After walking for almost an hour, Lisa was ready to give up. Still no cell phone service and it was beginning to snow. Lisa was glad that she had worn comfortable sneakers with her jeans and sweater. She had decided to go for comfort rather than style, deciding she could change into something more fashionable right before she got back to her house. She had to decide whether to keep going or head back to her car, hoping someone would come along and be able to help. Lisa decided she might as well keep walking, as she hadn't seen even one car in the hour she had been walking, she doubted if any would be coming out now, especially since the weather was getting so bad.
After another thirty minutes Lisa finally saw a driveway. She almost missed it because there was no mailbox, but she saw tracks in the mud indicating that someone had pulled in or out since it started snowing. Lisa walked up the driveway, which seemed to go on forever now that she thought she had found safety at last. Apparently, the owner of the house that came into view liked their privacy. The house was large and it had a high stone fence encircling it. Lisa didn't care what she had to do, she needed to get into this house or she was going to freeze to death. She walked up to the gate and rang the bell.
"Yes, may I help you?" came the man's voice from the speaker.
"I am sorry to bother you, my car broke down on the road about an hour or two's walk from here. I am freezing and I can't get any cell phone service. I was hoping to be able to use a phone to call for help. Please, it is really cold." Lisa said into the intercom.
"Hang on" came the terse response. The gate opened and Lisa made her way in. A door opened in the small guard house next to the fence and a man came out. "Come in here for a moment while I call the main house and make sure it is okay for you to go on up there. It is warm in here, so you will be able defrost a little until I find out. May I have your name please."
"Thank you so much. My name is Lisa Stevens. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you letting me warm up." She told him as the warmth of the room hit her.
"Hey, no problem. You looked like you were going to die of exposure or shake yourself off the the planet, you were shivering so much. Here, my wife sent some coffee with me tonight, please share a cup with me." The man was huge, obviously a bodyguard. He had more muscles than some of the bodybuilders Lisa had seen on Venice beach. He defiantly would scare away any but the most diehard attackers with just a look, but his voice when he spoke told a different story. He had a kind voice, and the way he was looking at her was like he was genuinely worried.