Snowfall

by Suzanne Cass

  Stella watched Penny out of the corner of her eye. Was it a trick of her imagination, or did Penny flinch at the mention of Clayton’s name? If she had, she hid it well, because now her face was a picture of unruffled interest, nothing more, nothing less.

  “Thanks for your concern,” Cat said, adding a slight smile to soften her snarky words. “But I already knew that dodgy character was back in town, and I’m fine with it.” Cat turned to Levi. “Speaking of dodgy characters, I forgot to ask you; did you hear anything about a kerfuffle at the Corner Café yesterday?” She changed the subject deftly, and perhaps Stella didn’t blame her. The man had held a knife to her throat, and Stella didn’t think she’d want to dwell on the topic either, if it were her.

  This new topic sounded like some gossip from town. She noticed Wyatt had stopped eating, laying his half-eaten pork back on his plate.

  “I just heard from Steph that something unusual went down,” Cat continued.

  “Yeah, I saw Jude this morning.” Levi had to mean Jude Wilder, one of the sheriff’s deputies. He and Levi were friends. “Two men were showing a photo around, seems as if they were looking for someone. Arlo didn’t like the look of them and told them to get out of his café. Said they were bothering his customers and not to come back.”

  “I can imagine.” Cat grinned, all of her ear piercings glinting in the weak winter sunlight.

  Stella didn’t know Arlo personally, but she’d heard from Cat and the other staff who frequented his café, that he was quite a character. An old hippie from way back, he wore colorful clothes and sported a long, gray beard.

  “Were they cops, or something? Did they find who they were looking for?” Cat asked.

  “Jude doesn’t know. Supposedly, the guys disappeared after Arlo kicked them out.” Levi lifted one eyebrow in disdain and Stella was hit by the similarity between the two brothers. Wyatt had the same jaunty lift to his eyebrows when he found something far-fetched. Levi had a dark, neatly trimmed beard, unlike Wyatt, who was clean-shaven. Stella liked the smooth look better.

  “But like Jude said, he doesn’t have time to go around following up on people who weren’t even breaking the law.” Levi continued.

  Stella wasn’t sure what the fuss was about. Surely, they got strangers coming through Stevensville all the time. What was the difference with these two? Wyatt paced backward and placed his plate on a nearby table. He’d hardly touched his food.

  Stella was about to ask why he wasn’t hungry, when Cat stepped in front of her, piercing her with that crystal-blue gaze. “We’re taking a bunch of guests out on the snowmobiles. You should join us.”

  That sounded like fun. Stella had been on one or two hikes whenever she got a free hour or two, but Joseph rarely gave her time off.

  “Wyatt is coming,” Cat added.

  “I am?” He raised one dark eyebrow, a surprised smile twisting his lips.

  “You are,” Cat instructed. “Dean wants us to take a large group out. We need all the minders we can get. Everyone’s coming, even Levi and Penny.” Cat tipped her chin toward Penny. Stella caught her friend’s eye, and Penny nodded enthusiastically. It wasn’t often they all got to go out and have fun together.

  “I’m not sure what Joseph will—”

  Cat waved her hand in the air. “That man has you tied to the kitchen too tight. It’s time you got out and enjoyed yourself, for once. I’ll go and ask Dean. Joseph won’t dare to argue with him.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Big Tom laughed. “Joseph doesn’t answer to anyone.”

  It was her job to stay in the kitchen, but Stella didn’t say that. It’d be nice to get out on a snowmobile into the forest and enjoy the crisp winter’s day. “It sounds like fun. But I’m not sure… I’ve never ridden a snowmobile before.”

  “You can ride behind Wyatt,” Cat said, and turned away, but not before Stella caught the hint of a wicked gleam in her eye. Her stomach did a strange, slow somersault at the idea. How was she supposed to sort out her confusing feelings about Wyatt, if her insides did a happy dance every time he was near? This wasn’t helping at all. But it didn’t sound like she could back out of it now.

