GWEN POV

I woke up the next morning, and my private area was definitely sore. I brought my hands up to cover my face, partly in surprise and partly giggling with happiness about what I had done last night. I had lost my virginity to a complete stranger.

I know that people usually say one should wait until you get married to have sex. But let's be honest, that stopped being the rule for most people a long time ago. The other rule was that you should at least be in love or really like the person. But I decided, and I lost my virginity in the best way possible.

I got rid of my "V-card" with someone I didn't know. This way, I didn't have to feel embarrassed about being new to sex. I didn't have to worry that my lack of experience would make a boyfriend lose interest in me. Plus, the man I was with clearly knew what he was doing, and that made the whole experience much, much better. Even the soreness I felt today was softened by the lovely memory of the fun I had last night.

I looked over at my phone next to the bed. It was eight o'clock in the morning. April and I had planned to leave for the cabin around noon. That gave me enough time to shower, pack my bags, and stop quickly to see my father before we left. I had just finished putting the last of my clothes into my suitcase when I got a text message from April.

'Sorry, Gwen. I'm stuck at Cole's house. Is it okay if we go to the cabin separately? I'll meet you there at the usual time.'

I let out a small groan as I sat down on the edge of my bed. It was going to feel strange to arrive at the cabin alone. No matter how many times April told me she wanted me there, I already felt like I was crashing her family's holiday.

She had told me before, "I need you there as a shield between me and my dad. He's the best person in the world, but I don't want to spend my holiday listening to him tell me how disappointed he is that my grades went down."

Usually, I hate being late, but in this case, I thought I would leave later than planned. I wanted April to be at the cabin already when I got there. It would feel even more awkward if I arrived before her. I had never met her father. I couldn't imagine any parent wouldn't think it was odd for their daughter to bring a roommate home for the holiday.

I texted her back, saying I would meet her there. Then I put on my warm clothes, grabbed my handbag, and headed to my father's house. I drove through the working-class neighborhood where I grew up.

Most families here didn't quite make it to the middle class, but they got by. Most people lived by getting paid every week or two, which meant there wasn't a lot of extra money for things like keeping the lawn nice or fixing up the house. Because of this, the neighborhood looked a little worn out and tired. My father's house looked the same. The paint was peeling along the edges, and part of the rain gutter was hanging off the roof.

My father hadn't shoveled the snow from the driveway or the walkway. I parked on the street in front of the house and walked heavily through the few inches of snow to the front door. I stomped my feet on the front mat to knock off the snow before opening the door.

"Dad?"

"Gwen?"

I stepped into the tiny entrance area and turned right into the living room.

My father was leaning back in his comfy chair with a beer in his hand, even though it was barely eleven in the morning. The TV was loud with sports commentators talking about football.

My father sat up straight, moving the chair back into place, and stood up. "I didn't think I was going to see you for Christmas." He walked over and gave me a big hug.

My father wasn't old in years; he was only fifty. But he looked much older, maybe closer to eighty. He started looking old like this after my mother died. When he first started seeing his ex-girlfriend, Mira, he had tried to look better, but when she left, he stopped caring again.

I had supported his dating, knowing he was lonely and that when he was alone, he didn't take care of himself very well. Sadly for my dad, Mira turned out to be the worst kind of partner.

I hugged him back, noticing how thin his upper back felt. "Have you been eating enough?" I asked, worried.

He pulled back slightly. "When I'm hungry. Are you planning to stay? If you are, I need to call the guys and tell them I can't meet them later."

I shook my head. "No, I'm still going up to the cabin with April, just like we planned. But I wanted to stop by, wish you a Merry Christmas, and see how you're doing before I leave."

"You don't have to worry about me, Gwen." His eyes showed a little bit of playful mischief.

I took off my coat and walked toward the kitchen to make him something to eat. "I can't just stop worrying about you, Dad. It doesn't work that way."

He followed me into the kitchen and laughed. "I think that's supposed to be my line, kiddo. But I'm doing perfectly fine. The last thing I want is for you to hang around here when you have your own life to live." He smiled like the proud father he was. "My baby girl is going to get a college degree. The first one in the family. You are moving on to bigger and better things, and I don't want to stop you from doing that."

