Page 6 of Snowed In with Three Mountain Men

It’s only then that I realize Callum has been standing away from us this whole time, staring down at this woman. And sure, she’s pretty, I guess, but this isn’t exactly the time to be thinking about that.

“Callum, what the hell is wrong with you?” I demand. He shakes his head slowly, as though he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

“That’s…that’s…”

He swallows hard, and shines the light on her face once more.

“I know her.”

“You know her?” I exclaim, straightening up, as Dax eases her out of the car and into his arms properly.

“Yeah,” Callum mutters. His voice is so low I can hardly hear it over the howling wind, but I can tell by the look on his face that he is not screwing around. He wouldn’t fuck about, not with something like this, and judging by the way he’s looking at this girl…

He’s not exactly pleased to see her.

“What the fuck are you talking about, you know her?” Dax demands, his voice rising with irritation.

“I just do.”

“You know her from before? Or you’ve been seeing her since we’ve been here?” Dax presses. His voice betrays a hint of worry—he doesn’t like the thought that one of us might have had a life outside this place, not when we vowed to make a home for ourselves together.

“From before,” Callum replies. His voice is dazed, distant—it doesn’t sound like he knows how to respond, the shock getting the better of him.

“How long before?” Dax continues.

“Guys, we don’t have time for this,” I warn them. “We need to?—”

“No, we need to talk about this!” Dax cuts me off. “What the hell is she doing here? Is she looking for you?”

“No,” Callum shoots back at once. “I don’t know. Shit, I?—”

“Does she know about the cabin?” I ask him. He glances over at me with an expression I recognize at once.

“She knows about the cabin,” I groan. “How does she?—”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s complicated.”

“Why is she back, then?” Dax asks. “You think she was looking for you when she got into this accident?”

“What, you think she was coming here to marry you?” I manage to crack a joke, waving a hand at her wedding dress. But Callum doesn’t laugh. Neither of them do.

“What if someone sent her here to find out what we’re doing?” Dax asks. “We can’t make it this easy for her?—”

“Dax, nobody gives a fuck what we’re doing up here,” I remind him, keeping my voice as patient as I can. “It’s not illegal. We’re not hurting anyone. They don’t need to know what’s?—”

“Yeah, that’s what they want you to think,” he replies, a flash of paranoia in his eyes. “But they don’t like that we’re out here. That we?—”

“They don’t give a damn,” I snap back, impatient. I know it’s not fair of me to speak to him like this—I know all too well the shit he’s been through that’s made him fearful, and it’s not like he doesn’t have a point—but out here, in the cold, the last thing we need is to let our panic get the better of us.

“Callum, is there any way she could be a threat to us?” I demand, turning my attention to him instead. Callum is still staring down at her, his eyes wide, like he’s seen a ghost. And if she’s from his past…then I guess he has. Because that part of our lives exists only as a phantom.

“No,” he murmurs, after a long pause. “No, she couldn’t. She would never…”

“That’s all I need to hear,” I reply, and I jerk my head back in the direction of the cabin. “We need to get out of this snow, and fast. Dax, get moving. You need a hand with her?”

Dax hits me with a death stare, but I ignore it. He can tear chunks out of me all he wants once we’re back in the safety of the cabin, but for the time being, it doesn’t bother me.

“No, I can handle her,” he mutters, hefting her up into his arms again. I pull the veil down over her face—it’s not much, but it’s the only protection she has from the cold. And besides, the way Callum is staring at her, I think it’s for the best to cover her face.

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