Page 23 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“Suit yourself.” He stepped aside and she took a breath before moving past him into the rain.

She was just reaching for the door of her SUV when he called out through the storm, “But you won’t get far.” She froze and turned as he added, “The bridge is out.”

ChapterSix

Travis had only just barely gotacross before the old creaky bridge slipped off the muddy banks and into the water below. He hadn’t even recognized the raging rapids that had breached the banks from the tranquil creek that usually flowed under the basic wood bridge. He’d been lucky to get his truck across, and probably a little foolhardy to even attempt the passage, but it had worked. He’d made it. Thankfully.

The idea of Stephanie stranded on the other side of the creek—alone, scared and potentially in danger—was enough to make him try, and he was glad he had.

“The bridge?” Her mouth fell open in surprise. “But Nick was just…is he…”

“He’s on the other side.” He watched while she inhaled deeply, relieved for her friend. “I passed him coming up. He’s okay.”

“Thank goodness.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “But if you…how did you make it if the bridge is out?”

Travis took his cowboy hat off and ran a hand through his damp hair. “I was lucky. I probably shouldn’t have…well, it doesn’t matter. But almost right after I went across, the boards slipped in the mud and fell into the water.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t much of a bridge to begin with, so I can’t really say I’m surprised. But still.”

“Still.” She nodded slowly, taking in the impact of what he’d just shared with her. After a moment, her head snapped up and she moved to step inside. “Are you…I guess you should…”

“I got some sand and some bags.” He pointed to his truck. “I want to be prepared in case the water gets much higher.” He walked to the edge of the extra-large porch that he’d built only a few months earlier and peered down at the creek. It was higher than he’d ever seen it.Would it get any higher?It was hard to tell. But if it did, the water could threaten the cabin. “It won’t take me long and I’ll—”

“I’ll help.”

Travis spun around, a smile on his lips. “What?”

“I’ll help,” she said again. “It is my cabin, after all, and the work will go quicker with two of us.”

He nodded. It would go much quicker with two of them. “You don’t have—”

“I’m not helpless, Travis.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that you were.”

She looked at him and for a moment, he thought she might challenge him further. Instead, she put her bag she’d packed inside the door and tightened the hood of her rain jacket around her head. Not to be left behind, Tinker Bell darted out to the porch and followed them to the truck.

Travis grabbed an extra pair of work gloves from his truck and handed them to her. He offered her a hand to help her up into the back of the truck, but she turned away and climbed up into the back on her own. He tried not to laugh. There was more than a small part of him that found her stubbornness incredibly sexy. Not that he had any business thinking about that right now. They had a job to do and with the way the rain was still coming down, with no sign of letting up, they might need the sandbags after all.

“Have you ever done this before?”

She shook her head.

“Don’t worry,” Travis said. “It’s not hard.” He pointed to the stack of burlap sacks in the corner of the truck bed. Brett had managed to scrape up enough sand from what was left in the hardware store yard that they should be able to make enough sandbags to protect the main lodge and Steph’s cabin if needed. All the other cabins were set far enough back from the water. He hoped. “You hold open a bag,” he continued. “And I’ll shovel the sand. Tie it up and move onto the next one. We’ll do as many as we can.”

She nodded and pulled the way-too-big gloves onto her hands. They were laughably large and a moment later, Steph took them off and tucked them into her pocket, opting for bare hands.

Travis had never known a woman like her before. One who so obviously enjoyed the finer things. Massages, hair and nail salons, and, no doubt because of her line of work, had spent countless hours having her makeup done before slipping into expensive gowns. And still, she hadn’t hesitated when it came to the physical labor of filling the sandbags. She was definitely a woman of contradictions. As Travis hefted the first shovel full of sand into the sack she held out, he couldn’t help but wonder what else he didn’t know about her. Whatever it was, he wanted to learn about it. He wanted to learnallthe things when it came to Stephanie Starz.

Sand spilled all over her hands, but Stephanie didn’t seem care. She knelt in the wet, sloppy mess as she tied each bag and prepped the next one. They worked well together and it didn’t take long for them to have all the sacks filled and stacked. When Steph stood up, she had dirt streaked on her cheeks. Her red hair spilled out from under her hood and lay soaked in long strands down the front of her jacket. She was wet and messy, and so incredibly cute, Travis couldn’t help but reach out to try to wipe a smear of mud from her cheek.

She froze for a moment under his touch, as he held her gaze for a beat too long. “We should probably get these down to the main lodge before the river crests.”

Stephanie called for the dog and together they climbed into the cab of the truck. Steph held the muddy, wiggling puppy on her lap and giggled as Tink licked her face. Again, she caught him off guard and Travis stopped for a minute just to watch her. It wasn’t until she turned to him and said, “Shouldn’t we get going?” that he started the truck and made his way carefully down the muddy and slippery road to the main lodge.

It was hard work, but Steph didn’t complain once as she lugged and stacked the sandbags. Occasionally, she would wipe her arm across her forehead or try in vain to clear the water and mud from her face, but her efforts only led to a bigger mess. He probably shouldn’t notice how cute it was, but he couldn’t help it.

When they were finally finished, they all climbed back into the truck and made the short journey back up to Steph’s cabin. Travis piled the remaining sandbags on the porch, just in case the water got any higher. He grabbed the groceries and box of baking from the truck and carried it to the porch, where Steph was trying, and largely failing, to dry off a very wet and muddy Tink.

“She’s a mess.” Stephanie laughed as the puppy once more wiggled from her grip. She fell to her knees and grabbed the dog once more. “If you want to come in, Tink, you’re going to need to clean up at least a little.”

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