by Suzanne Cass
Weak daylight filtered in through the layer of snow covering the truck. Wyatt blinked a few times, trying to focus. Mildly astonished that he’d been able to sleep at all, he wondered what time it was. He tried to move his arm without waking Stella; it was completely numb. She mumbled something unintelligible and stretched out, nearly falling off the seat. If he hadn’t had his arm wrapped around her middle, she might well have done just that.
With a jerk, Stella suddenly sat bolt upright. “What… Where?” Her long hair was tousled and mussed, draping down around her face from beneath her knit cap.
Cold air hit him like a physical blow as she lifted the blankets with her. Shit, it was freezing in here. Wyatt took the chance to move his arm, pumping blood back into the extremities.
“We made it,” he said, also sitting up.
“How are we going to get out of here?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looked so cute, all sleepy and disorientated. They both stared at the drifts of white covering every window. What would the world outside look like now, after the blizzard?
“It’s okay, I’ll dig us out.” He picked up his shoes from the floor well and put them on. They were like putting an ice block on his feet, still wet and frozen. “If you move over to the passenger side, I’ll have a go at getting this door open.” Keeping his fingers crossed it wasn’t completely iced shut, he pulled the door lever and thrust with his shoulder. The door moved, but only an inch or so. There must be a lot of snow out there.
He shoved harder, really throwing his whole bodyweight against the door, and this time it moved a few more inches. Stella was watching him, green eyes large and worried. Changing his tactic, he turned around so he could use his booted feet to thump the door over and over. This worked better, and soon there was a gap wide enough for him to stick his head through.
Pulling his gloves out of his pocket, he put them on and began to dig, clearing a space to crawl through. The snow was soft, not hard-packed, as he’d feared. Clods of snow fell back into the cab of the truck, but there was nothing he could do, his truck would end up wet inside.
It only took a few minutes of pushing and digging and cursing under his breath, before he broke through the last, crusty layer and into fresh air. Outside it was brilliant sunshine.
“I can see,” he called back to Stella. “The blizzard has stopped.”
“Dieu merci,” she said softly from behind him.
Grunting and shoving, he wormed his way through the hole, clearing a pathway for Stella to follow. He crawled out and reached in for Stella’s hand.
They had to wade through thigh-high snow, but soon, they were standing on the relative solidity of the road. Stella reminded him of a snowman, she was covered from head to foot in fresh snow after their escape. A very sexy snow woman. Wyatt brushed some loose snow off his coat and jeans, then did the same for Stella, brushing the back of her coat, trying not to let the memory of how her backside had felt resting against his lower belly all night. Or how he’d lain awake for God knew how long, letting the slow rise and fall of her ribcage beneath his arm lull him to sleep.
She hardly noticed what he was doing, instead tilting her head back to look at the sky. “Wow, it’s so beautiful.” She lifted a hand to shade her eyes.
It was damn cold, but now that he looked around, he admitted it was beautiful. The blizzard had left everything with a thick mantle of white, like Mother Nature’s icing on a cake. The morning sun was out, the last of the scudding clouds disappearing over the horizon. Sunlight sparkled off the snow, it was dazzling, almost blinding him.
“I’ve heard that phrase, you know, winter wonderland. But I never really thought about it until now. This is truly a winter wonderland. It’s like the whole world has been wiped clean,” she said.
His truck was a blob of white. If he hadn’t known it was there, he would’ve mistaken it for one more huge snowdrift. There must’ve been at least four feet of snow last night. That might be some sort of record. The raging wind had formed large drifts, essentially making the road impassible. He didn’t bother to mention that all this was going to make it so much harder for anyone out looking for them to actually find them. He let her revel in the beauty of it all.
“I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve and I’m out in the middle of a winter wonderland.” Stella held her arms wide and twirled around in a circle, tramping down the snow into a well around her.
Wyatt couldn’t help it, the corner of his mouth lifted as he watched her joyful dance. At least she could find something good in this total mess.
