Page 7 of Shadows of You

Something about the gesture tugged at a place deep in my chest. I bit the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the sensation. Grabbing my medical kit, I made my way over to the fallen deer.

“It looks bad,” the woman whispered.

She wasn’t wrong. The old, rusted tomato cage had cut into the doe’s flesh, and the injuries looked infected. “These cages are a recipe for disaster. Deer stick their heads in, trying to get the tomatoes, and they get stuck.”

The redhead worried a spot on the inside of her mouth, making her cheek pucker. “I never thought about that.”

“Most people don’t.” I grabbed a pair of wire cutters from my kit, quickly freeing the doe from the cage. The wounds looked angry. “I need to get her some real medical care.”

I looked at the road. I didn’t want to take her into town. The ride would be too long.

“I’ve got a barn she can stay in.”

I glanced back at the woman, arching a brow in question.

“I take in injured animals sometimes. One more won’t be a problem.”

Of course, she did. A bleeding heart, through and through. “You’d need high walls so she doesn’t try to jump out.”

“I’ve got a stall like that. It’s not a problem.”

I searched out her property. I could just see the barn in the distance. Even from here, I could tell it needed some serious work. I cursed. “Fine. Stay here.”

“You could saythank you,” she muttered.

I moved back to my snowmobile and grabbed the stretcher. It only took a minute, but when I returned, the woman was shaking.

“You need a better coat.”

She sighed. “My coat is fine.”

“You’re shivering.”

“I don’t usually make a habit of sitting in the snow.”

She needed a coat made for this climate, not one with little decorative stars on the sleeves.

“Can you help me roll her so we can get the board under her?”

The woman nodded. “Aspen.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Aspen.”

I simply grunted in response. I didn’t want to know her name. I already knew too much.

She muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t make out.

“On three. One, two, three.”

We shifted the deer and slid the board into place. It didn’t take long to strap her down. I hurriedly backed my snowmobile up to the site and connected the stretcher.

I glanced at Aspen. “Get on.”

Her eyes went wide. “With you?”

“You want to walk all the way back?”

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