Livvy bit back a curse when her alarm went off Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. It was pitch-dark outside, and when she’d gotten up in the middle of the night it had indeed been snowing. She pushed herself into a sitting position because she was in danger of falling back asleep.
Livvy regretted the loss of warmth about her shoulders immediately. She wanted to burrow back into her covers, but Slade would be here in thirty minutes. And if she cancelled on him, who knew when they’d next get together.
She closed her eyes, thinking of Slade. His easy laugh, his charming smile, his straight teeth, his green eyes, his doctorate degree.
Okay... She was getting out of bed.
Livvy threw off the covers in one motion, then swung her feet over the bed, where she’d strategically placed her slippers. She stepped into them, then grabbed her cozy robe from the end of the bed.
Her roommate, Mallory, had come home late last night—the girl was a serial-dater—so Livvy doubted Mallory would hear a thing as she got ready. But then Livvy paused. She didn’t want to shower before the hike, because surely she’d want to take a two-hour bath after just to thaw out.
Livvy dressed in layers, then pulled on her warmest boots, wishing she had some of those Uggs. Her double layer of socks would have to do. She put on a sweater and a coat, then pulled her hair back into a low ponytail so that she could fit a beanie on her head. She’d wait to put on the hat later so that she didn’t look too much like a wimp when Slade picked her up. He never seemed to get cold.
She made her way through the darkness of the house that she rented with Mallory and peered out the front window. The snow had tapered off, but there were at least two to three inches built up. Slade’s Land Rover pulled up then. He was ten minutes early, but Livvy didn’t wait for him to text or call; she opened the front door, then waved at him. She locked the door and walked carefully along the walkway, through the snow. If she was home before Mallory woke up, Livvy would shovel, but she didn’t have time for it now.
Slade got out of the car, and Livvy smiled. He looked like he’d stepped out of an L.L.Bean catalog, with his beanie matching his down coat. The ends of his light-brown hair showed at the edges of his beanie, and his green eyes were lively. He wore heavy boots that probably outweighed Livvy’s by twenty pounds.
“Hi, Liv,” Slade said, opening the passenger door for her.
Such a gentleman, although she was half hoping he’d kiss her. A quick peck would do. Or even on the cheek? Nothing.
“Good morning,” she said brightly. She slid into the leather seat. He’d turned on the seat warmers, so it was nice and toasty.
Without further ado, Slade shut her door and walked around to his side. It was okay that he hadn’t kissed her as a greeting. They weren’t at that point in their relationship yet. Although she was often confused about where they were in their relationship, she wasn’t about to have the talk. Besides, it was the twenty-first century, and she could be the one instigating the kissing. She sort of saw Slade kissing her as a sign of his interest in her.
Now she was being ridiculous. They’d been dating for months. And he kept asking her out. Slade climbed into the car and grinned at her. “Ready? It’s going to be so cool hiking through the first snowfall of the season.”
So... cool... pun intended? “Can’t wait,” Livvy said. Maybe he’d kiss her at the top of the ski resort while snowflakes twirled around them, and Slade would tell her that they needed to see each other more often and they should probably meet each other’s parents. He’d invite her for Thanksgiving with his family, and she’d charm them all by telling them of her work at the library. She’d be viewed as the sweetest small-town woman, who would make a perfect doctor’s wife.
“Liv? We’re here.”
She blinked and looked over at Slade. But he’d already opened his door and was grabbing stuff from the back. From the looks of it, he’d brought a CamelBak and some ski poles.
She opened her door and slid out. “Ski poles?”
He smiled, his green eyes crinkling at the corners. “Just to give us more speed going up and more traction coming down in case it doesn’t stop snowing.”
Speaking of snow—there was way more than three inches of snow in the Alpine Lodge parking lot, where Slade had stopped. She slid on her beanie, pulled on her gloves, then accepted the ski poles from Slade.
The sun hadn’t even come up, and Slade was all smiles. It wasn’t that Livvy hated early mornings. In theory, she wasn’t opposed to getting up extra early for something fun, but snow at 5:30 a.m. was a bit much. Even when it was accompanied by Mr. Dreamy Doc.
