Page 64 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

Her father growled loudly. “You go right ahead and I’ll disown you. You will no longer be my daughter. Do I make myself clear?”

No one spoke another word during the entire drive back to her apartment. She got out of the vehicle, quickly unloaded her belongings, hugged Brent and her mother, and went inside. Before she did anything else, she went next door and knocked.

“Hey, Brenda, I came for Mochi,” Gwen said when her neighbor opened the door.

Brenda, an older woman with gray hair, hugged her tightly. “I heard about the avalanche. I was praying that you were okay. I’m so glad to see that you made it home.”

“It was a little harrowing, that’s for sure. So much happened and sometime soon, I’ll make dinner and tell you all about it. There were actually two avalanches, we had a guy break his leg and get an infection, and both Brent and I managed to get lost. I also had the chance to eat snowshoe hair and ptarmigan for dinner because the resort was running low on food. The generator ran out of gasoline, so the only heat we had was from the fireplaces.”

“That sounds very harrowing,” Brenda said.

“It was stressful, to say the least. But everyone was wonderful. People pitched in to help out in the kitchen, to cut wood, and do other chores when needed.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about it.”

“Soon, I promise. Right now, though, I just want to take a shower for more than five minutes in hot water, change into comfortable clothes, order a pizza, and enjoy not being in the same room as twenty other people.”

“That sounds like a good plan. You just bring this baby back anytime you need me to watch her. She and Spooky got along great.”

Gwen shut and locked the door behind her and plopped down on the couch holding her long-haired kitty.

“I missed you so much, Mochi. Did you have fun with Brenda and Spooky?”

“Meow.”

The gray cat stared into Gwen’s face as though she was reading Gwen’s thoughts. Then, Mochi purred and rubbed her face against Gwen’s. The simple action made Gwen burst into tears. The entire trip had been incredibly overwhelming. There hadn’t been time to deal with her own fears. Now, she had a whole new problem to deal with -- a broken heart.

Gwen knew, that as long as she lived, she would never love another man the way that she loved Sawyer, and she knew that she would never settle for less than what her soul craved.

“I guess it’s just you and me, Mochi,” she whispered into the cat’s fur.

27

C H A P T E R

Sawyer

After Lucas dropped Sawyer off at his house, “Estes Park is still another three hours away. Why don’t you stay the night and leave first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m ready to be home. I can’t wait for a shower, clean clothes, and my own bed.”

“I completely understand. I don’t mean to sound like your mom, but it has been a long day. Send me a text when you get home. Don’t call unless there is an emergency, because I’ll likely be passed out by the time you get there.”

“Will do,” Lucas said. He was gone before Sawyer even got into his house.

Sawyer stepped inside and let out a deep breath. The silence felt odd after so many weeks of noise and people around constantly. He thought about picking up his dog right away, but he was exhausted. He would just pick him up tomorrow. Plus,he didn’t want to answer all the questions everyone was sure to have.

The first thing he did, after shoving his clothes into the washing machine, was take a shower, letting the water get as hot as he could stand it. He washed his hair, scrubbed his body, and just stood there, letting the water cascade over his body. Sawyer moaned as the hot water massaged his aching muscles. Between shoveling snow, chopping wood, and going on snowshoeing trips, he was tired and sore. The only reason he decided to get out after half an hour was that the hot water had become lukewarm.

He looked in the mirror and thought about shaving.

“I actually kind of like the look of having a mustache and small beard going on. It gives me a rugged look, although I won’t go as far as having the Grizzly Adams look,” he laughed.

After he was dressed in a pair of sweats and an old T-shirt, he padded barefoot into the kitchen. His fridge was almost empty except for a six-pack of beer. He didn’t feel like cooking, anyway.

“Chinese, pizza, or Mexican?”

He flipped through DoorDash’s website and checked out the menus in a few places. Sawyer laughed when he saw that one restaurant offered hearty beef stew.

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