Zack stood behind her and placed his arms around her waist, pulling her gently against his body. She was warm, wrapped up cozily in her jacket and thick scarf, made by Gran.

“This is one of my favourite places to come,” he said. “Jake says that’s because it’s one of the easier walks, but I’ve found him up here by himself a few times.”

“You come here on your own?” she said. “Is that safe?”

He laughed into her hair, hair that was now wind tossed and messy. “I’m an experienced hill walker and climber and I know how to be safe. And I know the weather, which means we should start to head down. Those clouds over there,” he pointed over to where the sky looked as if night was visiting early. “They’re bringing thick snow. Don’t be surprised if we have about three or four inches overnight.”

“Then chaos will ensue,” she said. “No one will be able to drive anywhere.”

“You’re thinking of the city.” He kept holding her. “We’re a little more used to it in Severton. Jake will get supplies to you in the morning as normal, so don’t worry about anything.”

“You make it sound easy,” she said. “That road’s pretty steep, up to the manor. I have more guests arriving in the morning.”

His forearms crept up to just under the swell of her breasts and he kissed her cheek. “The road is well gritted. It has to be to get to Sunrise. When we have heavy snow, Jake or one of the team will get the tractor out with the plough.”

“Do you think it will be that heavy?” she asked. “I’ve never had a proper winter. Not since I was a kid.”

“Forecast is for minus ten or so in a week’s time with ongoing snow. My guess is that we’re in for an even colder Christmas.” He unwrapped his arms. They needed to set off. He was pretty sure that the fine flakes that had been teasing them for the past hour were about to put out.

“What about getting the kids up to the caves to see Santa?” Sorrell said, turning to him, looking worried.

“We’ll plough the roads to keep it clear. And bring the date forward—that’s why we brought the presents up today. Rayah mentioned something about bringing the primary kids up on Monday. I think the hospital may do a run up tomorrow for those that are well enough.”

“And for those who aren’t?”

They started the descent, the air around them suspiciously still.

“Santa goes to them. And volunteers will make a grotto there.”

She nodded, accepting his hand when they got to a particularly slippery bit of rock. He knew she would be able to manage it on her own, he was in no form of denial about how capable she was, but he wanted the excuse to touch her. Any excuse to touch her.

“I might see what I can do to help,” she said. “When things at the hotel have settled down I’ll see how they are for therapists.”

“You’re thinking of going back to do that?” he asked. She’d been adamant that she was in no position to return to her therapy work.

“It’ll be a few months away. If bookings continue as they have been doing, then I’ll be able to take someone on full-time, an assistant manager maybe. Then I could do one day a week,” she said. “I know what I said the other day, about being on the verge of burning out and I don’t think I could go back to working with looked after children, not for a good while, but I could do something in a school, or at the hospital.”

“See how things go. Don’t put pressure on yourself. If you want to test the water, you could always have Jake as a patient.” He tried to make her smile.

He succeeded. The landscape changed as they dropped into a wooded area, the sky darkening through the bare branches, crispy leaves crunching beneath their feet.

“How was it having a cousin the same age as you?” she said.

Zack laughed. He had never considered what it would be like to not have Jake. “It was great. It still is. He was a ready-made best friend.”

“Like another brother?”

“In some ways but not quite. We’ve never really fallen out or fought like I did with Scott and Alex. We only lived together when we were in our early twenties for a few months and apart from him being a scruffy bastard, we fit together like an old married couple who had separate bedrooms,” he said, making her laugh.

She took his hand even though the path was now gentle, an easier descent than that which they’d just overcome.

“I like Jake,” she said and for a moment he felt as if she was about to bust more than his ego. “He’s a good guy, even if he has more women than I have hot dinners.”

He exhaled deeply with relief. “I’d like to say he’s had some form of childhood trauma, but he had the ideal life as a kid. The worst thing that happened to him was being told he had to go to university when he just wanted to work on my dad’s farm.”

