Page 126 of Wish You Were Mine

“Not within a few kilometers.”

My stomach sank. There was no way we could walk several kilometers in a snowstorm to meet them.

“Will you be okay there until the weather calms?” Connor asked.

I looked around. With the food, the fire, and the bedding, we could theoretically be stranded here for weeks before we ran into problems. Seeing out the storm would be fine. Even if Summer’s expression said she wasn’t thrilled by the development.

“We’ll be okay,” I said. “There’s no point risking more trouble.”

“Yeah.” He sounded relieved. “I’ll have my radio nearby if you need me for anything. Got it?”

“Actually, if someone could drop by Summer’s place and make sure Cookie is fed and has water, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing.”

I thanked him and put the radio down. Slowly, I turned to Summer. “Seems like we might be stuck here for the night.”

She grimaced. “This really isn’t how I thought the day would go when we woke up this morning.”

“Me neither,” I admitted. “I’d hoped for a whole lot more cuddling and sex.”

She flashed her teeth, for which I was grateful even if the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Me too.” She stood up and let the blanket slide off her shoulders, pooling on the mattress. “Why don’t I light the fire while you find something to eat?”

“Sounds good.” I appreciated her taking the lead with the fire. While I was by no means mentally scarred by what had happened to my house, I imagined I’d have a hard time actually setting a fire so soon after the experience.

She knelt in front of the fireplace and got to work. Meanwhile, I put aside a couple of cans of pumpkin soup and dug around beneath the counter, emerging victorious with a pan. Hopefully the fire would soon be hot enough to cook the soup. I opened a packet of crackers and a bag of processed cheese slices and prepared a few.

The scent of smoke made me stiffen. One by one, I forced my muscles to relax.

“Having any luck?” My tone wasn’t as casual as I’d have liked.

Summer prodded a metal poker into the fireplace, her brows pinched with concentration. “It’s starting to take off. I’ll close the door in a few seconds.”

When she did, I breathed a sigh of relief. Not that I thought she’d burn the cabin down, but the acrid smell brought back unpleasant memories and jitters danced beneath my skin.

I offered her a small stack of crackers and she accepted with a smile and bit one in half.

“These taste way better than they should,” she said, her mouth full.

“I know. It’s probably the adrenaline making us hungry. What should we do while we wait for the fire to heat up?”

She shrugged. “Nap?”

I glanced around, but honestly, there wasn’t much else to do. “Sure. Why not?”

If our rescuers couldn’t get here, then it stood to reason that the kidnapper couldn’t either. We’d be safe enough.

We polished off the rest of the cheese and crackers I’d prepared and climbed into the bottom bunk. Together, we created a nest of blankets and snuggled up, wrapped around each other as the snowstorm raged outside.

Slowly, the fire began to warm the cabin. I intended to get up and cook the pumpkin soup for lunch, but instead, I dozed off.

A sudden noise woke me sometime later. I lurched upright and hit my head on the underside of the top bunk. Wincing, I looked around for whatever had caused the sound, and realized that someone was speaking through the radio.

I struggled loose of the blankets and stumbled over to the counter.

“I’m here,” I said, snatching the radio up.

“Just wanted to let you know.” Once again, it was Connor. “Keith went out on his ATV to see if he’d have any chance of getting to you, and he found another set of tire tracks in the snow. One that didn’t come from either us or you. Someone else has tried to get to that cabin.”

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