Page 69 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
She shrugged. “They’re the best I’ve got.”
He grumbled something about buying her boots for her next visit, and she only just stopped herself from pointing out that her next visit wouldn’t be until June, when the baby came. She hoped she wouldn’t be needing snow boots in June.
“Here.” He tugged his own cap off and settled it over her hair with a rough pull. Next came a pair of thick leather gloves and a scarf that he wrapped around her head three times until only her eyes showed.
For a second, when he was done, he just stared down at her. A glint of amusement lit his gaze. “Can you breathe?”
She tried to nod but only managed to knock the cap into her eyes, making them both chuckle.
“Better get this over with,” she mumbled.
“Follow me.” He reached for her hand and tugged her along as he made his way up through the trees, over some fallen branches, and through thick layers of snow. He seemed to be trying to follow his own tracks from earlier, but it was still slow going.
She wished she could tug her hand from his and say, “I got it,” but the truth was he’d helped her keep her balance more than once. And his legs were longer than hers, so while he made climbing over fallen trunks look like a breeze, she was far less graceful.
Finally, when she was out of breath from the climb, he came to a stop. “This is it,” he said. “Your best bet for a couple bars.”
She tugged off the thick leather gloves and instantly regretted the lack of warmth as her fingers turned to ice. She fumbled with her phone, but soon enough, she’d brought up Jason’s number and hit the green Call button.
After a brief explanation, he included Marian in on the call. You know, just so he could torture her a little bit more. Her matter-of-fact story about a broken-down truck and a snowstorm was not going over too well.
“You’re… what?” Marian’s voice was so shrill, Dahlia flinched.
Turning her back on a silent, frowning JJ, she cleared her throat. “I’m afraid it couldn’t be helped—”
“I can’t believe this,” Jason muttered under his breath… but loudly enough for her to hear.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” she said. Her voice was getting all stilted and cold, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
She hated apologizing. But she hated it the most when she knew she wasn’t in the wrong. And right now? She was the one who should be pitied. She was trapped in a storm. Shouldn’t they be more concerned about her welfare?
“Whenwillyou be back, then?” Marian asked.
“Well, um… I need to call the airline and—”
Jason’s sigh cut her off. “Let me guess. You won’t be able to work from this cabin in the woods?”
She blinked in surprise. It almost sounded like… like he didn’t believe her.
Dahlia heard JJ shift behind her, and she couldn’t bring herself to face him. Out here in the quiet forest, with only the sound of wind, birds, and the occasional snapping twig to break the silence, the voices coming over the phone sounded like she had them on speaker even though she didn’t.
She took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that JJ was standing so close. “I finished the spreadsheets that were due for this week—”
“So you think you can just take off, then, or—”
“No!” she cut in quickly, interrupting Marian before she could go off on a tirade. “I just meant that all the urgent, time-sensitive work is done, so while I may fall a little behind by not being back tomorrow, I should be able to catch up quickly when I return.”
“You should? Hardly encouraging,” Jason muttered.
He was always muttering. Dahlia clenched her fists, her fingers aching with the cold. She far preferred Marian’s shrill anger to Jason’s muttering. She couldn’t argue when he wasn’t addressing her directly.
Coward.
She squeezed her eyes shut as Marian launched into a lecture about how she’d used up her vacation time.
Her company didn’t roll over unused time off, but for years she’d never taken a single day. It was only this year that she’d needed to travel, thanks to Rose suddenly fleeing out west.
She supposed she’d thought all those years of never taking a day off would be remembered. That all the years of coming in early and staying late would add up to something.