  Penny waggled her eyebrows in Stella’s direction as they all put the plates on the table. She saw Wyatt frown at Penny’s antics and cringed inside. Cat tapped Dean on the shoulder and had a quiet word in his ear. He gave his trademark grin and nodded enthusiastically. Then he climbed up on the nearest chair and conversation stopped, so people could listen.

  “Okay, everyone who wants to go on this year’s first snowmobile ride, go and grab some warm clothes. Then meet us up in the machinery shed in ten minutes. We’ve got thirty snowmobiles, which should be enough for everyone. Let’s get this party started.” Dean pumped his fist in the air and everyone cheered. Stella smiled. Dean really loved this. He loved his ranch, and he loved having guests here. She was glad to be part of this renewal process.

  Stella let out a whoop of joy as cold air sliced past her cheeks. This was like flying, the fresh snow racing past below. The pure speed and the sound of the motor were exhilarating. Even more exhilarating was the fact that her arms were wrapped around Wyatt’s waist.

  “Having fun?” Wyatt laughed over his shoulder.

  “Yes,” Stella yelled. “This is great. I don’t know why I haven’t done it before.”

  A raft of snowmobiles spread out around them. Cat had placed them on the left fringe of the group and told them not to let anyone past and make sure no one got lost. Emily and Tom were in the lead on separate snowmobiles. Cat and Levi brought up the rear, rounding up the stragglers. And Dale and Penny were on the right flank, with all the guests corralled in the middle. Dean had wanted to come, but he’d given up his snowmobile to Mr. Darcy and his daughter, who’d turned up at the last second, wanting to join the ride. Dean was like that; he’d give the shirt off his back, if you needed it.

  At first, she’d felt useless, sitting on the back of Wyatt’s snowmobile, clinging to him like some kind of barnacle, their helmets bumping together every time he slowed down. But as she got used to the swishing, swaying movement, she relaxed a little, let go of her death-like grasp on Wyatt, learning to control her head, and finally started to enjoy the ride. It was a perfect day to be out in the forest. Snow still clung to the branches of the fir trees; a fresh layer had come down last night, covering the large drifts left behind by the blizzard. But this didn’t compare to that morning they’d emerged from Wyatt’s truck into a sparkling winter wonderland. That’d been truly magical. She was glad Dean had encouraged her to come today. She’d pretended to ignore Joseph’s thin-lipped glance in her direction as she hurried to the machinery workshop.

  A kid riding nearby—he couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen—swished closer. Then he ducked behind them and flew out on a tangent, doing a three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn in a large clearing, spraying glittering snow in a shroud behind him. Wyatt swung after him and Stella had to cling on tight. She leaned down low, mentally urging Wyatt on. It was almost like rounding up a stray cow on a cattle drive.

  “Get back with the others,” Wyatt said firmly. The boy grinned, and made his way back to the group, not seeming to care; he’d achieved what he wanted. Stella almost wished Wyatt would do the same thing. It must feel unbelievable to spin around and around like that, going so fast. They settled back into a uniform pace, keeping in line with the rest of the riders.

  Out of the blue, Wyatt asked, “How’s the fiancé doing?” His tone was even, but Stella wondered if the angle of his shoulders had changed.

  At the mention of Armand, her mood deflated. She hadn’t answered his texts. She was too angry. The texts had halted after that last one on New Year’s Eve. How dare he threaten her? He didn’t even have the decency to talk to her personally. Only cowards sent texts. She’d never break up with anyone over a text message.

  “I don’t think he’s my fiancé anymore,” she murmured quietly.

  “What wa
s that?” Wyatt called back over his shoulder.

  “I’m not sure,” she answered, leaning as close to his ear as her helmet would allow. “Things are…complicated between us.”

  That was the simple description. Her feelings towards Armand were mixed. They’d met at the Institute. She was in her first year, and he was in his last. Armand had helped her perfect her pastry techniques, spent hours in the kitchen with her after class, patiently talking her through a method until she had it perfected. He also helped her get her first apprenticeship in the Boulangerie Cartellier, a new bakery with an up-and-coming chef. She owed him. Something he didn’t seem to want to let her forget. Armand was solid, dependable, responsible, all traits her mother revered. But he was also…dare she say it…boring. Wyatt, on the other hand, was anything but boring.

