Page 86 of Because You Loved Me

There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Noa Briggs was the woman for him. From the moment she’d entered his life, everything changed in all the best ways. He never would have believed that one woman and one week could have so much impact. He was far too realistic and pragmatic for that.

Or so he’d thought.

Now, all Asher knew was that there’d been a reason Noa had jumped into his truck that day. Maybe it was some sort of divine intervention, a message from his father, or it could have just been a random coincidence. But now, more than ever, Noa’s presence in his life felt like a gift.

His father was right: she was definitely a gift of a lifetime. And Asher had no plans to let her slip through his fingers.

If it wasn’t already too late.

He poured himself another cup of coffee and walked to the living room window to stare out onto the snow-covered drive.

A fresh layer of very thick, white, sparkly snow covered everything in sight. As beautiful as it was, it looked deep. Very deep. And Chase had already called to let him know that he and Craig had been delayed leaving to deliver him the truck he’d promised, because the snowplows hadn’t made it out of town to the big house yet, and the mountain roads were impassable.

“It’ll be a few hours yet,” Chase said. “If I can’t get down the mountain to town, there’s no way we’ll be able to get out to the cabin. Not before the snowplows have had a chance to clear things up.”

Any other time, Asher would have been happy for the huge snowfall. It was good for the ski hill, and therefore, good for the hotel, and all the condo developments that Carlson Corp was involved with, never mind all the other businesses in town.

Business.That had always been his first and last concern. He’d been conditioned that way.

But not anymore. Now the only thing occupying his mind had nothing to do with business at all.

He paced the small room and for the dozenth time, tried to slow his breathing.

It was futile.

He couldn’t relax and he couldn’t wait. Now that he’d finally come to his senses about Noa, every minute counted. He’d been so horrible to her when he’d sent her away.

No. When he sent herback.To Ryan. To the man she didn’t want to marry.

Asher tugged his hair by the roots and groaned. He was such an asshole. He could only hope that she’d forgive him.

If he could get to her.

“Screw this. I can’t sit around and wait.” He deposited his untouched coffee in the sink, grabbed his parka, pulled his boots on, and tugged his knit cap onto his head. He’d be waiting all day for a plow. Maybe longer. There had to be something he could do. Even if it meant digging out the road himself.

That’s exactly what he was doing twenty minutes later. He’d worked up a sweat with the heavy, thick snow and, when he turned to survey his work, was majorly disappointed.

“At this rate, it’s going to take me three days to get out of here.” He wiped his brow with the back of his arm and leaned on the shovel as he assessed just how much more shoveling there was to be done.

It was a lot. A real lot.

Before Asher could get back to work, his cell phone rang from his inside pocket. He tugged off a glove and dug it out before the caller could hang up.

“Hey, Kat.” He tried to put a smile in his voice. “Don’t tell me you’re calling to let me know you have a snowplow I?—”

“Asher, I’m calling because I need to know what the hell is going on.”

The smile fell off his face at the tone of his little sister’s voice. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“I just got a call from Noa.”

“Noa?MyNoa?” Maybe it should have felt strange to call her that, especially considering he didn’t even know if she would talk to him. But it didn’t. She’d always be his on some level.

“Well, I thought she wasyourNoa,” Kat said. “But that’s why I’m calling, Asher. She just reached out to ask me if I’d come over to Trickle Creek Lodge to do some hair for a wedding.”

A wedding?

The air rushed from his lungs, and Asher almost doubled over with the pain in his gut at the one simple word.

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