Page 58 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

Sawyer smiled when he recalled a professor who was giving them tips on focusing in class, trying to meditate, or doing anything else. The professor had said it was important to acknowledge when the mind wandered. Trying to force thoughts away would never work. Then, she had said, “Close your eyes. For the next thirty seconds, under no circumstances are you to think about pink elephants.”

Everyone had failed. Then, she told them to acknowledge that the pink elephants were there, and then focus on the task at hand.

Sawyer realized that he had been thinking about that class and pink elephants so much that he barely noticed he had finished splitting the logs.

He spent the rest of the day tending to Zaid and reading. Gwen helped with lunch and then spent time outside with Brent.

As much as I enjoy spending time with her, maybe a little bit of space is a good thing. It could help put our feelings in perspective.

Lucas and Sawyer sat with Zaid during dinner so that Emilia could eat in the dining room and take a little bit of a break. They talked about television shows, movies, and actors, avoiding any conversation about his leg.

An hour later, Audrey ran up to Sawyer in the library. “Have you seen Gwen?”

“No, why?” he asked.

“She told me that she needed to clear her mind and was stepping outside for a minute. No one has seen her for at least two hours.”

Sawyer’s heart dropped. He realized right then that a part of him would die if anything happened to her.

I fell in love with her.

24

C H A P T E R

Gwen

Gwen was standing by the window, staring outside. There was something about the dark night that drew her attention. Most people were afraid of the dark because they didn’t know what was hiding. Gwen always found magic in the darkness because a person is only limited by their imagination. There was no reality to block her vision. Wonderful, mysterious creatures could be playing in the darkness. A fairy could be playing with her friends the unicorn and dragon.

She smiled. This time on the mountain made her aware of how important it was to pursue some of her other dreams besides just being a teacher. She had always wanted to write books for middle school and high school kids, who were in the in-between stage of childhood and adulthood and were discovering their own identities.

The avalanche could have killed them all, but it didn’t. Gwen took it as a reminder of how important it was to live life fortoday. Her heart broke for Zaid, and she said another prayer that he would have a lot more days to fulfill his dreams.

Jerome walked beside her and stood, silent for a minute.

“What do you see?” he asked.

“A world full of possibilities,” she said.

“How’s that young fellow doing?” he asked.

“We don’t know. He’s got a bad infection. Sawyer is afraid that if help doesn’t come in the next day or two, we’ll have to figure out how to amputate the leg. He can’t risk letting the infection kill him.”

“Amputating the leg will kill him,” Jerome said.

“Maybe, maybe not, but it might be the only chance he has,” Gwen said.

“Sawyer is playing God.”

Gwen sighed.Here it comes,she thought. Aloud, she said, “No. He’s a doctor. Sawyer is doing the very best he can with the resources he has.”

“Those Johnsons are trouble. Trauma follows them around everywhere they go.”

“No, Dad, they aren’t. They didn’t cause your trouble or Kyles. You just need a scapegoat, and frankly, this conversation is getting a little redundant and old.”

“I know that you and he have been hanging out a lot and I saw you two kissing. Have you given any thought as to what is going to happen after we get off the mountain and go back to the real world? You’ll go back to teaching, he’ll go back to doctoring, and that will be that.”

“We’ve talked briefly about it. We figure that we’ll take it one step at a time.”

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