>Wonderful Dream by Melanie Thornton<

They arrived at a Cafe not half an hour later and Penny couldn't get out of the car fast enough. Ben hadn't given them much space, even if it wasn't his intention. She stretched her tired limbs from sitting for so long before turning to the others, who began to look for their jackets in the trunk. Even Sam's jacket seemed to have dried enough to wear again, she thought, as he gave it a quick shake and put it on.

Their eyes met and it was only then that Sam noticed that Penny hadn't had a jacket since the accident on the ice. She must have left it there after using it to pull him out of the icy water. He would definitely have to buy her a new one. It was the least he owed her. But no matter how hard he looked around, he couldn't see a store anywhere that sold clothes, let alone jackets.

"I still have a sweat jacket in my suitcase. You can have that," he offered her instead, because his own was still a little damp, and already started to pull his suitcase out of the stack.

"That's not necessary, Sam. We're just about to go in anyway. I won't need a jacket," she stopped him immediately and he paused, torn, while she smiled gratefully at him and turned towards the cafe to follow the others who were almost inside. He gave in and closed the trunk again before following her.

The others were already sitting at a table when they came over and he pulled out a chair for her and asked her to sit down with a smile. He hadn't heard much of Penny's conversation with her mother, but at least enough to notice that it had made her think again. Or was it the conversation with Ellie? He hadn't heard anything about it, but he hadn't lost it. The two of them had been too nervous and Ellie's explanation too bad to be true after he woke up and heard that something must have finally convinced Penny. Still, he hadn't wanted to harp on it and had instead expressed concern that he'd done something wrong with the chocolate bar he'd gotten her at the store - after all, there was a small chance that they had been talking about chocolate for real and it really had been hers had tasted bad.

While Ben ordered what felt like half of the breakfast offerings on the menu, Sam settled for pencakes and Penny settled for sweet toast. Even though they hadn't eaten a proper meal since lunchtime yesterday, neither of them were in the mood for bacon, sausages and eggs early in the morning.

"Jesus Christ, guys. I haven't had such a good breakfast in a long time!" enthused Ben after he had almost emptied the first plate in a hurry.

"The food is really good here," Sam agreed, amused by their colleague's cravings, and took another bite of his pencakes. He knew that Ben had developed a passion for Bronwyn's sugar sprats, but that his colleague was such a passionate eater in general was new to him.

"Really?" Penny replied with a smile after a critical look at Sam's plate. The pencakes looked good, but she doubted they were as good as Sam's.

"Do you want to try it?" he asked her immediately, as if he could read her thoughts, and with a teasing grin offered her his fork with a piece on it. She blushed but accepted his offer nonetheless, more than aware of Ellie's curious gaze.

"Yours are better," she then stated after swallowing and Sam nodded curtly in a grateful gesture for the compliment.

"Do we want to know how you know for sure that Sam's breakfast pencakes are so much better?!" Ellie couldn't help but interject and looked at the two of them with a meaningful grin.

"For a more harmless reason than you think, Ellie. I always make them in the morning when we're on night shift together," Sam objected with an annoyed look at his youngest colleague.

"Really? Why don't you do that when we're on night shift together?" she immediately replied indignantly, while Penny and Jodie gave each other a smile, curious as to how the discussion between the two would turn out. Ben, on the other hand, was so busy with his second plate that he didn't seem to notice that he wasn't alone at all.

"Because you sleep half the night and are rested enough to make yourself breakfast," Sam replied calmly and continued to eat calmly, while Ellie snorted disparagingly.

"I'm sorry that I'm not much of a workaholic and prefer to read or write reports all night long, like you do," she grumbled back, picking at her food.

"That's why I do it. It's also much more relaxing than arguing with you about whether it makes sense to roll up hoses or check equipment at night," he replied and the other two women laughed quietly.

This went back and forth for a bit and everyone enjoyed the exuberant atmosphere with a good meal. At that moment, no one thought about home, Christmas or the journey they still had ahead of them. Until Penny's phone rang.

She looked at it and realized with mixed feelings that it was her boyfriend. She was reluctant to let that break their moment, but she also couldn't in good conscience ignore Matty. At some point she had to face this awkward conversation and tell him that it would getting late today. As much as it reassured her to perhaps are able to avoid this evening or at least shorten the meeting with Matty's parents, she feared Matty's reaction to it. She had noticed how important tonight was to him and she didn't want to disappoint him. But she had no other choice. No matter how much she convinced herself that it wasn't her fault, she still couldn't protect herself from the guilty conscience that took hold of her - precisely because she wasn't unhappy about any delay.

