Gods, I hate the cold. Ashlee lay with the blanket tucked up tight around her neck, the top of her head the only part visible, not wanting to get out of the warm bed. She heard Tori moving around in the kitchen and hoped she’d laid a fire to warm the house.

Ashlee threw the cover back, jumped up, grabbed her plush bathrobe, and threw it around her in one graceful motion. It was cold enough that she added a pair of woolly knee socks to her ensemble before wriggling her feet into her sheepskin lined slippers.

Padding out to the other room, Ashlee stopped short and stared out the big picture window that overlooked the meadow.

“Oh. My. God,” she whispered.

“Ya think?” asked a voice from her right. “I know this is Colorado, but three feet of snow, really? In JULY?” Tori glared at Ashlee like it was her fault it had snowed.

“What can I say? You wanted to get away from it all in the mountains. This is the mountains.” Ashlee looked at her partner hopefully. This wasn’t how she had envisioned this week going. She hated when a vacation started with an argument.

“Look, I’ll scrounge us up something to eat and we’ll both feel better.” She recognized the ‘hangry’ signs.

“Good luck,” said Tori bitterly, “I found nothing.”

Ashlee stared at Tori for a moment, not quite able to digest the sentence, before turning to the little kitchen and rummaging around for something to eat. She found nothing more than some herbs, spices, and packaged condiments—not even a scoop of coffee. Ashlee piled everything onto the small table, then went to work.

First, she gathered as much snow as she could and heated it slowly so it wouldn’t evaporate as it melted. When it boiled, she added some herbs and spices to the concoction. Finally, she took several of the ketchup packages and added those to the broth. She let the mixture boil for a few minutes, then poured it into two large mugs.

“It’s not much, but it’ll warm you up,” said Ashlee expectantly as she handed Tori a mug.

The other woman took a tentative sip, then another—larger—swallow.

“I don’t know how you did it,” said Tori, “but this almost tastes like tomato soup.”

“Thanks,” Ashlee replied, blushing.

Maybe the week wouldn’t be a total loss after all.