Page 112 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
He knewwhohe wanted.
He took a deep breath as the sun sank lower. He loved it here. This town, these people, and this view. But none of that could fill his heart the way Dahlia had.
He’d choose a life of love and laughter over simple and uncomplicated any day.
Heck, he could live anywhere if it meant being with Dahlia. And if it really was just location keeping them apart, then he could be flexible.
He’d do whatever it took just to be with her.
And if that wasn’t love, if that wasn’t the basis for commitment… then he didn’t know what was.
As he tugged the reins and spurred Zion back toward the stables, he leaned over to talk to his stallion. “You gotta be good for Nash and the others while I’m gone, you hear? See, I’ve got a trip to make.”
The horse made a huffing sound.
“That’s right. I’m off to get my girl.”
39
The snow was worse in New York than Montana.
She gritted her teeth and ducked her head as she barreled through a wave of oncoming pedestrians on her way back from the deli where she’d taken a quick lunch.
One of the oncoming walkers brushed against her, jostling her. She bumped into the man on her right.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Look where you’re going,” he snapped.
She gripped the bag with her lunch as another snowflake hit her nose. It looked pretty coming down, but the instant the flakes touched the sidewalks and streets, they turned gray.
The piles of snow on the corners near the crosswalks were black in places and yellow in others. There was nothing beautiful about it.
And there you go again.
She snapped her brain out of comparison mode, something she’d had a bad habit of slipping into ever since her return nearly a month before.
The lack of silence, the crush of people, and now the dirty snow… It seemed some part of her, at least, was intent on holding the two places side by side.
Manhattan almost never came out the winner.
When she reached her office building’s lobby, she snagged one of the tables in the public atrium and pulled out her sandwich. While she nibbled on that, she called up Daisy.
It was all part of this new routine. She’d been working like a dog since her return—first playing catchup and then just because she couldn’t seem to stop. Work was grueling, but even being snapped at by her bosses was better than being home alone in her apartment.
And so she’d settled into a new routine. She got up and arrived at the office earlier than everyone else and called to check in on her sisters every other day during her lunch break. Daisy answered every other time; Rose always answered. She stayed late, always the last to leave the office, then went to the gym to run until she wore herself out.
Only then did she return home, make herself a simple dinner before falling into bed exhausted.
It’s not much of a life, she thought as she ate. The phone rang for the third time. But she was surviving. And maybe someday… maybe someday soon, even, she’d be able to make it through a single hour without wondering what JJ was doing or reminiscing about something he said or did back in that cabin.
She was just about to hang up when Daisy answered.
“Hey, D.” She sounded distracted, her voice lacking the bubbly joyfulness that was so uniquely hers.
“Hey, how are things?” Dahlia asked, then clamped her mouth shut before she could ask about the band again. Last time, Daisy had bitten her head off.
Clearly not a good topic.
