Page 62 of Snowbound with the Santas

I nod. “I’ve been sober five years, maybe a little longer. Well, Five years, seven months, to be exact.” I huff out a soft laugh. “So I understand. We do what we can to fix things.”

Nick nods slowly, then he leans in and kisses me sweetly. “I’m proud of you. Five years is immense.”

I smile into the kiss, and yet the strawberry sours on my tongue. It is an immense time.

But would he still be proud of me if he knew my life-altering moment was taking a life?

23

RAYNE

Ispend the entire next day with Archer.

Unable to sleep, I’d been restless with thoughts of my turbulent past. Facing down the prospect that I was rapidly falling for these men and that they adored me in turn, I had to consider one terrible, daunting fact.

Ashton would run his mouth the second he found out.

The alternative is that I tell them first. While pacing the kitchen, playing out those conversations in my mind, Archer came across me. Rather than asking me what was wrong, he invited me out for the day. I said yes on a whim, thinking that being out in the snow would help clear my mind and distract me from my thoughts.

We left early, and Archer took me out in the truck.

It pains me to see how easy driving in the snow is now. It means that any day now, the call will come through that the hiking trail down the mountain is safe, and then they’ll return me to the ski lodge. The thought twists my gut into knots, and not even a flask of Archer’s tea can ease them. He drives a little way down the mountain in his truck until the path narrows, and then we have to walk the rest of the way.

He takes me through the forest toward a rushing river that weaves between trees and rocks. I contemplate whether it’s connected to the water pool Nick took me to yesterday, but those thoughts don’t have a chance to linger as Archer puts me to work.

We check all the fishing nets and traps, and luckily, we find quite a few fish. Archer takes care of killing them humanely, then he shows me how to pack them into the coolers with snow on the back of the truck. It’s tiring work, but there’s something thrilling about knowing I’m having a hand in what we’ll be eating. Archer then leaves to go and check the hunting traps, something I definitely don’t have the stomach for.

I spend the rest of the morning packing in the fish and making sure all of the coolers are securely attached to the truck. When Archer returns, he makes me sit in the truck while he loads up the rabbit that he caught in the trap. It’s sad to think about it, but I understand the need for hunting when this far up the mountain. And they only hunted for necessity.

“We need to make one more stop,” Archer says as he pulls off his gloves and tosses them into the truck. “Come on.”

“Both of us?” I ask, hopping down from the seat.

“Yup.”

“And it’s okay to leave the truck here?”

He shoots me a stern look. “Who the fuck is gonna steal it?”

“I don’t know,” I bite back, bristling slightly. “What if we get lost?”

“We won’t get lost.”

“How do you know?”

He glances at me once more. “We won’t get lost.”

Rolling my eyes, I have no choice but to follow him, so I settle into walking behind him, placing my steps into his steps as he strides through the snow with purpose. We walk for ten or so minutes and approach a dark cave surrounded by trees so thickthat it almost feels like the edge of the world. Archer ducks down and is about to head inside when I catch the back of his coat.

“Wait…”

“What?” He pauses and glances over his shoulder at me.

“We’re going in there?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s so… dark.”

---