I rolled my eyes as I spread mayonnaise on two slices of bread. "Being with family doesn't stop a person from moving forward." I finished making the cold sandwich, then poured him a glass of milk and gave both to him. "Now eat something. You can't live on beer alone, no matter how hard you try."

He took the plate and the glass, setting them on the counter. "I did get you a little something for Christmas."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to exchange presents this year."

"It's not much, but I still hope you like it." He quickly walked out of the kitchen. I picked up the sandwich and his milk and carried them out to the small table next to his reclining chair.

He came back a moment later holding a plain brown paper bag with handles. He gave me a shy smile. "You know I'm terrible at wrapping. I hope this is good enough."

I laughed softly. "It doesn't need to be wrapped at all." I took the bag, reached in, and pulled out a long, flat, rectangular box. I sat on the couch, put the box on the coffee table, and lifted the lid. Inside was a picture frame.

"People who get college degrees frame them and hang them on the wall. That's for you, for when you get your degree."

A wave of emotion hit me, and my eyes filled with tears. No matter what other presents I got this Christmas, this would be the best gift of all. This simple gift showed all of my father's love and pride in me.

I stood up and walked over to where he was sitting in his chair, leaning in to give him another hug. "Thank you, Dad. I love it. I absolutely can't wait to put my degree in it. Maybe I'll hang it right here."

He patted my arm gently. "Well, I wouldn't mind showing off and bragging about you to my friends by having your degree hanging on the wall here, but that is supposed to go in your office when you get a job. It tells everyone how important you are."

"Well, if I'm so important, you need to eat that sandwich right now."

"Yes, ma'am." He grinned, picked up his sandwich, and took a big bite.

I stayed with my father for a little while, and we watched a holiday movie together. It was my father's favorite Christmas movie. It had scared me when I was a little girl, but now I enjoyed it as much as he did. It had been a yearly Christmas tradition until my mother died. Watching it now made me wonder if this meant we needed to start making Christmas a bigger deal again.

Maybe I shouldn't go to the cabin with April for the holiday after all.

My dad's phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts. "It's Dominic," he said, poking the button to answer the call. I couldn't hear Dominic's voice, but my father said, "Yes, we're still on for tonight."

I guess if we were going to start our Christmas traditions again, it would have to be next year.

Around one o'clock, I decided it was time for me to get on the road. "I've really got to go now. I'm sorry I'll miss this part of the movie." I stood up and put my coat, hat, and gloves back on.

"You be safe on the drive," my father said as he got up to give me one last hug goodbye. "And don't let the bogeyman get you."

I smiled at the old joke. "I've packed my peewee darts, don't worry."

He laughed warmly as he walked me to the front door. After one last, quick hug, I walked heavily back out to my car, feeling the love of my father settle comfortably in my heart.

GWEN POV

As soon as I was outside of the big city, I felt my body relax. I took a deep, slow breath and looked at everything around me.

If you ever wanted to see different kinds of weather and nature in one area, this was the perfect place to come. In the summer, all the hills and trees were bright green and full of life. Then, in the fall, the area turned into a beautiful explosion of red, orange, and yellow as the leaves changed color. Now, in the heart of winter, the trees were bare, and the snow made the whole view look like a perfect painting.

Nearly two hours later, I drove into a town that looked exactly like a picture on a postcard. It made me think of the cozy stories I read in novels. I smiled a little and wondered if anyone actually lived a life that was so perfect all the time.

After I drove out of the town and into a wooded area, I knew I was close to the cabin. I reached for my phone on the dashboard and pressed the button to start the GPS again. I needed it for the very last part of the trip. I slowly drove through the quiet countryside, enjoying all the beauty.

It had snowed a lot more here than it had back in the city. The white snow on the trees sparkled in the last bright light of the setting sun. It was only a little past three in the afternoon, but the winter days here were very short. The sun would probably be completely gone by a little after four o'clock.

I realized I didn't want to be driving in this area when it was dark. I looked at my phone because it hadn't told me to turn for a long time. My screen showed a message: "Phone Offline."

"Oh, that's not good," I thought to myself.

I tapped the screen a few times, making sure to keep my eyes on the road. But the phone showed me that there was simply no cell service in this spot.

I kept driving up the narrow road, looking for a place where I could safely pull over and maybe send a text to April. Usually, even when my phone couldn't make a voice call, I could still send a text message.

