feared she would slip in the snow in her dress boots, so he offered her a gloved hand to steady herself as she climbed into the utility vehicle, shutting the door but not before he heard her comment, smiling to himself and wondering if she was serious or joking because she was nervous being in his presence. He chalked it up to nerves.

"We'll have to try that later," Holly said with a smile as she climbed into the warmth of the police utility, feeling her face instantly warm from embarrassment. She couldn't believe the words that had come out of her own mouth and before she could apologize, the door was shut, cutting off her explanation. She watched as he walked around the front of the Explorer and folded the bulk of his body in behind the wheel, the leather creaking on his duty belt as he shifted around. When he removed his baseball cap and tossed it onto the dashboard, she caught a glimpse of his short cropped blond hair right before he shut the door, the inside of the cab going dark except for the glow coming from the control panel and his laptop that was mounted on a stand secured to the floorboard.

She assumed that his eyes were either gray or blue, it was too dark to see their color but as he had gotten into the cab beside her, she caught sight of his striking profile this time and she felt her heart lurch in her chest. She had to remind herself that he was more than likely married or engaged because a man as good-looking as him couldn't be single. Even though there was always some sort of gossip between her co-workers and clients around her salon regarding most of the single men in Oak Hills, his name never came up, because she surely would have remembered it and tried to catch a glimpse of him around town. Not that she was looking for a boyfriend; they usually left her faster than they came into her life. She settled into her seat and reached for her seatbelt. "Holly. My name is Holly Winters," she said, finally introducing herself to him. "I know. It's kind of cheesy considering I have red hair and green eyes."

Gabe looked over at her as he flipped a switch on the control panel between the seats, turning off the emergency lights. He couldn't help but notice how her red hair laid in soft curls around her shoulders and down to the middle of her back, wondering if the fiery locks smelled like strawberries or cherry blossoms. If he had to guess, he would have assumed she had a name befitting of her red hair like Scarlett or Ruby but nope, she had to have a name that embodied everything around this time of year. He looked out the windshield through the spattering of snowflakes on the glass that a quick pass of the wipers cleared, to the snow that had started to accumulate on the road.

There was only an inch of snow on the ground and the utility was equipped with all-wheel drive, so traction wasn't going to be an issue going down the freeway, he was only concerned about the return trip if it kept snowing. He shrugged it off, shifted the utility into drive and pulled out onto the road, merging onto the southbound side of the interstate and slowly speeding up, keeping the vehicle at a manageable speed on the slick road. "Holly is a very nice name," he said, as he maneuvered the Explorer down the deserted freeway. It was a twelve-mile drive to Riverton, and since it was going to take longer than the average fifteen minutes to get there, he decided he might as well make small talk with her than drive in complete silence. "I presume that you're going to the children's ward at the hospital?"

Holly looked over at him in the dimly lit interior of the vehicle, wishing there was more illumination so she could see him better, see the color of his eyes. But it didn't really matter because his voice, oh God his voice was deep and smoother than melted chocolate and she felt her heart skip a beat. Could a person get turned on from another person's voice alone? She was willing to find out. She reached up and brushed a long lock of hair back over her shoulder, feeling her hand tremble and she quickly clasped her hands together in her lap. Why was this stranger having such a profound effect on her? Yes, he had a voice that could quite possibly bring her to an orgasm all on its own, but that wasn't enough for her, she needed someone that wasn't going to leave her after a few months.

She hoped she didn't sputter her words when she spoke. "Yes. I had my first surgery when I was five, so I know what it's like to spend the holidays in the hospital as a child; it's never any fun, especially at Christmas time. So, for the past ten years I have been going to the hospital, dressed like an elf, to deliver presents to the kids that are there. The nurses let me know the age and gender of each child so I can buy the appropriate gifts. My dad usually dresses up as Santa and helps me, but he had to have knee surgery earlier this month, so I'm going alone this year. It's not much but it helps to bring a smile to the children's faces, to let them know that Santa didn't forget them while they're in the hospital."

