Page 41 of Valentine's Day Treasure

“Ready?” Beckett asked.

“Ready.”

Once they’d returned to their room, Cerise sat down on the bed and a spring poked her butt. When they’d first arrived, she’d been so excited that she hadn’t cared about the bed, but now she did. She lay down and rolled around. The bed was not comfortable.

“You know…” she said, looking at him, then the bed.

“You want to see what the beds are like in the Presidential Suite?”

“Or we could just go home,” she said, keeping her tone bright.

“That’s way better.” He snatched up the phone and called the next room. “Dude. Do you want to go home? Cerise wants to go home.” He waited a beat. “Good. Try to catch Trevor and them.” He hung up and pointed at their bag. “I’m packing.”

“I loved this place, Beckett, I had a really good time.”

He stopped packing. “Me too, dumplin’ but you want to sleep in your own bed?”

“Yeah.”

“Power might still be out.”

“We can start a fire, or sleep at Ella’s place. It’s close enough and familiar enough to be home. I just want to be home, I think.”

“I gotcha honey bunches.”

He threw everything into the bag except their snow gear and they left the room.

***

Within fifteen minutes, they’d met up with the rest of the team and were on their way home. Cerise was back riding with Dahlia, Ella was behind them, and Mac and Bruin were bringing up the rear.

It was still snowing, but not very hard. The road was still unplowed and empty. Cerise, going slow and steady, looked up, trying to see the dragon flying overhead but she only saw clouds and a few stars peeking through. She knew he was there, with his mate on his back, keeping pace with them, and she liked the idea that he was watching over them, too. Inside the tree line, the five wolves trotted in a line and Cerise could only catch glimpses of them now and then.

When they were almost to the cornfield, they saw their first vehicle. It was a snowplow, a big one, on the other side of the road spraying snow high. The driver honked and they all waved.

Ten minutes later, they were pulling up in the backyard, the wolves running fast and scattering, some going to the house, some going around to the front. Cerise stopped her snowmobile near the back porch, and so did Ella, while Mac and Bruin zoomed to the front of the house. The cabins were fully dark, while the main house was lit up, and the generator was still running, resonating deeply in the night.

Ella got off her snowmobile and took her helmet off. She looked at the sky. Cerise and Dahlia did the same.

“It’s stopped snowing,” Cerise said.

“Finally,” Ella said. She was walking up the back steps. She stopped on the porch and turned back to them.

“Dahlia, you and Crew can sleep in the guest bed, since you were in there earlier and I haven’t changed the linens yet. Cerise, Troy’s going to bunk with Trent tonight, so his room will be open for you and Beckett if you want it. I’m going to change the linens right now.”

Cerise followed Ella to help her, while the others put away the gear. Goodnights were said all around, and then Cerise met Beckett in the back and they checked on the horse in the barn.

Finally, once everything was attended to, they headed to bed. The house was quiet and dark, but people and wolves were still moving around here and there. Cerise and Beckett didn’t speak much as they quickly showered, then fell into bed.

Beckett yawned and dropped onto his pillow, reaching for her. She snuggled next to him, bone weary and happy. Beckett was asleep almost immediately—Cerise could tell by his breathing—but she lay awake in the dark, thinking about the day and how fun it had been, until the constant backdrop hum of the generator ceased, and she realized the power was back on.

She snuggled into her man, waiting to see if he would wake. When he didn’t, she closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

***

Dahlia headed up the stairs, carrying her bag, and pulling Crew behind her. He was flagging, hard, but she still felt pretty fresh.

“C’mon sleepyhead,” she said.

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