They set off, Livvy keeping up across the parking lot, past the lodge, and up the first slope. It was invigorating, really, and Livvy was barely breaking a sweat. In fact, she was plenty warm from the waist up. Her legs were cold, but not freezing, and her feet only sort of achy.
She ignored all that and focused on the gorgeous pines and the dusting of snow upon them, making everything look like a winter wonderland. They passed a row of cabins. Likely they had heaters and fireplaces, thick fleece blankets, and mugs just waiting for hot chocolate.
Livvy tore her gaze from the cozy cabins to focus on the slope they were climbing. “Wow, it’s really gorgeous,” she said as the first episode of breathlessness hit. She gulped in the cold air.
“Yeah, amazing, isn’t it?” Slade said. He went quiet again.
On the last hike, Livvy had learned that Slade didn’t like to talk much on the hikes. It was more of a Zen time for him, and she totally got that. But it was so quiet out here, and that was something remarkable to be noticed by a librarian.
They passed by another cabin, and a thin line of smoke was coming out of the chimney. Livvy couldn’t help the flash of envy she felt. Someone had a fire in their fireplace and was probably sipping cocoa or coffee and looking out their giant window, watching the snow float down. Their toes and feet and legs were warm.
Appreciate nature, Livvy, she thought to herself. It’s not that cold. She was shivering. And she couldn’t feel her feet. Did she still have a nose?
Then she nearly fell to the ground. “Ow! Ow! Ow!” she squealed. Pain gripped her left calf.
Slade whipped around. “What’s wrong?”
“My... leg,” she gasped. “A charley horse.” She couldn’t walk, couldn’t move.
“Flex your foot,” Slade said, hurrying back to her because he’d gotten about ten paces in front of her when she’d started to lag.
Slade grabbed her arm so that she could balance on her good leg.
“But won’t that hurt?” she said in a pitiful tone.
“Not as much as the charley horse.”
So Livvy held onto Slade as she flexed her left foot. The stretch made the ache ease, although it hurt to flex.
“Better?” Slade asked, looking down, his green eyes focused on her.
She sighed. “Better.” Then she put weight on her foot, and the pain returned, not so strong but deep. She winced.
“We can go back,” Slade said. “Your body temperature probably dropped too fast.”
Well, she hadn’t expected him to offer to cut the hike short, but the man was a doctor. Saving lives, healing sick people, and all that. “I don’t want you to miss your hike,” she said. “Maybe I can hang out at the lodge.”
A line formed between his brows. “Well, I was going to take you home, then come back up. I can still get my hike in, just delay it a little. But if you want to sit in the lodge instead, then it will save me time.”
Time. Everything in their relationship was about time. His time. Never hers.
“I’ll sit at the lodge,” she said, too irritated to say what she wanted to say. Besides, her calf was still sore.
“If you’re sure?” Slade said.
Livvy didn’t miss the hope in his eyes. She forced a smile even though it probably looked half-frozen.
Slade didn’t seem to mind her frozen smile. “Great. I’ll be about an hour and a half.”
“Okay, see you then.” Livvy hoped her voice sounded strong and confident. She stood for a moment, watching him hike away from her. He paused several paces later and turned and waved, sheer gratitude in his expression.
Livvy smiled her frozen smile and waved back.
Then she moved her cold, numb feet toward the row of cabins that were on the way to the lodge. The sun was beginning to rise, and soon it would warm her, right? The snow turned gold white, and Livvy squinted against the glare. When she arrived at the cabin they’d passed earlier, the smoke was still rising from the chimney. If she cut around the back of it, there was a straighter shot to the lodge. So she trudged through the new snow and arrived at the property line of the cabin, which was surrounded by a low river-rock wall.
Sitting on the wall, she decided to rest for a few moments, at least until the pain in her calf subsided. She should probably flex her foot again, so gingerly she started to flex. Another cramp seized her calf. “Ow! Ow!”
She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth together, letting the pain pass.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” a man said behind her.
Livvy screeched and nearly fell off the wall.
A strong hand grasped her arm, preventing her from falling into the snow. “Easy. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
That voice.
Livvy turned to look at the man. The lumberjack man. “You.”