Sorrell paused as they left the small wood behind them. The snow was thickening, large flakes dancing down like enchanting fairies. “Did he benefit from going to uni?”

“The profits of condom makers went up,” Zack said.

Sorrell laughed, her eyes on the snow. “This snow is so different from what you get in the city.”

“There’s a lot to be said for the country.” He paused, considering his words and then deciding to cut to the chase. “Do you think you’ll stay here?”

She was quiet and he had that sinking feeling again.

“I do now,” she said.

He bit his lips together to stop himself from cheering. He didn’t want her to leave. She may have stolen his builders but he had given her part of his heart already.

“What’s changed?”

“I like this place and the hotel has gone better than I thought. Abby has been a godsend. The guests so far have nearly all been pleasant. I need to tell Jake that one of the alpacas keeps heading into the manor grounds,” she said. “I think it’s found a gap in the hedgerows. It isn’t a problem; I’m just bothered about how far it’s heading away from the farm.”

“Is it dark brown with slightly red eyes? A weirdly long neck even for an alpaca?” he said, suppressing a groan.

“That’s the one. How did you know?” She looked at him curiously.

Zack let out a weary and fucked-off sigh. “That’s Jessie. She thinks she’s a person. And if she was a person, she’d be up on charges for voyeurism. She keeps watching the residents through the windows.”

Sorrell started laughing. “A pervy alpaca! That’s brilliant. She should be Jake’s spirit animal!”

Zack laughed, deciding that it was a good time to tell Sorrell some of the horror stories involving Jake that had accumulated over the years. He also started to set a quicker pace, conscious of the conditions on the hillside worsening.

They had just reached the cave entrance when his phone beeped, the tone familiar. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the message.

“Shit,” he said.

“What is it?”

“Walking party on Halden Pike. They’re at the peak and have lost their bearings, or something’s gone wrong. Scott’s just seen a flare go off,” he said. He knew this meant their date would have to go on pause; he just wasn’t sure how long for.

“How do you know what’s happened?” she said.

“They logged the walk they were doing and left details, which suggests they’re experienced walkers who will have a compass. I’m going to have to help Scott.” He looked at her apologetically. “Unless Jake or one of the other team members can go.”

She shook her head. “Why don’t I walk back down to town and you can head straight to Scott?”

The car park was in sight. It was another twenty-minute walk to the town and the snow was worsening.

“I’ll drop you off at the King’s Arms,” he said, referring to the pub where he had planned on them getting dinner. “Or I can drop you at home?”

She shook her head. “The pub would be great. I have a book in my bag, so I’ll get a glass of wine while I wait. If I go back to the Manor, I’ll end up working.”

His phone pinged again. A message from Alex who was available to assist as well. Several of the other members of the team had responded also, but given that the walking party had just three people in it, Zack knew that he and his brothers would be enough, unless something had gone very wrong.

“I’ll drop you off and pick Alex up.”

He rang Alex as he started the car, giving him instructions to get to the King’s Arms with the dogs as soon as he could. Alex had a townhouse nearby, a neat, ordered townhouse that Zack and Jake liked to mess up while he was on shift or out of town with the dogs, just to see Alex’s reaction when he got home. They had, on one occasion, set up a camera so they could witness the pissed off fall-out when he saw the state of his lounge, but as Alex had brought a girl back, it had been minimal.

The resulting fodder with which to tease him had not been minimal, however.

By the time he had collected Alex and driven up to the closest possible point to where the flare had been spotted from, the snow was falling thicker and faster over the peaks. Zack kept a kit in his car at all times and Alex had brought his, which also contained an AED. They had managed to help a man having a heart attack during the summer just by having the right kit and by being fit enough to climb quickly.

“They left mobile numbers with Scott before they set off, but there’s no signal up there,” Zack said. They had started to jog quickly, knowing how to pace themselves but making sure that they had enough energy left to potentially carry someone down the peak.

“Scott’s phone is going straight to voicemail,” Alex said. “But that could be because it’s got no battery.”