Gabe shifted in his seat, hoping that she couldn't see the uneasiness that her words had caused, and swallowed the lump in his throat. That had been the hardest day of his life, coming home from the hospital after his daughter had died and seeing all her wrapped presents under the Christmas tree, never again being able to see the joy and excitement on her face as she opened them, never get to see her grow up. As a parent he could empathize, what she was doing was a gift, bringing joy not only to the children but to the parents as well, all of whom probably didn't have the time to go out and buy a present for their child while they were in the hospital. He rubbed his fingers over his furrowed brow, thankful that there wasn't enough light inside the utility for her to see his painful expression.

He didn't know it was going to affect him this much, bringing up the pain of that night five years ago that he was trying so hard to put behind him. He thought that his heart had started to heal but it really hadn't, not yet anyway. Maybe he should have just called a tow truck for her and sent her on her way, but no, he had to go and be all heroic and take her to the hospital. He was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it like he did with everything else during the holidays. He drew in a deep breath and let it back out, reaching for his cup of coffee that was between the seats, taking a drink. "That's very admirable of you," he said, softly, feeling his heart lurch in his chest. He hoped that she couldn't hear the pain in his voice even though he did his best to hide it. He held the insulted paper cup out to her, offering her a drink. "It's strong and still hot if you don't mind sharing."

Holly spied the local coffee stand logo on the cup and shook her head. Not that she didn't love going to the place and getting a smoothie, she could only have minimal amounts of caffeine and those high-octane drinks from the coffee shops spiked her blood pressure and gave her pounding headaches, and she doubted that he drank anything without caffeine. "No thank you, I can't have that much caffeine. You're not from around here, are you? What I mean is, I've lived here my entire life and I've never seen you around anywhere, not even at the grocery store, just when you're out on patrol."

He sat the cup back down in the holder and briefly glanced over at her before turning his attention back to the road. The falling snow had yet to wane, the flakes were only getting bigger, and he was beginning to worry that the storm was going to be worse than the weatherman predicted, the rainstorm they had two months ago hit without warning and this storm looked like it was about to do the same. At least the police utility and his personal vehicle were equipped to handle it; everyone else who didn't have four-wheel drive had him slightly concerned, especially out driving around. But at least right now there were hardly any vehicles on the interstate, he had only passed one truck and seen two going north and no signs of anyone stuck along the roadside. Everyone was playing it smart and staying in out of the unpredictable winter snowstorm, everyone except for them.

He should have left her out there along the side of the road because her words were hitting yet another nerve, but no, he had to be the gentlemen, had to protect and serve. He let out a long breath. It was a simple question, yet he found it hard to answer. Not that he had any trouble answering that very same question in the past, he had a feeling she would only want to know more, and that was what bothered him. Might as well just get it all out in the open now, he said to himself, and then she won't bother you about it again. "I'm originally from the Portland metro area. Some uncontrollable circumstances in my life compelled me to leave the city and start over fresh. I read about the open position on the Oak Hills police force, so I applied, beating out three other guys. I packed up my apartment, moved down here and bought a house just out of town. I've been here for five years now, and the small town is a lot less stressful than the city and...safer. I have yet to socialize with anyone around here; I tend to keep to myself and stay occupied in other ways."

"I take it you're not married then?" Holly blurted out. Could she sound any more desperate? Great, just great, Holly, why not just jump his bones right here on the freeway while he's driving, she said to herself. Even though he tried to hide it, she could still hear the lingering sadness in his voice. Something traumatic had happened to him, either on the job or in his personal life, and she wasn't going to pry but she could sense it, it was there, hanging over him like a heavy cloud. Having to deal with physical pain herself growing up, she could usually sense it in other people, with the way that they carried themselves, they way that they talked, and his was in his voice. He might not be aware of it, but she was. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude. I never should have asked you that. It's too personal. You obviously-"