Page 43 of Christmas Secrets

“The runners are stuck under the ice.”

Ben could see the snowmobiles getting larger and hear their high-pitched whine indicating they were running at full speed. His arms were starting to get a bit shaky by the time they finally arrived. It seemed like forever but in fact it had only been about 10 minutes or so. And then they were there and Darro and Bubs jumped off.

“Hold on, lads,” Darro thundered and Ben knew he was assessing the situation and deciding what to do. When the whir of a rope whizzed past him and his dad, he watched as the large loop settled over the handle bars of the snowmobile. Then another landed above that one.

“Bubs and I are tied off to our snowmobiles and are going to start backing up. Angus, ye and Ben let go and get out of there when I give ye the go ahead. I don’t want that machine suddenly pulling out and running right over ye.”

“Aye, boss,” Angus yelled over his shoulder. “Just say when.”

The engine pitch on the two big Artic Cats accelerated and they all watched as the Polaris started slowly moving forward. The ice cracked under its belly as it inched through it like an ice-breaker ship clearing the Artic Sea. Then it began an upward slide.

“Now, Angus,” Darro yelled.

Ben and Angus dropped the rope and ran towards Dottie and Poppy. Ice chunks flipped up behind the Polaris and landed in swirling dervishes across the surface of the snow.

They all stood back as steady pressure from Darro and Bubs slowly pulled the Polaris forward until it was off the loch and on firm ground.

***

Dottie was feelingfaint from shock and relief. “I can’t ride it, can I?” she asked in a wobbly voice as they all walked over to inspect it. Now that the danger was past, she could feel disapproval washing off Ben in waves. To put it mildly, he was furious.

Darro shook his head. “Nay, the runners in the back busted away from the mainframe from the ice when it came up. They will need to be replaced. From the smell of petrol, the fuel tank may be compromised as well. I’ll have Joe bring a truck around and we’ll load it up. Where do ye want it? Neamh or Thistlewind?” He punched a text message in his phone and then dropped it back in his pocket.

Ben nodded to Darro. “Take it to Thistlewind, please,” he growled. “I’ll work on it when I have some spare time.”

Darro glanced at the scratches on Dottie’s face. “Are ye two all right? I take it ye bailed when ye hit the ice?”

“Aye. Dottie went left instead of right in her hurry to beat Dad to Neamh,” he replied with a smoldering glance towards her.

Dottie could feel the pink stealing into her cheeks. “I didn’t hear ye say that,” she protested.

“If ye’d listened to the rest of my instructions instead of gunning the snowmobile, ye would have heard it,” Ben snapped.

Darro glanced between Ben and Dottie, and then back toward Neamh. “Here comes Joe now. Why don’t ye and Dottie take Bub’s snowmobile up to the house and he can wait here fer Joe. I’ve already sent fer Doc MacCandish to check ye both over.”

Evan MacCandish was Whipcord’s brother and Darro’s uncle. Doc had preferred medicine to sheep and had left Neamh to seek his own path when he and Whipcord were young men. Whipcord had stayed with Neamh.

“That’s not necessary,” Dottie protested.

Ben shot her a warning look. “It is necessary, ye took quite a tumble, Dottie. Ye need to be checked over.”

Dottie opened her mouth then closed it again and nibbled on her thumb through her glove. Now would not be a good time to argue. She walked meekly with Ben to Bub’s snowmobile and climbed on behind him. Her hips signaled the fall she had taken with a few sharp pains here and there. A headache was beginning to form and her neck and shoulders felt tight and tense.

She laid her face against Ben’s broad back as he took off and tried to remember what he’d said. After she asked him if it was a clear shot, he’d said aye. Frowning, she suddenly remembered he had said something else but it was lost in the noise of the rpms as the engine accelerated. She’d taken him at the‘aye’and that was it.

Oh. My. Gawd. She was in trouble. Again.

***

Several hours later, Dottie was home and trying to relax beneath a hot shower. They had gone on to Neamh after the accident and Doc MacCandish had given her a clean bill of health with a caution to take it easy for a few days. They had also eaten some holiday leftovers with everyone there. Finally, Poppy and Angus had gone home by snowmobile and Ben had borrowed one of Neamh’s trucks to bring them home. Now here she was, stalling getting out because she knew what was coming. Ben had warned her on the way home that she would be getting a spanking for ignoring his instructions. Nibbling on her thumb and pouting hadn’t done anything to change his mind either. When had her easy-going husband became so implacable?

She sighed. Going over Ben’s lap for a hard spanking wasn’t the way she wanted to end Christmas day. There was one more surprise she’d kept in store for him and a paddling would put a huge damper on it.

When the shower door suddenly opened and Ben stepped inside, she stared mutely up at him. His handsome face was stern as he stared back down at her. “Stalling, Dottie?”

She didn’t answer, she just nodded slightly like the coward she was.

“Then let’s just get this over with.” He took the bath brush from its hook on the wall and slapped it against his hand.

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