“Dick,” Zack said. “He sets a good example, forgetting his radio too. Or they could be at Torn Cairn,” he said, knowing that was most likely. “If they’re near to that it’s a good shelter point.”

“And the helicopter can retrieve from there,” Alex said. “The sooner we get our own, the better.”

There was a sudden and sharp gust of wind that howled as if announcing its presence.

“Holy fuck,” Zack said. “Was this forecast?”

“Not for down there, but up here has its own climate. There’s another flare!” Alex pointed in the distance, in the direction of Torn Cairn, a huge pile of rocks that would’ve been left as a monument to someone who had died. A tomb.

Zack didn’t think about the prisoners the peaks had taken and had never given back. He didn’t think about what he would find when he reached the walkers. There was no reason to. He just needed to get there and deal.

This time he saw the flare, orange and smoke stealing through the blizzard. The wind had stayed wild after its first howl and he was glad Sorrell was warm and dry in the pub. She’d left him with a broad smile and he figured she’d be sitting by the fire with a glass of merlot and her book. The image warmed him. The promise of the rest of the night just made him hot.

He saw Scott first, probably because his brain was conditioned to always see his family first. His dark hair, tied back in a man bun that was fair game to have the piss taken out of and his trimmed beard. He was the mountain man. He was also the most skilled climber and knew the peaks as well as their father.

Zack knew he’d seen them, but there was no need to acknowledge it.

“Broken leg,” Scott informed them. “And hypothermia. We need to get him down the mountain.” He looked at Zack, expression grim. Zack figured it was a bad break.

The man sat with his back against the cairn, face pale, too pale. He was in shock and pain.

One of Alex’s dogs went straight to him, sitting down close, knowing that the man needed heat and probably comfort.

“This is Tim,” Scott said. “And his mate, Paul. Their other friend headed home this morning with flu.”

“What’s the plan?” Alex said after giving Tim a pat on the shoulder, crouching down next to him.

“We need to get him down. The ‘copter won’t come out in this. It’s going to get worse as well. Jake and Lewis are on the way up, plus the two who have just come on shift.”

That gave them seven people to get Tim down. They would get him on a Split Thomas stretcher and take him down the peak. In the meantime, it was a case of keeping him and his friend calm.

“We shouldn’t have set off,” Paul said. He was in his fifties, probably about the same age as Zack’s dad with enough of a belly to suggest he didn’t do this that often. “We knew the forecast but wanted to walk, so we chose this peak, thinking we’d be in the pub by the time the snow started. Then Tim went over on his ankle and…” He gestured to his friend who looked as if he was about to vomit with the pain.

“These things happen,” Zack said. “You were prepared though.” He’d seen flares at least.

Paul nodded. “Compass, map, supplies. We used to hike a lot. We wouldn’t want to be the idiots who call you out because we got lost. I tried to help him move but he was a dead weight.”

“And you could’ve done more damage,” Alex said.

Tom was drifting in and out of consciousness, becoming only a little more lucid as they put him inside a casualty bag to try to keep him warm. Moving him risked causing him more pain with his leg, not getting him warm increased the risk of hypothermia.

“Pint in the pub when we’re done?” Scott said. “I’m not working tonight.”

Zack felt his chest sink. It was tradition, after they’d been out they’d all head to the pub for at least one. The only members of the team to get a pass were those still on call and those with small children. “Sorrell’s waiting for me in the King’s,” he said, knowing there was no point at all in hiding his plans.

There was a wicked grin on his brother’s face, one that was identical to the wicked grin he had, but before Scott could say anything voices could be heard just above the wind. They were on the way down. The rest of today’s team were there.

It was another two hours before Zack entered the pub looking for Sorrell. He half thought she would’ve gotten fed up of waiting and headed back home, but he saw her dark red hair above one of the comfy chairs near the fire, her kindle in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other.

“Good book?”

She turned to give him a gentle grin that alleviated any fears he’d had.

“Excellent. Small American town known for its moonshine and residents that have hot sex. Just need the next in the series to be out yesterday,” she said. “It’s been blissful.”