  “You didn’t look thrilled at the New Year’s Eve party,” he said, turning his head slightly so she could see his lips move. Their cheeks almost touched as she lay her chin on his shoulder.

  “No, I wasn’t. He wants me to go back to France.”

  “And what do you want?” His quiet words were almost lost as the wind whipped past them. That was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  WYATT CONCENTRATED ON guiding the snowmobile around a large tree trunk. But he couldn’t keep the subtle feeling of satisfaction from rising through his gut.

  “I don’t want to go back.” They’d been Stella’s exact words.

  It sounded like Stella was having problems with her fiancé. That was a bad thing for her. She was clearly struggling with it emotionally; he should be more sympathetic. Then why did he suddenly feel lighter with the knowledge? Happy that she might yet be unattached.

  When Cat had tricked him into staying today, he’d been mad as hell. It was supposed to be a quick trip out to the ranch to deliver the barbecue. Then she dropped the bombshell they were going to eat. And then the snowmobile ride. Wyatt had felt trapped. He didn’t enjoy feeling trapped. It was a little sad that Cat and Levi thought they had to stoop to lying to get him to do things. But then, perhaps that might be as much his fault as it was theirs. He didn’t make matters easy.

  Cat had been dropping gentle nudges in Wyatt’s direction ever since Christmas day. Obviously, he hadn’t kept his infatuation with Stella as well hidden as he hoped. At first, Cat had come home and conveyed some little anecdote of the funny things Stella had done or said that day. After Wyatt ignored those hints, she asked when he was going to start dating again. Telling him it was time to get back out there, dip a toe in the ocean, all those stupid, meaningless analogies. Soon enough, those questions turned into suggestions that maybe it was Stella he should ask out on a date.

  When he’d had enough and finally responded by telling Cat that Stella had a boyfriend, she’d waved his protestations away with a snort.

  “Everyone knows Stella has a fiancé back in France,” she said, clicking her fingers. “But even I can tell that girl’s not really in love with him. She barely talks about him. I think it’s more of a security blanket, something for her to hold on to while she gets used to this new place.”

  “You don’t know what’s going on in her head,” Wyatt had argued. “Maybe she just doesn't like to profess her feelings out loud.”

  Cat snorted again. “If she were truly in love with him, why is she not with him now?” Cat’s question had resonated in Wyatt’s mind for the rest of the day. Just because Cat and Levi were deliriously happy and hardly left each other’s side, didn’t mean that other people were the same. Lots of couples spent time apart, some even doing the long-distance thing successfully.

  No amount of persuasion was going to change Wyatt’s mind. After he found out about Stella’s boyfriend, it was a perfect excuse to stay away. It was the kick in the pants he needed to decide she wasn’t for him. And it was the main reason he wasn’t going to come to the barbecue today. The less he saw of her, the better.

  Until he was tricked into joining in.

  There was another reason he didn’t want to get involved with Stella. One that he would never confess to anybody. It’d taken a while to even admit it to himself. Stella seemed to have a special knack of being able to get him to open up when no one else could. That night spent in the truck, he’d talked to her more in those few hours than he’d possibly talked to anyone in his entire time in prison. She’d asked him at some stage why he wouldn’t look at her properly, like he was afraid of her or something. She put it down to him being shy. He told her some bullshit story that he was like that because it was the only way he’d learned to keep himself safe in jail. They were like a pack of junkyard dogs in there, and the trick was to make yourself invisible. Not catch anyone’s eye. Don’t antagonize anyone.

  But that wasn’t why he wouldn’t look directly at Stella. He certainly wasn’t afraid of her. He was afraid that she would use that deep insight to see through the thin veneer of his humanity, down to his true self. And he really didn’t think she’d like what she saw down there.

  “This is so much fun. I’m glad Cat talked me into it.” Stella was nestled into his back, moving with him as he swished through the snow. Her mouth was near his ear, wisps of her hair brushing against his cheek.