"Good morning," she greeted her friend with a smile anyway, while everyone around her quieted down and continued eating.

"Hey, sweetie. That took a while. When will you be there?" he greeted her cheerfully and she wondered whether he even noticed that he had criticized her right at the beginning of their conversation. She decided to ignore it and get down to business - as unpleasant as it was.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Matty, but I can't tell you exactly. We still have about 320 miles to go."

"Still? Why?" he gasped in shock.

"We had to stop last night and had to rescue a woman and her daughter from their car and take them to the hospital," she began to tell him, but she didn't get any further because Matty immediately interrupted her, annoyed.

"Couldn't you have left it to the people up there? After all, they're responsible and you're not! Why do you always choose others over me?" he interjected and she could clearly hear how offended he was. How did he manage to make her feel so guilty for helping to do something good?

"Excuse me," she murmured quietly as she held her hand over the bottom of her phone and stood up to go outside. She didn't want to talk to Matty here at the table and ruin everyone's fun because she had a boyfriend who would have preferred to have her with him and risk the lives of a woman and her daughter with that. That's why she literally fled outside to get some peace and quiet. She immediately wrapped an arm around herself in a vain attempt to warm herself, realizing that she had underestimated how cold it was outside and should have gone to the bathroom. She didn't notice that Sam was watching her with concern. Only after she had taken a deep breath outside did she hold the phone to her ear again. "Matty, we were the first ones there to notice that something had happened. If we hadn't looked, no one would have found them for ages and they would have died. It was close enough as it was," she then told him.

"You could have called the emergency and continued driving." Was all he said at first. Penny was speechless. Was he even listening to her? "Penny, I know you're passionate about your job, but can't you even think about yourself for one time? This evening is important to me," he then remarked in a calmer voice, but Penny only felt the anger that his criticism of her had conjured up within her.

"Who should I think about now, me or you?" she asked him snidely and jumped when the doorbell rang behind her. She turned around in surprise and saw Sam walking past her to the car. She looked after him, perplexed, but Sam showed no reaction to her words or tone of voice, nor did he look back.

"What?" Matty asked in the meantime, confused and she took a deep breath. She didn't want to start a discussion here. Not on the phone and not with Sam around. He would inevitably ask if everything was okay if he noticed she was upset about something, and she didn't want to talk to Sam about her boyfriend. Even if Sam didn't return her feelings, it still felt wrong to talk to him about her relationship problems or doubts.

"Forget it," she sighed quietly as she watched Sam work around in the trunk. She couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but he pulled something out. "We called the emergency but they would have died if we hadn't helped them. There's pure chaos on the streets all over the country. The emergency services wouldn't have been there quick enough," she explained to Matty again, hoping for his understanding, while Sam closed the trunk lid and came towards her again.

"Okay, okay. I understand," he grumbled disgruntledly when Sam was already back and standing next to Penny. "You would miss your own wedding if someone was in danger, wouldn't you?" he asked her the moment Sam put his sweat jacket around her shoulders and Sam was able to hear every word.

"If I could save a life with it, definitely!" she answered him and looked up at Sam, who smiled appreciatively and raised an eyebrow and nodded briefly before going back inside. She looked after him thoughtfully. He certainly wouldn't be mad if she had to make him wait at the altar because of an emergency. Wait. What was she actually thinking here?!

"Do you really love me?" Matty tore her out of her thoughts and she paused for a moment.

"What's the point of this question, Matty?" she replied instead of answering him, because in her anger she couldn't find a suitable answer.

"Since we've known each other, you've made me wait countless times because you got an emergency call in before the end of the day. But I always thought that if you love someone, then you could leave it to others because you want to be with your boyfriend." She rolled her eyes for a moment because Matty reminded her of a little boy who felt unfairly treated and not a grown man.

"It was three or four times at most. Don't exaggerate, Matty!"

"But you definitely completely stood me up twice!" he interjected immediately. She couldn't help but wonder what he was trying to achieve here?

"Because the missions took longer than expected and it was getting late. I didn't want to stop you from getting enough rest for work. Do you really want to have this discussion on the phone?" she reprimanded him angrily.

"Sometimes I just wonder if I'm important enough to you. Your work always seems to come first."

