Page 56 of Snowed In with the Rancher

Only now those demons had gone and chased away one of the most beautiful, brightest angels of hope and love and light that he’d ever encountered, all because he was scared. Scared of being loved, broken pieces and all. Because what if those broken pieces just weren’t enough? What if those broken pieces were jagged and hurt someone? Hurt Triss. What if he couldn’t give her what she needed, what she deserved, because he wasn’t whole enough inside to do it?

Swallowing, he let his muscles relax beneath the weight of the horse and stared up at the sky, the falling flakes mesmerizing, like one of those 3D pictures you have to stare at for a while before the image hidden inside reveals itself.

No matter how hard he tried, though, the only image he kept seeing was Triss. Standing there with her sassy smile, challenging him, forcing him to look deep inside himself to a place he’d avoided going since retiring from active duty.

A place he wasn’t sure he had the strength to return to.

“We just gotta … keep warm, Dare. Buddy, just keep warm. It’s okay. We’ll be okay. Nate and Hannah will get here and they’ll come looking for us. You’ll see. It’ll all … be … okay.”

A shiver wracked through him and his teeth began to chatter.

He patted Dare on the neck. “We got this, buddy. Just … stay calm. We’ll figure a way out of this … I promise.”

Darkness was closing in, but the snow wasn’t letting up. Dare was still warm enough that the flakes melted the moment it touched his body, but that wouldn’t last forever.

Asher blinked away the flurries and wiped his eyes. He turned his head and tugged his jacket hood over his head as best he could.

He was cold.

Really cold and he was starting to get tired.

Maybe he just needed to sleep for a bit. Then he wouldn’t feel the cold so much if he was asleep. And when he woke up, Nate and Hannah would be there and Nate could help him get Dare back to the barn.

Yeah, he just needed to close his eyes for a bit.

Blinking, he gave his head a violent shake, which caused Dare to stir and push more of his weight on Asher.

What was he thinking? He couldn’t fall asleep.

Sleep in the cold meant death. It meant he was succumbing to hypothermia.

With trembling fingers, he checked his phone again to see if it’d just gotten a bit water-logged and had decided to start working again.

No such luck.

A black screen met him and he silently cursed his decision to not get one of those LifeProof cases that Nate had. Well, if he made it out of this situation alive, he’d sure as fuck be buying one of those cases. Along with an electrical fence. He’d go to counseling, too, to help with his PTSD, maybe the veteran’s center again. He’d gone once or twice with Nate, but stopped when things at the ranch started to get busier. But he’d start going again, he’d make it a priority.

He’d also fly out to Connecticut, find Triss and apologize for being so fucking stupid. Even though he didn’t deserve her, he did deserve happiness and she was the definition of happiness. Light, grace, brilliance and beauty. She brought it all into his dark and dismal existence and he’d foolishly sent her away thinking it was for the better.

Fuck, even if she slammed the door in his face, at least he’d know he tried. Hopefully, she wouldn’t slam the door until he apologized, because she definitely deserved that. She deserved to have her fucking feet kissed and every wish she ever dreamed to be granted.

Yeah, if he got out of this alive, he was going to find Triss and if she’d let him, never let her fucking go.

“We got this, Dare,” he mumbled, his teeth chattering even more. “Just hold on a little longer.”

Dare’s breathing had evened out, but his body was starting to tremble. Either he was going into shock, and/or, he was starting to catch hypothermia.

Asher’s eyes closed and he patted Dare again. “It’s okay, buddy.”

At least, he hoped it would be.

Chapter Eighteen

They’d been driving for twenty-five minutes, the tears in Triss’s eyes fat blobs that obscured her vision and made hot tracks down her cheeks as she stared despondently out the window of the cab, her body wracked with silent sobs.

She knew Asher was hurting and that he didn’t mean the things he said to her. She knew it the first time he’d been triggered and lashed out. But she’d made him apologize that time so he knew he couldn’t get away with that shit, and that she wasn’t somebody who would allow themselves to be spoken to like that.

This time, she figured he’d know to apologize, and then everything would be okay.

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