Page 3 of Out of the Cold

“I see,” she said, her stomach sinking. Even in Florida, electric heat was ridiculously expensive if you used it all the time. She was going to have to deal with the woodstove.

He studied her before speaking. “Are you sure this is where you want to be?”

That look was back again. Like he owned the mountain, and she was an interloper. The worst part was she felt like one, too. She didn’t belong here, and he could tell.

“I’ve always wanted to vacation in the mountains,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’m looking forward to the peace and quiet.”

He was frowning again, unconvinced. Or maybe displeased that he was stuck with her.

“Well, you’ll get plenty of that.” He looked back at her little Honda Civic, at the boxes and suitcases piled nearly to the ceiling. “I’ll give you a hand with those.”

He was already opening her little sedan and hauling boxes out—ones she’d packed helter-skelter while still reeling from the loss of life as she knew it. Everything she owned was inside that vehicle. She hadn’t brought a ton with her when she’d moved west, and before this trip she’d sold anything that didn’t fit in her car. Most of the furniture in the apartment had been Mark’s.

Wanting to do something, she yanked a suitcase out of the trunk, only to stumble backwards when its weight slammed into her.

But instead of falling on her butt in the hard-packed dirt, she slammed into Gabriel’s enormous, muscled body.

His hands circled her waist as he set her on her feet. “I’ll get all this,” he muttered. His massive arm reached over and plucked the suitcase out of her hands. “Why don’t you wait inside where it’s warm?”

She hesitated, unsure if she should go along with his suggestion. Would he think even less of her if she let him do all the work?

Judging by the look on Gabriel’s face, he’d be happier if she stayed out of the way.

When she’d moved into her first apartment, her father and three older brothers had come by and taken care of everything. Lugged all the boxes in, put up curtain rods and pictures, repaired rickety stairs. They all knew it was a big deal. She was twenty-seven and had wanted to move for years, but the treatments she underwent for leukemia in high school had affected her for long afterward. It had been all she could do to take college courses part time.

Gabriel wasn’t helping her out of the kindness of his heart, but she wasn’t going to make herself look more foolish by insisting they work together. She followed him into the cabin and explored the bedrooms on the other side of the house while he brought in the rest of her things.

Her mother texted asking if she’d made it, and her friend Cara texted a photo of a hot guy wearing a tool belt and no shirt.Is this the caretaker?

She smiled, her dread lifting ever so slightly. Ever since Lucy told her there was a caretaker on the property, Cara had been sending photos like this. Lucy looked up as Gabriel brought more boxes in and set them on the floor. She was going to have to sneak a photo of him for Cara, but the last thing she needed right now was him catching her doing something that sketchy.

The real thing’s even hotter, but much grumpier,she wrote back.More later.

***

Gabe stacked the lastbox against the front wall and tested it to make sure it wouldn’t topple. “That’s everything.”

“Thank you.”

She stood there, gazing wide-eyed at her belongings, looking as lost as anyone he’d ever seen. She was still pale and breathing in shallow little pants, like she might faint for real this time. Maybe he should stay and help her sort things out.

No. He couldn’t do everything for her, no matter how vulnerable she seemed. She was going to have to get used to it up here.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, his hand on the door. He gave a last glance at the pile of boxes. “Maybe you should wait before you unpack everything.”

Her gaze went straight to him, piercing and fierce. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t think you’re going to like it here. You may as well save yourself the trouble of packing it all up again.”

“I suppose only enormous he-men are allowed to live here?”

“Plenty of women are comfortable in this kind of environment, but you obviously don’t have any experience with it.”

She turned her back on him, her slender body rigid with anger, and busied herself opening a box.

He gave a frustrated sigh. “Let me know if you need anything. You know where I am.”

He let himself out, shutting the door carefully behind him, and strode around the side of the house and across the bridge he’d recently repaired, muttering to himself. His bad mood only worsened as he stomped across the front porch of his cabin and through the front door. He stood there, nerves jangling with frustration—at her, at Len.

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