Then she did something shocking, she took his hand and twirled with him. He didn’t do twirling. Hardened ex-convicts didn’t twirl. He tried to resist, but she tugged on his gloved hand.
“Come on, Wyatt. Let go for a second. We survived. And look how beautiful it is.” She tugged harder, pulling him in a semicircle around her.
His foot caught in the deep snow and he felt himself falling. He tried to push Stella away from him, to save her from ending up in the snow, as well, but she refused to let go of his hand and they fell in a tangled heap of legs and arms and flying snow.
Stella landed on his chest as his back hit the snow. At least the fall was soft. She wriggled, lifting her head and laughing. She was lying right on top of him, their faces only inches apart.
“Are you okay?” He was worried she might have hit her head again.
“I’m fine,” she replied, an enormous smile lighting up her face, white teeth sparkling in the sunshine. Her gaze was directed upward at the large pines towering over their heads. “That was fun.” She tilted her head down and froze as their eyes met.
He saw the exact second her pupils dilated. Drawing in the scent of her hair as it fell around his face, he was mesmerized by the various colors of green swimming in her eyes. He stopped breathing. Gaze flicking down to her lips, he noticed how full and soft they looked. The tip of her tongue came out to touch her bottom lip. Did she want to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her? He raised his head off the snow, slowly closing the gap between them.
The buzzing sound of a motor filled the air.
Stella lifted her head, her gaze searching the snowbound road.
Shit. Worst timing imaginable. It couldn’t be a motorcycle, not in this snow.
“What’s that?” she asked, scrambling off him.
“Probably a snowmobile.” He tried to hide the sigh that left his lips. Heaving himself out of the snow, he was slower than Stella to stand up.
She was already bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation. “Is someone coming to rescue us?”
“I hope so.” But his words didn’t match his feelings, because right now the only thing he really wished for was to be back in the snow, with Stella lying on top of him. Get a grip, of course, he wanted to be rescued.
He’d been about to kiss her. Now his chance was gone. He’d never get another one. Wyatt watched Stella’s face as she stood on tiptoe, searching for the snowmobile they could hear coming around the corner. He etched the details of her face into his mind. This night he’d spent snowbound with her in his truck was about to come to an end. And for some stupid reason, he didn’t want it to. They would go back to their separate lives, her on the ranch and him flipping burgers. What would a girl like Stella ever see in him, anyway? It was for the better he’d never kissed her.
A blue snowmobile raced around the corner and then came to a lurching halt when the rider saw them standing in the middle of the road. Wyatt recognized the park-issue jacket and knit cap with the ranger logo in the middle.
“Hi, bro,” he said casually. “Nice of you to drop by.”
“What the hell…?” Levi’s gaze ran between Wyatt and Stella, then back again.
“Couldn’t think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve,” Wyatt quipped.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Stella
STELLA STOOD IN the middle of the ranch kitchen, finding it hard to believe the past twenty-four hours hadn’t all
been a dream. Joseph would return any second, she could hear him bustling around in the storeroom out the back. And Violet was due soon to help them with the prep for tomorrow’s Christmas lunch. She was their part-time assistant, who lived in town and came out to support at the dinner sittings, or if they had a special, large meal, like today.
Pulling a chair from out under the table, Stella sat down heavily. Enjoying the few moments of peace after her whirlwind day, she blew out a deep breath.
Her mind immediately went back to this morning, right before they’d been rescued. She’d been about to kiss Wyatt. They were lying on the snow, her on top. Then they’d heard a motor and Levi had come barreling up the road on his snowmobile. Stella still hadn’t figured out whether she was really glad to see him, or really disappointed that her moment with Wyatt had been ruined.
Of course, she had let none of that show as she’d run awkwardly through the deep snow toward Levi.
“Oh, thank God you’re okay,” Levi exclaimed, leaping off his snowmobile before it even came to a complete stop. His gaze swept over Stella, quickly flicking to Wyatt, as well. “We’ve been out looking for you since first light.” He took her by the shoulders and held her at arm’s length, then lifted the edge of her knit cap to look at the bandage on her forehead. “That looks nasty.”