He wore a dark-gray turtleneck that somehow made his eyes bluer. Same beard, same quirk of mouth like he was laughing at her, same broad shoulders, same boots... The jeans were darker, no holes this time.
“Me.” He was definitely holding back a laugh. “I can’t believe you’re sitting on my wall. It’s freezing out here.”
That phrase made Livvy shiver. “You’re telling me.”
He lifted his dark brows. “Do you live around here?”
“Not exactly,” she said. “I was on my way to the lodge when I got a charley horse.” Number two.
Lumberjack man sucked in a breath. “Ouch. I’m surprised you weren’t cursing up a storm.”
“I don’t curse.”
He chuckled. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head.
“Okay. I guess I can see that about you,” he said.
“What do you mean by that?”
Her question seemed to catch him off guard, because his expression sobered. Then he tilted his head, studying her. If he kept looking at her like that, her face was going to thaw out.
“You’re too sweet,” he said. “Like, June Cleaver sweet.”
Livvy narrowed her eyes, and the man only quirked his brows again as if challenging her. She didn’t know if this was a compliment or insult, but it was way too weird to be seeing lumberjack man twice in the same weekend... She didn’t even know his name. Livvy moved off the wall, gingerly putting weight on her left foot. Yep, her calf felt like it had a deep bruise, but she could walk as far as the lodge, then figure out how to thaw out her body.
She took the first step, testing, and sucked in her breath.
“Do you want a rice bag?” lumberjack man asked.
“A rice bag?”
“You know, a heated rice bag to ease the pain in your leg,” he said. “You could come inside my cabin too and warm up a little.”
She shot him a look that didn’t need to explain how she felt about that offer. Didn’t he have something better to do than watch her hobble around his cabin? He obviously wasn’t homeless—not in the least, by the looks of the gorgeous cabin.
Lumberjack man lifted his hands. “Or... I could heat the rice bag and bring it to you.”
“But wouldn’t it cool off too fast?” she said, and before he could answer she added, “I can make it to the lodge okay. Besides, Slade said that I need to keep flexing my foot. Work it out.”
“Slade?” he asked. “Is that your husband?”
The innocent yet knowing tone of his voice gave him away, and something fluttered in her stomach at the realization that maybe he’d noticed she didn’t wear a wedding ring. Right now, she was wearing gloves, so he had to have noticed at the library. “Slade’s my boyfriend.”
“And where is he now?”
Livvy didn’t like all these persistent questions. “He’s hiking. I was with him until my leg cramped.”
“He left you?” Lumberjack man looked up the slope, and Livvy sort of liked that he was incredulous about it.
She felt that way too but hadn’t admitted it to herself. “The lodge is just over there.”
He looked from the slope to the lodge, then back to her. “It’s not ‘just over there.’ It’s probably a half mile.”
“Not so far.”
He scoffed. “What time did you start hiking?”
“Five-thirty or so.” She swallowed.
“Before the sun came up? No wonder you’re freezing and cramping up.”
His voice was hard, and she wasn’t sure why he cared so much.
“Like I said, you can warm up at my place, or I’ll walk you to the lodge.”
“Uh, I’m sure you’re a perfectly nice guy.” Her sarcasm didn’t fool him. “But I prefer the lodge.”
He nodded, as if he wasn’t surprised at her answer. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
And before Livvy could respond, he strode off, his boots cutting through the snow. She probably shouldn’t be staring at him walking away, so she looked toward the slope. Maybe she should start walking; she didn’t know lumberjack man, except that he was kind of nosy and opinionated and well... bossy.
She was about to make the trek to the lodge on her own when he reemerged from the cabin. He’d pulled on a coat, and he carried a small, pillow-like thing.
As he approached, Livvy found that his direct gaze was disconcerting, as if he could see more into what she was telling him.
“I brought the rice bag,” he said, holding it up. “We’ll heat it in the lodge, since you don’t want to come into my perfectly warm cabin.”
She shoved her hands into her coat pockets. “Thanks, but why are you doing all this? I don’t even know your name.”
“Mason,” he said easily. “And you’re Olivia Harmon, right? Library director.”