Page 39 of Love Under Snowfall

Benjamin helped her sit up and get a better look. Outside of the situation, Frankie would have described the setting as a magical, wintery paradise. Large boulders meandered along where they sat on the valley floor. Covered in glistening snow, they reminded her of icing-topped gumdrops bordering a winding path to a gingerbread house. A few trees stood mightily between them, mostly keeping to the steep hills on either side. The snow fell rapidly, swiftly covering the tracks that their clumsy descents carved into the embankments a short time ago. It was breathtaking. Frankie was so captivated that she imagined the tinkling of tiny bells to cap off the seasonal ambiance.

Scratch that. Not bells.

“Oh no,” Frankie gasped. She carefully reached down beside Benjamin, hastily scooping the snow aside. After removing a glove, she sank her bare hand into the snow.

“What is it? Francesca, stop. You’ll get frostbite!”

She shrugged off his concerns, reaching farther down until her fingers reached something cold, hard, and slick.

“Ice.” She retracted her hand and jammed it back into her glove. “Miguel? Fuck. I think we’re on a creek. I felt ice beneath the snow, there’s a pretty open winding path through the valley, and I hear moving water.”

Benjamin’s eyes widened. She laid her hand on his chest in an effort to calm him, but the thundering pulse that beat against her palm caused her own heart to accelerate.

“Listen carefully. You need to get off the ice. There’s no telling how long it will hold. The water probably isn’t deep, but if you break through and get wet, the risk of hypothermia increases.Drastically.”

“Got it.” Frankie hooked the walkie back to her pack. “Help me slide this on, then I’m going to crawl off of you and climb through those boulders.” She pointed to the stack of rocks a few feet beside them.

“But shouldn’t we cross over and stay onthatbank?” Benjamin’s words linked together as they flowed from his chattering teeth. His icy blue eyes, wide with fear, collided with hers. “We’d be closer when they rescue—”

“We can’t risk the crossing. You heard Miguel. Stay out of the water. Follow me but move carefully.” She used every ounce of her authoritative guide voice, and it seemed to have the desired effect. Benjamin nodded, took back his coat, and helped her shimmy into her pack.

With great care, Frankie slid off his lap and onto the snow beside him. She moved with purpose, thinking light thoughts all the way. After a moment, she scurried between the two rocks and landed on solid ground.

A heavy breath escaped her, but she knew they weren’t in the clear just yet. Benjamin was much larger than her. She’d felt so small and comfy nestled against his warm chest. Laying in his lap. Long legs curled up to act as a barrier between her and the snow.Focus, Frankie.The point was, the guy outweighed her by . . . well, by a lot. Any wrong move could spell disaster. There was no telling how thick the ice was in any given spot.

“You’re next,professor. Move slowly, got it?”

Benjamin’s eyes glinted at Frankie’s tease. But he nodded anyway.

He gracefully shifted and pushed to a stand. Without his snowshoes, his feet sank all the way down to the ice. He appeared more and more comfortable with each lumbering stride.

“Like a walk in the pa—”

A fragile crack resounded from beneath his bootand echoed throughout the valley.

Frankie captured Benjamin’s eyes in a panicked flinch.

“Fuck,” they mumbled in unison.

Chapter twenty-one

Benjamin

The delicate cracking beneath Benjamin’s feet sounded more like removing a shell from a hard-boiled egg than ice giving way. Yet just as he settled his hands on the rocks separating him from Francesca, his hiking boot dropped through the glassy surface and plunged into the icy creek below. The other followed immediately after.

Miguel had been right, at least; the water wasn’t deep, only reaching him at the middle of his shins. There was also zero risk of getting swept downstream because the current was weak.

But as Benjamin’s boot filled with the coldest water he’d ever felt, even an adventuring newcomer like him knew the severity of the situation. He looked up at Francesca, whose eyes were wide with shock.

“Fuck.” The husky curse jettisoned from his snowshoe buddy’s mouth. The single word carried the same level of anxiety that Benjamin felt down to his frigid feet.

He didn’t linger. Instead, he used all his strength to muscle his way up and through the boulders. Francesca pulled at his shoulders the whole way. Sliding over the top of the icy rocks, his trajectory continued. He grunted and landed on top of her, squashing her into the fresh snow. He caged her with his forearms as a surprised gasp puffed from her lips. The spicy, hot apple cider had remained on her breath, melding with the soothing scent of lavender and eucalyptus.

A flood of pink washed over her cheeks. Benjamin wondered how she would respond if he dipped down for a kiss and brushed his lips against hers to regain some of the warmth he’d lost stomping onto that creek.

“Do you mind?” she finally murmured, gaze flitting from his eyes to his lips and back. “This isn’t exactly the best time to hit on me.”

“Right.” He fumbled his way up to his feet and reached down to take her outstretched hand. “Now what?”

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