Page 56 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

“Asher, thank goodnessyoupicked up,” Lucy shot back, her voice tight and a little breathless. “Everyone else seems to be ignoring me. I just got back into town. Roads are a disaster. I’m stuck at the inn. What the hell is going on up there?”

I blew out a breath, glancing at the window. The snow was still coming down in slow, lazy sheets, like it had nowhere else tobe. “Yeah, we haven’t really had much time to sort out your cabin yet.”

Lucy went quiet for half a second. I could practically hear her jaw clench through the phone.

Then, a sharp exhale. “Okay. Fine. I’ll stay at the inn. Figure it out tomorrow.”

That was Lucy. Five seconds of panic, then pure steel.

She cleared her throat. “How’s Riley? Is she okay? Is she,” Her voice softened, the best-friend worry creeping in. “Is she handling the isolation?”

“She’s okay,” I said quietly. “Better than okay, honestly. But yeah, this is hitting her. No camera, no followers, no filters. Just us. It’s a bit of a reality check.”

Lucy was silent for a long beat.

“Lu,” I added, gentler now, “you don’t need to worry. We’ve been looking after her.”

“I know, I know.”

When I hung up, I stood there for a second, phone still in my hand, coffee forgotten.

Lucy was back in Medford.

Stranded.

And knowing Lucy, she was probably already planning to commandeer a snowmobile or ride a damn moose up the mountain to check on Riley herself.

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a low whistle.

Yeah. We needed to get ahead of this.

I padded down the hall, knocking on Garrett’s door first.

“Up.”

A grunt from inside. Footsteps. Then Garrett opened the door, shirtless, hair damp, already halfway into his boots like he’d sensed me coming.

“What?”

“Lucy’s back. Stuck at the Medford Inn. She’sveryworried about Riley, and obviously we haven’t had a chance to sort out the flood at her place.”

Garrett’s jaw tightened. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

I smirked. “Probably. But you say it first so I can decide if you’re the responsible one or the idiot today.”

He gave me that flat, no-bullshit stare. “We get on ittoday.”

“Damn,” I muttered. “Responsible. Yeah, you’re right. Lucy needs her home back.”

Down the hall, Beckett leaned in the doorway, arms folded. “We going now?”

I clapped my hands once. “Let’s go be heroes, gentlemen.”

The drive to Lucy’s cabin wasn’t long, but it felt heavier than usual.

There was so much we weren’t saying. Mostly,how do we tell Lucy about last night?

It was easy to forget about it in the heat of the moment, but reality really had hit now.

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