Page 63 of His One True Wish

Seeing Ethan made me wonder if this is what parents feel like when kids grow up. Blink and the years have gone by. If Ethan was a man, then I supposed I had grown up, too.

“When we saw your car buried in the snow out there, I hoped you were inside. It is colder than a witch’s tit,” Mason said.

I slipped my arms from around him.

“How did you get over here?” Axl asked. He leaned against the counter, arms crossed. I noticed his cheeks were flushed, and I hoped to God that we didn’t look like we’d just been fooling around, not that what I did was any of Mason’s business. I felt like Axl and I were two teenagers in our parents’ basement supposedly watching a movie, and we were caught with our hands down each other’s pants.

“Snowmobile,” Ethan said. “When Alfie and I were home last month on break, we fixed up that pair of busted snowmobiles that were parked in the hangar.”

“Nice work, buddy,” Axl said.

“I used the tools you gave me,” Ethan added. “You were right, we just needed a new hydraulic tube. It was pretty easy to switch out.”

I glanced at Axl with amusement. So Axl was serious about knowing Mason and his boys. Maybe all his talk about feeling at home in Smoke River wasn’t bullshit.

Axl noticed my gaze and shrugged. “It was nothing. You guys would have figured it out.”

“I was not expecting a hundred-year storm that would snow in all my cars,” Mason said. “I was lucky my sons had the snowmobiles ready to go, but I should have spent the money last quarter and gotten the snowcat going.”

“It’s fine,” Axl said. “I can still talk to the boys in the office and see if they are done with that rig in the Northwest. You want it, it’s yours.”

My gaze moved between Axl and Mason. Not only was it clear that they knew each other, but Axl was being helpful, and what company was he talking about? He’d told me he was a pilot and he liked the quiet and the open fields and an uncomplicated life.Watching him interact with Mason and Ethan, you’d think he was an integral member of the town of Smoke River.

“Ha ha,” Mason said, clapping his hands. He pointed to the ham radio. “Did you finally fix that?”

“Yeah, yeah, I did,” Axl, said, running a hand through his hair.

“Were you going to call me and let me know you all were safe?”

“We just got it working,” Axl said, clearing his throat. “We haven’t had consistent power for a while, and I needed an assist.”

I held my hands in the air. “Tiny fingers,” I said, waving them.

Ethan laughed.

“Your big-ass hands couldn’t work on the wires,” Mason said. “It’s lucky for you that Billie showed up to save you.”

“Yeah,” Axl said softly. He glanced at me. I couldn’t read his expression. Was he embarrassed, self-conscious? His moods seemed to shift based on a barometer that I couldn’t read. All I knew was that seeing Mason was another sign that things with Axl were changing. The cabin was no longer in a snowglobe, or perhaps the globe had grown large enough to include all of Smoke River.

My stomach felt warm and flip-floppy when I thought about leaving the safety of the cabin, the safety of Axl. Is that what it was, that I felt safe here with him? I was isolated, that was for damn sure, but there was an undercurrent of something in my heart, too. I felt at home.

Ethan walked across the kitchen to the sink. His eyes grazed across the kitchen table and chairs, and then they widened.

I froze. My white bra hung across the back of the chair like a garland. Ethan’s gaze passed over my undergarment and then dropped. I couldn’t tell if he’d seen it, but I still wanted to melt into the floor.

“So you two came out to rescue me then,” I said, my voice sounding too loud in my ears.

Ethan helped himself to water and handed Mason a glassful.

“I suppose so,” Mason said, taking a sip. “Thanks, son. We have a few people from town holed up at the bakery and some out-of-towners who were looking to get a flight out on Mountain Express.The pilots couldn’t even get to the airfield. This storm came in fast and hard; nobody is getting out. I’m just glad you are okay. Your mom knew that you had a phone issue, but she just needed me to confirm you’d made it to the cabin.”

“I made it,” I said, extending my arms. “Surprise.”

“Yes, surprise,” Mason said, his eyes moving between Axl and me.

“Wait, do you have a signal on your phone?” I asked. “I could call Mom … ”

“No luck,” Mason said. “Normally, I get a bar, but I think there is a tower that’s down. I was telling your gran before she … ”

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