Page 34 of Knotting With A Stranger

“Got completely turned around in the snow. Couldn’t see three feet in front of me. And I swear...” I shake my head, remembering how terrified I’d felt. “I swear there was a wolf following me. Could hear it padding through the snow, getting closer.”

“Was there really a wolf?”

“Never found out. But I climbed a tree so fast, I ripped my favorite jacket. Sat up there freezing my ass off, convinced I was going to die, when I heard this booming voice… ‘Boy, what the hell are you doing up there?’” I grin. “Hunter’s grandfather. And behind him, this gangly kid who was already taller than him. That was Hunter and the first time I met him.”

She laughs. “At least you have a good excuse for being stranded,” she says, shaking her head. “Last spring, my car died right outside of town during this massive thunderstorm. River was flooding, roads were washing out... and there I am, stuck on this little rise of land that’s getting smaller by the minute.”

“How’d you get out of that one?”

Her cheeks flush slightly. “Promise not to laugh?”

“Absolutely not.”

She rolls her eyes but continues. “The flood rescue team shows up in this big truck. Very heroic. Very dramatic. And I...” She covers her face. “I was so startled by their sirens that I slipped right off the hood of my car into the mud. Had to be fished out looking like some kind of swamp creature.”

The laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. “I thought you said it was a heroic rescue.”

“Oh, it was. Nothing more heroic than fishing a mud-covered girl out of a ditch while she’s cursing about her ruined shoes.” She laughs, too.

“See, this is why I stick to tree climbing. Much more dignified.”

“Yes, very dignified. The proper way to flee from imaginary wolves.”

Something in my chest loosens. When she smiles so freely and unguarded, it’s more captivating than any deliberate flirtation could be.

I lean closer, drawn by her warmth, her smile when I near.

That’s when her attention lifts to something behind me. Moving past me—the brush of her body against mine sending electricity through my veins—she stops in front of a photograph in the hall.

“That’s...” She reaches out, touching the glass. “I wanted to ask you or Hunter about this photo.”

I follow her gaze to the black-and-white image—two people outside an old-fashioned bakery. One is clearly Hunter’s grandfather, decades younger but with the same strong features. And the woman beside him...

“That’s my grandmother,” Lily whispers. “In front of the bakery. But why... how...” She turns to me. “Hunter’s grandfather... did he know her?”

My heart stops for a moment, and I shrug at the implication. “I... maybe. Could be.” My mind races through possibilities because what if… they’re related? “Fuck, it would be interesting to find out, wouldn’t it?”

“Interesting?” She studies my face. “That’s one word for it.”

The notion hangs heavy in the air between us. I want to tell her it doesn’t matter, that whatever connection might existbetween their families won’t affect whatI’mfeeling for her, but the words stick in my throat.

“You should probably check on that stew before it burns,” she finally says and retreats to her room.

As soon as her door closes, I head downstairs, taking the steps two at a time, my mind spinning. I need to talk to Hunter. I need to see if he knows anything.

The front door bursts open before I reach the bottom step. James stumbles in from the storm outside, clearly having just arrived at the cabin, covered in snow, his bulky shoulders made more imposing by the heavy winter gear. His face is pale with cold and frustration. He was due here an hour ago.

“The roads,” he gasps, collapsing against the wall. “They’re all blocked behind me. Ain’t anyone leaving the woods any time soon. Barely made it here.”

“Good, you got here then.”

He removes his boots, then shrugs off his coat.

I lift my head, calling out, “Hunter! Got a minute?”

Hunter emerges from a back room. “What’s up?”

“That photo upstairs, the one of your grandfather outside the old bakery? Who’s that woman with him? The one with all the curls?”

---