Page 59 of Major Love

“Jesus Christ,” I rumble, turning around for a moment, because that’s just pissed meallthe way off. I give myself a couple of seconds and then face her again. “She went on her own?”

Haven’s shoulders drop as she leans her head against the doorjamb.

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, she promised me that she would leave before twelve, seeing as the forecast was predicting snow. And” – she gestures toward the thick white clouds above us – “it still hasn’t fallen yet.”

Thatwouldmake me feel better in different circumstances. Except for the fact that, with that reasoning, she should havedefinitelyarrived home by now.

“She isn’t at Casey’s,” I explain roughly, and Haven’s expression changes entirely.

She probably doesn’t know thatIwas at Casey’s, considering the fact that she has no knowledge of the giant hole I excavated in her husband’s yard. So if Sunday isn’t with either of us, and if she intended to keep our plans, that means that something is holding her up on the forest-encased roads to Alpine Trail.

“She said she’d leave at midday,” Haven reiterates, her gaze searching mine.

I look away from her and stiffen slightly as something cool hits my cheek.

I pause and glance skywards, my gaze hardening.

My chest halts on an inhale.

Oh,fuckno.

No way is the snow about to start falling while Sunday’s up some lower-mountain road that she hasn’t ridden in fifteen years.

I flick my eyes back to Haven’s, jerking my chin at her as she grabs her cell.

“She been in touch with you?” I ask.

Haven shows me a text thread not unlike my own, filled with one-sided messages that are all undelivered.

I swipe a hand down my jaw, feeling adrenaline coursing through my forearms.

“And she was definitely going to Alpine Trail?” I ask, already halfway down the drive.

“Yeah,” Haven calls back to me, the shakiness in her voice making me resolute.

I give her a nod as I slip back into the driver’s seat and then I quickly slam my door, cursing at the white flakes beginning to descend.

And in less than a second, my boot pounds the pedal.

Chapter 15

Sunday

“Shit!”

I stare in defeat at the front of the truck, still wedged too deep in the accumulated forest snowfall. I toss the snow-boot that I’d been using like a spade into the back of the cab, slowly lifting myself into the driver’s seat and slamming the door shut behind me.

I pull off my cowgirl boots and hiss at the drenched state of my thermal socks, considering gently easing them off to give my feet a moment of reprieve. But deep down I know that when I have to get back out in the snow again, my toes will suffer even more if I have to wear my cowgirl bootswithoutthe thermals.

It’s been at least two hours since the pine tree struck the ground and I spun off the blacktop to avoid hitting the elk. I had half-hoped that maybe Casey would have some hardware in the back of his truck but, seeing as he didn’t, I’ve been using one of my hiking boots as a snow-shovel in between small treks where I’ve been searching for cell signal. Other than that, I’ve hunkered down in the front of the truck, allowing myself a couple of minutes of heating so that my body doesn’t totally shut down with the cold.

I reluctantly turn on the engine, way too scared about the battery dying to allow myself more than another two minutes of warmth in the truck. I hold my empty flask between my frozenfingers, my gaze flicking warily to a snowflake as it lands silently on Casey’s bumper.

Then my eyes fly to the treetops.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, as realisation dawns.

I’m stuck off-road… and it’s starting to snow.

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