Before Stella could tell him she was fine, Wyatt said in a laconic voice from behind her, “What about me? Where you out searching for me, too?”
“Of course we were. We were looking for both of you. But we didn’t expect to find you together, that’s for sure.” Levi had raised an eyebrow in Wyatt’s direction.
There was suddenly a simmering tension between the two brothers. She didn’t understand it, but trying to divert Levi’s attention away from Wyatt, she said, “Oh, it’s okay. Wyatt saved me.” She told him a garbled version of what’d happened to her and how Wyatt had helped her up the ravine, and then kept her warm in his truck all night, ending her story with, “It was so lucky he came along when he did.”
“Yes, lucky.” That deep frown was still evident beneath Levi’s hat. “But I wonder what my brother was doing out on this back road with a big storm on the way?”
“I’ll fill you in later,” Wyatt had quipped. “Perhaps we should get the lady back to civilization, first?”
After one last, long look at his brother, Levi said, “Yep, I’m on it.” He snapped back into professional ranger mode and pulled a two-way radio from his coat pocket, proceeding to let the other searchers know he’d found her and Wyatt. Together.
After that, she hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Wyatt alone. Three other snowmobiles soon arrived. There was Dale and Big Tom, and to her surprise Joseph, all out looking for her. They’d stared down the ravine at Dean’s crashed truck—which was only a large white drift of snow, now.
“Don’t you worry, we’ll get it out of there.” Tom had said with his arm draped around her shoulders. “Maybe not today, though. Not until a snow plow can get up here and clear the roads.”
“What about the turkeys?” She looked at Wyatt hopefully and he burst out laughing.
“You and those damn turkeys. Yes, I’ll get them out for you. Dale can bring them back to the ranch on the snowmobile.” She’d liked the way Wyatt laughed. Liked that she could make him laugh, even now.
“We’ll leave the boys here to sort this out. I’m going to take you to the clinic in Stevensville, to get your head checked out. Then take you back to the ranch.” Levi had turned back toward his snowmobile, expecting Stella to follow him.
“Wait,” she called, and went back to where Wyatt was standing, a little apart from the other three. Tilting her head back, she stared into his obsidian eyes. She wanted to reach up and touch his face, to prove to herself last night had been real. That their connection had been real. “Thank you.” It was woefully inadequate, but all she had right now. “I wouldn’t be standing here, if it wasn’t for you.”
Wyatt actually turned a little pink underneath that gorgeous bronze skin. “It was nothing.” He shrugged.
She didn’t know what else to say and was about to turn away when a thought occurred to her. “Will I see you again? I mean…you are coming to Christmas lunch tomorrow? Aren’t you?”
“Stella? Are you okay?” Joseph appeared in front of her, a worried frown on his round face, jolting her back into the present. “If you need to rest, I’ll understand. We can finish this prep in the morning.”
“No, I’m fine.” She gave him a tired smile. Even though the ranch was still officially closed and there were no patrons to look after, she, Joseph and Violet would be catering for over twenty-five people: all the staff and a few special invited guests. She’d much rather get the prep done tonight; it’d give them more free time in the morning. To spend with Wyatt. If he came. Wyatt had never answered her question, only cast an unreadable glance at Levi. She crossed her fingers and stood up, hiding her weariness with another smile.
“Good. Come on, then. This should only take less than an hour. The sooner we get this finished, the sooner we can join the others for some eggnog,” Joseph said.
Stella was a little wary of this cheery, helpful Joseph. Probably feeling bad about sending her out alone into an oncoming storm. And she could hardly believe he’d joined the search effort to find her this morning. He never went off the ranch, if he could help it. She had no doubt he would be back to his dour self soon.
The rest of the staff were having Christmas Eve drinks in the grand foyer, beside the huge, roaring fire. Stella had never tried eggnog before and was looking forward to her first taste. Penny said she’d keep a spot for her next to the fire. Her friend had been distraught when she’d gone missing and had even wanted to be one of the searchers who went out on the snowmobiles this morning. Stella had been touched by how worried Penny had been for her, and she hadn’t had the heart to tell her that her ordeal wasn’t as unpleasant as everyone was making it out to be. In fact, she wouldn’t mind going back in time right now to that truck last night, lying there in Wyatt’s arms. It hadn’t been all that bad. Actually, it’d been pretty nice.