  “You seem to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.”

  “It’s my job,” she quipped over his shoulder.

  Her hands were clasped tightly across his stomach. Even through the layers of their bulky coats, he could feel her slender body and her breasts pressed up against his back. He enjoyed having her holding on to him. They were in their own intimate snowmobile bubble. Even though they were surrounded by all these other people and loud machines, it felt like just the two of them, alone together.

  It also felt good to be part of this team. The staff at the Stargazer Ranch were a close-knit bunch, and they seemed to welcome him as one of them. He was relaxing around them a little more, now that he knew Cat and Levi hadn’t told them about his stint in prison. Not that he didn’t want people to know, he just wanted to tell them in his own good time. His story was a complicated one, and he hated to be misjudged.

  It was also marvelous to be out amongst the forest again. It was one of the worst things about being cooped up behind bars. Wyatt had spent a lot of his teenage years—especially when he needed to get away from his drunken father—camping in the woodlands of the reservation. Surviving off the land, often for a week at a time. Now that he was living with Levi, he was once again taking advantage of the proximity of the mountains. He’d prowled around most of the hiking trails in the area over the past six months.

  There was a blue flash in the trees above. “Look, a Steller’s Jay.” He pointed a finger, hoping Stella would see the pretty little bird in all its royal blue finery. It was an unusual sighting for winter, but not unheard of, especially if locals left out feeders, year-round. The bold, noisy bird was a pleasure to watch. “You have the same name.”

  “Wow,” she breathed into his ear. “I didn’t know there were such colorful birds here.” It always amazed him that people knew so little about their natural surroundings. He began pointing out other things. The tracks of a raccoon in the soft snow. A string of icicles decorating the edge of a rocky overhang. The fluffy bounce of a white tail as a snowshoe hare disappeared down its burrow.

  It seemed like only a few minutes had passed, but an hour later, the main lodge appeared over the last rise. It was late afternoon, the sun’s rays touching the tips of the trees. Soon, the temperature would drop dramatically as night encroached. The ride was over, and Wyatt had to crush the ache of disappointment behind his ribcage, knowing Stella’s arms would no longer be wrapped around his stomach.

  “Wyatt, can you and Levi stay behind and help me get the snowmobiles all put away properly, please?” Cat called over the sound of people turning off their motors and chatting happily together.

  “Sure thing,” he replied, removing his helmet and hanging it over the handlebar.

  “I should go…
Joseph will need me,” Stella whispered over his shoulder.

  He grunted, but didn’t reply. He could respect her work ethic, but it meant their time together was truly over.

  Then, as if she had a change of heart, she said, “I guess a few more minutes won’t hurt. I’ll stay and help.” She took off her helmet and shook out her messy bun, tendrils of hair falling around her face, replacing her protective headgear with her gray knit cap to keep the icy wind at bay.

  Cat had a very specific way of setting up the snowmobiles, so they all fitted into the machinery workshop. Some guests were happy to drive theirs straight in, and so Cat directed them where to go.

  Wyatt and Stella dismounted and stood off to the side, away from the mayhem of people lining up to get their snowmobiles in the door.

  “How’s she ever gonna sort this out?” Stella laughed, watching as two teenage boys tussled with each other, both wanting to be first in the door. Cheeks pink from the cold, and eyes bright from the exhilaration, Stella looked up into his face and he caught his breath. She was so damn beautiful. It was no wonder his mind went to porridge every time he looked at her. But while his mind went soft when he was around her, other parts of him went rock hard.

  A few of the guests had left their snowmobiles parked to the side, unable or unwilling to put them away. Wyatt walked over to the first one and pushed the start button, so it was idling, then began to direct it inside.

  “I’ll help,” Stella said.

  “They’re heavy and awkward to move,” he warned.

  “I’m strong.” She held up one arm and flexed her bicep, and he had to laugh.

  “Right, well, start them up and use the throttle gently to help you shift them.” He liked that she wanted to be involved. She was eager to try everything, do everything. They joined the back of the line, but it moved quickly, and it didn’t take long to get inside.