He wasn’t sure what the appropriate response was. And now he was wondering what Sorrell’s definition of hot sex was and whether it was the same as his.

Fortunately, his brothers and the other members of the team hadn’t managed to make it into the pub yet, all leaving their cars on their drive ways as there was a possibility that not many people would be going places in the morning, given how much snow was falling.

“Do you still want to get some dinner here?” she said. “Or we can get take out?”

She was no longer bundled up in her winter clothes. The roaring fire had peeled them off her, leaving her dressed in a thin sweater and skinny jeans, her hair slightly mussed by the wind. The shape of her breasts, breasts that he dreamed about just before he went to sleep, were defined through the thin cotton and he really wanted to get them both the hell out of there and see what they could do to keep warm in her bed.

“Zacky!” Jake’s voice rang out sounding like the bells of doom. “Shall we join you?”

Please God no, he thought, managing to keep a smile on his face for appearances sake.

“If you want. You’ll need to pull up a few chairs though,” Zack said.

Alex and Scott appeared behind Jake, grinning like idiots who were on a day trip from a lunatic asylum.

“We’d better leave him to it. If we sit down there he’s going to have no chance with Sorrell,” Scott said.

“It’d put her out of her misery in the long term,” Alex added. “Leave it any later and it’d be like saying ‘let’s look at what you could’ve won’.”

“Either sit down with us or fuck off to your own table,” Zack said, fast losing patience. “Disappear and I’ll get a pint in for you all.”

There was a collective whooping. “He definitely wants us out of the way,” he heard Scott say.

“Enough to set the moths free… Look at that, Zack’s going to get his wallet out for the first time in months.”

Zack inhaled deeply and asked whichever god was on duty that evening to gift him the art of patience so he could stay out of prison for a little longer.

“I’ll add a shot of tequila for each of you too, if you go now,” he said.

Scott looked like he was about to die laughing. “It’s a deal. Have a good evening. Sorrell, when you decide to level up, you know where I am.”

She nodded, giving Scott a look that suggested he’d be next in line, right behind Charles Manson and Kim Jong Jung.

“Please do not judge me by my family. And that includes Rayah,” Zack added.

Sorrell shook her head. “They’re only doing what you would if it was Scott or Jake sitting here.”

He frowned. “Scott or Jake?”

“Okay,” she said. “That’s what you took from that? Sit down Zack. Get a drink and have a look at the menu. I’m hungry but I don’t want to be here all night. I can think of some other things I want to do.”

Her eyes glinted and her mouth twitched up in a wicked smile.

He wondered how quickly they could eat.

By the time they left the pub—after a couple more from the search and rescue team and Rayah with Jonny had been to interrupt them—the sky was a heavy black duvet, losing feathers of snow all over the place.

It had stuck and was building considerably. Tomorrow the children in the town would be able to build snowmen and a couple of official snowball matches would be arranged, one for the kids and another for the adults who were missing out on their fell runs and football games.

“Do you have a Christmas tree yet?” he said, trying not to smile at how she was struggling to walk in the snow. It was past the top of her boots and she hadn’t figured out yet that giving up trying to keep her jeans dry was the only solution.

“I’ve got three,” she said. “The sunroom, the lounge and the entrance hall. But I need one more for the dining hall, especially with having Christmas dinner there for everyone at Sunrise.” She gave him a smile and this time he stayed guilt-free.

Sorrell was trying to go the extra mile with Christmas dinner, although she was insistent that it wasn’t because she felt guilty for poaching his builders.

“You’ll need a real one,” he said. “It’s a huge room. I’ll get it for you tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to go to that trouble, Zack…”

“It isn’t trouble. I’ve been getting a Christmas tree for that room for years and I went to the same place every year. Jake and I are going for a couple for Sunrise and the farm tomorrow, so we’ll pick you one up.”

Her eyes narrowed and he wondered if she’d ever considered being a school-teacher as she had the glare down to perfection. “I assume you buy it from somewhere?” she said.

