Page 18 of Cameron

“Cameron,” a soft female voice called. It was Samantha.

For the love of God, her brother had let her come out to find him, not himself. Was he crazy sending his sister out here?

“Samantha,” he called and his horse trotted toward her a little faster.

“I thought Edward would return for me,” he said when he reached her side. She was covered in snow and he probably looked just as bad.

A frown crossed her face. “We’ve got to get out of the storm. It’s worse than I expected. There is a line shack about a ten-minute ride from here. It’s in the opposite direction of the house, but it will take us hours to get back to the inn, if we don’t get lost.”

Already he feared frostbite. They didn’t have hours. “Let’s go.”

Once they reached the shack, what would they do? How long did storms like this last?

He wasn’t going to think about that right now when he couldn’t see in front of his face. His horse was about as close to Samantha’s as she could get. He hoped and prayed that their shelter had a place for the horses or they would be bringing them inside.

Finally after what seemed like forever, but was only about ten minutes, he saw a dark spot through all the swirling snowflakes. It must be the line shack.

When Samantha swung her leg over her horse, she dropped and the snow came up over her knees.

That meant they had received at least six inches in the last hour.

She turned to him and screamed into the wind. “Come on, we can put the horses in a shed around back.”

Thank goodness the animals wouldn’t be out in the cold.

Stepping down off his horse, he wished he’d worn different boots. These were going to quickly fill with snow.

Taking the reins, he led the horses around the back of the little building to a barn that would protect them from the elements.

Unstrapping the cinch, he watched as she removed the saddle. Obviously they were going to be here awhile. Reaching beneath the horse, he undid the straps and then removed the saddle. He carried it to where Samantha had set hers down and laid it on a railing. She stepped back into him then startled and turned right into his chest.

“Oh,” she said gazing up at him.

Warmth filled him as he stared into her large brown eyes.

“Why did you come after me? The wedding is the day after tomorrow.”

She tensed and he figured she was angry at her brother.

“Because I knew you were in trouble,” she said. “Edward should have stayed with you.”

Did he tell her about the phone call? Whoever had been on the line, had not been happy.

“He received an urgent call,” he said. “I was just going to ride up to the bluff and then head back. But the storm hit and covered the tracks.”

They were close enough that he smelled the sweet scent of lilacs that drifted from her. Gazing down at her full lips, he wanted to pull her to him and kiss her hard. If she hadn’t come for him, he’d still be out there hoping and praying the mare knew the way home.

Her pink tongue swept across her lips and she stepped back. “Come on, the horses have feed and water. Let’s go to the house and start a fire and get warm.”

A fire? Like the one smoldering between them? One that would soon be a raging inferno if he touched her again.

Following her outside into the cold, they walked around the side of the building, holding onto it, so they didn’t lose their way. When they reached the front door, she pushed it open.

The wind pushed him inside. Though it was only afternoon, already the skies were growing dark. With sudden insight, herealized they were not going anywhere until this storm ceased and he doubted that would happen before tomorrow morning.

A quick glance around the one-room building and he knew it was going to be an intimate evening.

“The bathroom is behind that door,” she said pointing to what looked like a closet. “The only shower is outside and I don’t think that one is going to work very well right now.”

---