Up ahead on the right, I saw a wide, clear-looking driveway entrance. I pulled my car off the road and stopped there. I took my phone out of its holder and quickly typed a message to her.

'No GPS. Can you text me directions from town?'

I waited for a moment. Instead of a "Sent" notification, I got a message: "Text failed to send."

"Dammit," I whispered.

I scrolled through my old texts with April, hoping she had written down step-by-step directions for me before. But all she had ever given me was the street address.

"She must know there's no phone service out here," I thought, feeling a wave of worry. "Why would she give me an address and expect me to use GPS if it doesn't work out here?"

I sat back in my car seat, trying to figure out why April would do something like that. April was sweet, always happy, and she was smart, too. But she wasn't always the best at thinking ahead about problems. When life is always easy for you, you don't usually have to worry about things going wrong.

I breathed out a big sigh and looked back up the road. Maybe this small section was just a "dead zone" for phone service.

I pulled back onto the road and started driving again. I hoped that if I just kept going, I would hit a section where my phone would work again.

Luck was finally on my side! As I drove up and over the top of a small hill, my phone's GPS suddenly spoke to me.

"In 500 feet, turn left."

At the exact same moment, a new text message popped up on the screen.

I made the left turn and then pushed the button to have the phone read the message to me out loud.

April (Text Message): "I'm so sorry, Gwen! I'm still stuck at Cole's place. I'm not going to be able to make it to the cabin. You go and enjoy yourself! Drink lots of wine and use the hot tub. My dad will stay out of your way, so use this time as a good break."

My eyes went wide. She had to be joking.

I was absolutely not going to spend Christmas alone with her father. What were the chances that he would even be at the cabin if she wasn't there?

And being stuck in a house alone with a man I barely knew would be so awkward and uncomfortable.

I poked the call button on my screen, ready to give her a piece of my mind about this surprise change of plans.

But of course, the moment I did that, I drove into another area with no cell service.

"This is a sign," I told myself. "A clear sign for me to turn around right now and go home."

The road was too narrow, though. It was so small that there wasn't even a white line in the middle to divide it. Even though a snowplow had cleared the road, huge piles of snow were stacked up on the sides. It was impossible to turn my car around without the real risk of another car coming over the hill or around the corner and crashing right into me.

My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. I stared up the road, looking hard for any safe place to turn my car around.

Finally, I saw something that looked like a smaller side road, or maybe a wide entrance to a long driveway. I was so eager to start my new plan of going home that I pressed the gas pedal a little harder than I should have.

As I got close to the driveway, my wheels slipped a little bit, and then the whole car began to slide.

Black ice.

I remembered what my father had always told me. He said that if you hit black ice, you should hold the steering wheel straight and firm. You must take your foot off the gas pedal, and never touch the brakes.

But sadly, my first reaction took over. While I held the steering wheel as tightly as I could, I also slammed my foot onto the brake pedal.

Immediately, my car began to spin around very fast, doing a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, just as if I was making a U-turn. But then it kept sliding. It slid off the edge of the road, and the front wheels went down into the snowy ditch.

With a final bump, the car came to a stop.

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I was perfectly fine, not hurt at all. Then, a wave of pure frustration hit me.

"Did I do something bad to deserve this whole trip turning into a disaster?"

My car was tilted sideways in the ditch, but it wasn't so deep that I couldn't drive out of it. I slowly pressed the gas pedal, but my wheels just spun wildly in the snow.

"Okay, this is not good," I muttered.

I tried to open my door, the one on the driver's side. But the car was tilted so much that the door was too heavy for me to hold open while I climbed out.

So, I climbed across the passenger seat and got out on that side. My car had all-wheel drive, which helps in the snow, but it wouldn't do any good if the wheels couldn't find anything solid to grip on.

I looked all around me. I was hoping to see a pile of sand, or dirt, or rocks, or even some small wooden boards-anything I could put under the tires to help me get out. But the fresh snowfall had covered everything completely.

I stood there on the side of the quiet, empty road, wondering what to do next. New snow began to fall softly, and the sun started its final, quick drop below the horizon. The light was fading fast.

"Don't panic, Gwen!" I breathed, the sound shaking in the cold air. But the tears were already coming, hot streaks cutting paths through the fine layer of snow dusting my cheeks. The sun was gone.