Zack shrugged. “Kind of. Why don’t you come and you can see for yourself?”

“Hmmmm,” she said. “If there are any illegal goings-on I’m not sure I want to be involved.”

This time he laughed. Sorrell wasn’t the type to steal traffic cones when drunk or streak naked through a park, not that things like that were up his street either. Jake had always been the rebel, unsurprisingly. Scott had rivalled him, but in a less obvious manner. Alex had always been the law abiding one and Rayah he wasn’t even going to think about.

“There aren’t, so you’re safe. Rayah will be there too. And maybe Keren—if Scott’s not there,” he said, opening the door for her to climb into his car.

“We’ll see,” she said. “I might be too tired.”

“What do you mean by that?” he teased, trying to sound innocent. “I’ll see you home, make sure you’re in all safe and sound in your cottage and then I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

He started the engine, hearing it purr with life and then whacked the heat up high. The temperature outside had dropped considerably, the wind adding a chill that would seep under your skin and into your bones. He had offered to help Jake on the farm in the morning, pack up the barns and do the animals’ waters. Zack knew Jake loved his job, his career really, but mornings like tomorrow would be hard. The animals would need the extra attention and the jobs would need to be done quickly. Heavy snow would need shifting, cows potentially moving to a different barn and there was always repair work. Then they’d be deciding on a field to host a snowball war.

“You don’t want coffee? Or a beer?”

Shit, she thought he was serious?

Zack turned to her and rested what he hoped was a warm hand on her cheek. Her skin was red with the cold, even from the short walk from the pub to the car. “Coffee’s good. A beer even better. Anything so I can stay awhile with you.”

Her eyes grew heavy and bright, shining with what he thought might be tears. It was still the date on which she should’ve been getting married. He’d not wanted to leave her while they were on their date, but he couldn’t say no to the call out. And they’d probably saved a man’s life by being able to get him out of the cold so quickly. The break wouldn’t have been the problem; it was the conditions and the shock.

“Are you just being nice to me because you feel sorry for me—that I should’ve been getting married today?” she said, shooting the words out like they were sour sweets.

He didn’t think of a sentence. Instead he leaned across the gear stick and moved his lips to hers.

The kiss was long and soft, not asking for anything, just giving. She tasted of the red wine she’d drunk and the apple crumble she’d had for pudding—sweet and rich. His hand moved from her face and rested on her leg, the other going to her waist.

She kissed him back, tentatively at first but then she started to relax. Her hands found him, seeking his skin and travelling under his coat.

A bang on the window pulled them apart.

Zack wound it down and saw Scott standing there, his hairy face grinning at him. He grabbed hold of the ends of his beard and tugged.

“Next time you fall asleep drunk, this thing will be gone,” he said.

Scott brought up a hand to protect his pride and joy and flinched backwards. “Just trying to make sure you didn’t have to wait half an hour for your car to de-steam. We’re getting the trees tomorrow?”

“You’ve not disturbed us to ask that, have you? It’s called a phone. You can use it to send a message. One that’s non-intrusive.” Zack started to put the window up, but Scott still had his hand there.

“Sorry, Sorrell,” Scott said, finally acknowledging the woman in the car. “Although the longer I’m here, the less time you have to put up with him trying to seduce you.”

Sorrell leaned over Zack to get a little closer to Scott’s face that still loomed into the car.

“Scott,” she said quietly.

“Yes,” Scott said, wriggling his eyebrows. “What can I do for you?”

“You can move so Zack can put up the window and we can leave. I have things to do. Like your brother.”

Zack wasn’t sure who was more shocked, him or Scott. The effect of her words, the surprise they caused, was like a magic cloth that wiped the smile off Scott’s face.

“I’ll let you go do my brother, then,” he said and backed away.

Sorrell’s smile became a smirk. “You want to get back to mine and we can carry on doing what we were doing before he interrupted.”

Zack said nothing. He just pressed the accelerator and headed off.