She reached up to touch the bandage over her stitches; her only reminder that last night had, in fact, been real.
* * *
Wyatt stared from across the large table, his black eyes boring into her. Stella’s heart had leapt at the sight of him when he’d ambled into the kitchen behind Levi and Cat half an hour earlier. He’d come, after all. Although he didn’t look happy to be here. She hoped to change that. But she still hadn’t had a chance to speak to him alone, yet.
Her gaze devoured him as he’d stood in the background while Cat and Levi greeted all the rest of the staff. Today, he was wearing dark jeans and an indigo button-up. His black hair was slicked back, and a slight frown furrowed his brow as he glared broodingly at them all. He looked enigmatic and a touch sinister. Exactly how Stella imagined a mobster from the movies might look. Except she knew it was all a façade. He was no criminal. Life had just dealt him an unsatisfactory deck of cards, that was all. And he was trying to find a way through the maze of hurt and chaos the world had dumped on him. The longer she stared, Stella had to admit that mysterious look also had a particular allure on Wyatt. Made him tempting and sexy as hell.
Dean leaned back in his chair. “I’m so stuffed, you’re gonna have to roll me away from this table.” Everybody laughed, but Stella felt the same way, her stomach bulged so it was uncomfortable. Joseph had excelled, as usual. The turkeys—or what was left of them—took pride of place in the middle of the table. There was also a huge glazed ham, homemade stuffing, mountains of mashed potato—the trick to making it delicious was loads of butter, French butter would’ve been better, but the locally made one Joseph had sourced was still good—cranberry sauce, roast carrots and parsnips and piles of cornbread. They’d also polished off a huge pumpkin pie, a Christmas pudding, and bowls of custard for dessert.
“I know I’ve already said this, but I need to thank Jo
seph, Stella and Violet once more for this amazing Christmas lunch. It was the best ever.” Dean gave them all his child-like, charming grin that lit up the room. Then he sobered a little, and added, “And we’re also glad to have Stella back to enjoy it with us, safe and sound.”
Stella blushed as everyone turned their gaze toward her.
“Hear, hear.” Tom raised his glass of champagne and everyone toasted to Stella’s safe return. Sitting next to him, Emily also raised her glass. Tom and Emily had become inseparable after they returned from their leave after fires earlier this year. Emily looked radiant, and Stella was happy for her.
Dale and Steph also echoed Tom’s words, and Cat and Levi both nodded in agreement. Stella glanced at everyone seated around the table, Dean and Naomi, Penny and Violet, Gordon, the activities manager, Joseph, and Wyatt, and she was suddenly overwhelmed. But as well as the heat of embarrassment at having driven Dean’s truck into a ravine, it surprised Stella to find she felt a swelling of affection and joy for all these people around her. It was nice to be part of this tight-knit team. Nice that they cared about her. They were becoming her surrogate family. It was funny, but it’d taken a stupid mistake to make her feel like she really belonged.
Not long afterward, everyone got up from the table. Dean suggested they all sit by the fire in the main lobby. He told Joseph they would all come and help him tidy away later, once the food had settled. People groaned at having to do dishes but made their way down the hall toward the front of the lodge.
Stella waited by the door and grabbed Wyatt’s wrist as he walked past. He turned in surprise. It was now or never, if she didn’t talk to him now, she might not get another chance.
“I made you a Christmas present.” She crooked her little finger at him. Cat, who was last to leave, cast a curious glance behind, but said nothing. Then the kitchen was empty.
“You made me…?” The look of confusion on his face was priceless.
“Just come with me,” she said, impatiently grabbing him by the hand and towing him toward the back storeroom. She found the little cardboard box wrapped with string she’d hidden on the top shelf and presented it to him.
