Page 20 of The Healer

“The prodigal son returns.” She tucked in the gray tendrils escaping her bun. Pink splashed across her cheeks, and she was a little breathless.

“When will you come to your senses and marry me, Harriet?” He adored teasing her, and she loved his charm.

“Stuff that. Just glad you’re visiting, Rhys-my-boy.”

“Same.” He rocked on his heels while savoring the aromas of fresh baked bread and coffee. “Thought it high time I spent a few days with my bear.”

“True, the city can be restrictive.” She gestured to the bag he had dropped when he hugged her. “Cocoa or straight to bed?”

“Bed, please.” He hoisted his bag and crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him. “If I can put off speaking to Dane until after a night’s rest, that would be wonderful.”

He stomped up the stairs, trailing her. She opened a door and stepped aside, letting him slide past her. In dark blues and grays, the room had a masculine ambience, along with the massive television mounted to one wall.

“Sweet dreams, Rhys, and it’s wonderful to have you here.” She shut the door.

Silence settled upon him.

Unpacking his bag took minutes. He enjoyed a leisurely shower, leaving the en suite in his towel. Once he dried himself, he hung up the towel and sprawled naked on the bed, flipping through the available channels on the television. What he wanted was a movie, something old, or a comedy.

Not bothering to light a fire in the hearth, he climbed under the sheet. He texted Noah that he had arrived, and with his hands behind his head, stared at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted to memories of Callie, but Rhys shoved them aside, choosing to focus on the muted sports channel, instead.

He would leave Coedwig cured of his Callie obsession, or he wasn’t fit to be the Knight Ridge’s alpha.

Chapter Eight

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE

Whenthesoftflurriesbegan to fall, Ilona pulled over. White coated the land until it reached the shadowed forests about a mile out on either side of the road. Icing sugar capped the pine trees, and gray clouds churned, warning of a fresh batch of snow on its way. Warmth from the heater blasted her face and filled her with a false sense of comfort. If she stepped outside, she would remain toasty yet enjoy the crisp beauty of winter.

Opening the door should have altered her plans, but despite the slap of icy air burning her cheeks, she exited the car. Her foot sank into the snow. The pristine blanket was deeper than she expected. With a firm grip on the car door’s frame, she tugged herself up and out, only for her to stumble forward. Said foot didn’t budge. Crying out, she splayed out face first in the snow like a child with an urge to do a snow angel. There wasn’t a soul within miles to witness her antics. Despite her lodged foot, she grinned, biting into the snow while she waved her arms.

Laughter struck at her silliness.

White powder covered her from her jeans to her jacket. Cold seeped into her clothing, chilling the warm skin beneath. She had forgotten snow was crystallized water with a level of danger to it. Pushing herself onto her knees, she flipped onto her backside to scoop the snow away from her boot.

As snowflakes snuck between her collar and braids, she shivered. Her fingertips were burning, and with reason since her new gloves rested on the passenger seat. Whatever pinned her might cost her the boot because she wasn’t about to freeze to death to keep it.

As quickly as the flurries started, it stopped. Silence settled over the world. Peace saturated her. She raised her face to the patches of dark sky scattered with innumerable stars. The vise squeezing her chest eased, and for the first time since waking up in Amity, she could breathe and feel.

Emotions assaulted her, denial, grief, guilt, acceptance, hysteria. In and out, over and under until they merged into one roiling mass. She arched her back and screamed, cursed, sobbed with her tears plopping into the fresh snow. Thrashing like a toddler throwing a tantrum, she fluffed clouds of snow when she slapped the ground around her.

Drained, she stilled, staring into the distance at the blinding white snow, the dark trees, yet focusing on nothing. She didn’t know how long she lay there, but her chattering teeth drew her back to her situation. Undoing her boot laces was a struggle with her numb fingers, but she managed it, sliding her foot free. In one last attempt, she wrestled with the boot as the cold penetrated her sock.

Gathering all her strength, she wrapped her fingers around the leather and tugged. She flew backward, sprawling once more in the snow and without the boot. Determination gripped her. She crawled to the boot, but a gust of snow snagged her attention. Standing there, staring at her was a grizzly bear, not twenty yards away. Her heart leaped to choke her, and her limbs sank with fear slithering down her spine as cold as her fingers and nose.

“Move, Ilona.” But she didn’t. She just sat there.

The bear sniffed the air, proving it was real and not a figment of her imagination. With a squeal, she scrambled to her feet and dove through the gaping car door, shutting it behind her.

She righted herself, arranging her long limbs beneath her before scanning the surroundings, wiping her bangs off her face to do so. She couldn’t see the bear. Her mind must be playing tricks on her. Gripping the steering wheel, she fumbled for the wipers.

And yelped, thrusting her back into the chair. Ten yards away, the bear watched her from the verge, tilting its head with curiosity before sniffing her boot. A shiver racked her body. Her nose and cheeks burned.

As soon as she started the car, a gust of residual warm air hit her. She moaned. Another shiver tore through her. She couldn’t stay here all night, not for a boot, and she sure as hell wouldn’t try to get it again with a grizzly bear out there.

“Fuck it, damn snow, you can keep the boot.”

She started the engine, clenching her frozen fingers around the steering wheel before reversing the rental. Taking a wide berth, she crawled past the bear, her gaze fixed on it, watching for any indication it might charge. She released a long sigh, slumping her shoulders as she drove off, flicking glances at her rearview mirror showing the bear chewing on her boot.

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