Page 48 of Montana Bride By Christmas
She poured him a cup, and he drank a few swallows, then looked around.
“Evan, I never heard you get up,” Hugh said.
Annie chuckled. “When I woke up, he was standing by the couch,” She jerked her gaze from Hugh’s dark eyes that drew her into secret places, secret thoughts—to Evan. “Did you wonder if we were going to sleep all day?”
He nodded, met her eyes for a second, then shifted his gaze to Hugh. A fleeting, barely-there smile pulled at his mouth, and then he ducked away. She hadn’t imagined it. When she looked at Hugh, she knew by the way his eyes darkened and his throat worked that he had seen it as well.
She smiled. “He’s going to be okay.” Something thumped against the window. “Snow.”
“My bones are always right,” Grandfather said. “Though I wish they’d be wrong once in a while.”
Annie explained to Hugh and Evan how Grandfather could tell a storm was headed their way by how much his bones hurt. She went to look out the window. Hugh followed her and they stood shoulder to shoulder.
“It’s really coming down,” he said. “I can barely make out the shed.”
She strained toward the window. The snow would be drifting into the little building. She needed to shut the door to keep thewood dry. Doing so would shut the pup inside. The poor thing must be freezing. Her nerves twitched, and she turned to serve breakfast, but before she sat down, she went to the window again. The storm was getting worse.
“Girl, sit down,” Grandfather said. “You’ve seen lots of Montana storms. You know the only thing you can do is hunker down and wait them out.”
She sat, but her insides jumped. That poor little animal would be shivering.
Aware that her nervous behavior had Hugh watching her, she forced herself to sit quietly throughout the meal. Afterward, she cleaned up from breakfast and prepared a pot of soup to simmer throughout the morning.
“There’s nothing like the smell of soup to make us feel warm and cozy.”
Hugh came to her side at the stove and whispered, “What’s bothering you?”
“I hope my family are all safe.” Let him think that’s what concerned her.
“Like your grandfather said, they are familiar with Montana weather. I venture to say they knew enough to find shelter.”
She nodded. It was true.
“How do you want to spend the day?” he asked.
She should be rejoicing that he wanted her to be part of his activity. However, she couldn’t relax.
“There’s something I have to do.” She shoved her feet into warm boots, shrugged into Logan’s warm coat, and grabbed the door handle.
Hugh couldn’t believeshe meant to go into the storm. Was it something he said? Perhaps she didn’t care to do anything with him. But still. It wasn’t necessary to run into the jaws of winter. She could simply say no thanks. “You can’t go out in that,” he protested, but she ignored him and rushed out. “What pray tell?” he asked of no one in particular.
“She’s got some kind of bee in her bonnet,” Grandfather said. “I learned long ago to stand back and let her go when she’s like that.”
Shouldn’t that make him remember how unsuitable she was? The words skimmed over his brain without finding a resting place. All that mattered was making sure she was safe, and he grabbed his coat.
“Now, wait a minute,” Grandfather protested. “Don’t see any sense in both of you being out. You’ve got to trust that she knows what she’s doing.”
He stood at the door, undecided about what he should do. Seeing the tension in Evan’s shoulders, he returned his coat to the hook and went to peer through the window. Saw the dark shape that was Annie leave the woodshed and hurry toward the house.
He threw open the door to let her in.
She stood before him, a wriggly brown-and-white dog in her arms. “I couldn’t leave him out in the cold.” Her eyes begged for understanding.
The pup licked her, then squirmed about, trying to reach Hugh and give him a sloppy kiss. He patted the dog on the head. “He’s just a pup.” A mixed breed about half-grown. He’d be medium-sized when he reached maturity. Right now, he was very dirty and smelly.
Annie waited.
He wondered what she would do if he said the pup couldn’t be indoors. He had no intention of doing so, especially with herblue eyes beseeching him. “Put him down. Let him explore his new home.”