"It's my job, Matty. When people are in danger, I can't just clock out and say I'll do it tomorrow, like you do with the applications you have to process. But that doesn't mean you have to blame me for I wouldn't love you less."

"I just miss you. We haven't seen each other for a week," he said sadly and that took the wind out of her sails and her anger disappeared instantly. There was the Matty she knew again and who had wormed his way into her heart - the sweet and attentive man who wanted nothing more than to be with her.

"I miss you too."

"So when will you be there?" he then interjected and with a smile she noted that he sounded as being in a little better mood again.

"If we get through it like we've been doing so far, it should be around 8 p.m." Matty groaned on the other end and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "But I can't guarantee it. On the radio they say that the snow will increase in the afternoon and the wind will also increase," she added quickly.

"That means you might not make it at all? My parents are going on their cruise tomorrow. You don't want to miss them, do you?" he whined quietly and she had to think about it for a moment. Yes, she actually wanted it. Not that she didn't want to get to know his parents at all, but she also wanted to make a good impression and after this trip, during which she barely got any sleep, she would face his parents unrested and unprepared. That was anything but smart. "Or maybe it is exactly what you want?" Matty then interjected when there was no answer from her and his voice sounded skeptical while Penny blushed because she felt caught.

"What?" was all she could think of to buy time to find an explanation for her silence or a better answer.

"Perhaps the company of your colleagues is more important to you than that of my parents? Especially that of this Sam?" She groaned in annoyance. That was what she was missing now. Apparently Matty was more jealous of Sam than she always realized. It annoyed her because his jealousy was so baseless thanks to Sam's lack of feelings for her.

"Matty, please! There is nothing going on between Sam and me and there never will be. We are just friends. How many times do I have to tell you that?!" she immediately replied sternly and decided to calm him down in every way, as a cold wind caused her to slip her arms into the sleeves of Sam's jacket, which was still draped over her shoulders. She felt warm immediately. Sticking with the truth just seemed like a better idea to her."And I would like to get to know your parents, it's just such a short notice and the fact that this course and then the bad weather got in the way is really not my fault. We really tried everything to get home. We're still doing it, even though it would definitely be safer to check into a hotel and wait for everything to calm down."

"Okay, okay, you're right. I just don't like knowing you're out there." Especially not with Sam, she thought, but didn't say it out loud. "I'll be glad when you're here again. Are you on the way? I don't hear anyone, not even a car."

"We'll drive on straight away. We just stopped briefly to get something to eat."

"Wouldn't a drive-in have done it?" he groused, causing Penny to roll her eyes again.

"Matty?!" she admonished him annoyed.

"Yes, yes, it's okay. Drive carefully. Or one of your colleagues, whoever is behind the wheel. They should bring you home safely to me."

"I'm sure they will. I'll keep you updated as we will make it."

"I love you."

"Me too," she replied automatically, but she wasn't so sure anymore whether that was really the truth - not after he had questioned her actions to save people just so she could be with him sooner. She had never seen him so selfish. He certainly wasn't happy when she came on a date later or even had to cancel it completely on two occasions. But he never blamed her or told her what she should or shouldn't do. Was this all due to the pressure he was under to meet his parents' expectations?

"Trouble in paradise?" Ellie asked her friend as she came back into the cafe and hung Sam's sweat jacket over the back of her chair before sitting down. Sam didn't say anything, but somehow she sensed that it wasn't just Ellie who had been watching her outside the door during her phone call. So she decided to stick to the truth with her friends - at least part of it.

"Matty isn't so happy that it's getting so late. He's probably afraid I'll miss his parents," she replied and was surprised to see that Ben had ordered a third plate, which he was just finishing.

"Or the big proposal!" Ellie stated and Penny glared at her friend.

"We should drive if he's causing you that much stress," Sam now objected, already raising his finger at the waitress so they could pay. The woman immediately came up to them, smiling.

"Can I get you something else?" she asked kindly and Sam was already opening his mouth to ask for the bill when Penny put a hand on his arm.

"Oh, a tea would be wonderful. For my friends too." Everyone looked up at her in confusion before exchanging skeptical glances with each other, even Ben.

"Gladly. To take away?" asked the waitress while she was clearing up the empty plates.

"No, we'll drink it here," Penny replied with a smile and the woman nodded and hurried away. Penny sat up straight again and looked at the confused faces of her friends. "What? Do the 10 minutes really matter now?" she replied and couldn't help but blush when she saw Ellie and Sam smiling, while Ben and Jodie just shrugged their shoulders.

To be continued...