Page 60 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

Which was the closest to the cottage. I shook my head. Had I known that last night, I would’ve gone out on one myself and asked a couple of others to as well. We might’ve found more of the herd by utilizing both snowmobiles and trucks. Once this storm was over, it was time for me to clean house and hire a new group of cowboys.

I realized both Juni and Beau were looking at me as though they expected me to say something.

“I’ll check in with the crew, then come up to the house.”

“I almost forgot. Sam asked me to inform you the main residence has a generator. Given there’s more snow on the way, it might be a good idea for you to plan to spend the night there,” said Beau.

Not exactly where I envisioned cuddling Juni’s sweet body next to mine later, or even now, but it was for the best.

“Don’t stay out in the cold too long,” Juni said, walking over to me. “Right now, it’s negative ten, and it’s supposed to drop even more.”

“Bloody hell,” Beau muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Juni asked.

“I can’t very well take you up to the house without something like this.” He motioned to the full-body snowsuit he was wearing.

“Maybe there are some in the barn,” I suggested.

“Or there’s the one I left at the house. I’ll be right back.” He put on the helmet and walked out the door.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Juni asked.

“Staying at the main house?”

She nodded.

“The truth?” I asked.

“Please.”

I put my arms around her waist. “If I could spend every minute of the next few months alone with you, I would.”

She tried to hide it, but I felt her muscles tense. Why had I said months when what I really meant was every day for the rest of my life?

I dropped my arms from around her, took a couple of steps back, and scrubbed my face.The rest of my life?Jesus. Where had that come from?

“Juni, listen?—”

“I get it, Cord. You’re marking the days off on the calendar until you can return to Colorado.” She walked over to pick her jacket up from a peg near the door. Put it and her gloves and hat on, then stood near the window.

“It isn’t like that,” I said, standing next to her.

“No? If someone called and said you could go home right now, or as soon as the snow cleared, I bet you’d be on the first flight out. Wouldn’t you?”

“Probably, yeah, but not just because I’d want to leave. There’s a lot of shit goin’ on at the Roaring Fork right now. My brother’s in jail, and God knows what he’s gonna be charged with. He may even face a prisonsentence. In the meantime, the roughstock business he and I partner in is going to lose the little momentum we’ve managed to build. We may never be able to regain it, either.”

“I get it. You have a full life in Colorado.”

“And you have a full life here.”

We both heard the snowmobile pull up. When Beau came inside with snow gear, she removed her jacket, and he helped Juni into the suit, not me.

“See you later?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I responded when Juni walked out without saying a word.

17

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