Beau was starting to get concerned. Alyssa should have been back over an hour ago and a damn spring storm had just blown in and it was snowing like hell. He’d sent her a couple of texts but got no response. If she was busy with one of the cattle that would make sense; she wouldn’t stop to answer a text. He tried to call, but it went straight to voice mail—not a good sign. Maybe she was on the phone and would call him back.

His Spidey sense was tingling though, so he didn’t want to wait. She wasn’t from Colorado and she’d said they didn’t get much snow in the Chelan area due to the lake keeping the area warmer. In the mountains of Colorado, a spring storm like this could dump a couple of feet of snow. It could kill visibility and hide dangerous objects like rocks and downed trees.

He decided to go out to the bunk house to see if one of the hands that had been out at the same time had any information. It wasn’t easy to even get that far with the blowing snow. When he entered the building, his brothers and several of the ranch hands were having a rousing poker game. Other than checking out the birthing barn, there wasn’t much they could do in the whiteout conditions. The cattle in the pasture were on their own for an hour or two.

Beau cleared his throat. “So, Alyssa isn’t back yet for our switch up. Anyone know where she might be?”

Cliff said, “She was going up to check the far corner of the pasture. Bud and I were busy with a half-dozen calves that came at the same damn time and hadn’t made it that far. When we got done, we just assumed she’d be back and didn’t drive up to check. We brought a new calf and its mother in for you to be able to keep an eye on—the little one was kind of weak.”

Beau frowned and bit back his temper. “So, she went up there alone?”

Cliff looked out the window at the storm raging. “Yeah, she did. Pretty rough out there, huh? We didn’t know we were going to have one of these freak storms. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud, when she came out.”

Beau slapped his hat on his leg. He couldn’t take his frustration out on the men. No one could have predicted this storm blowing in like it did. The forecast had said there might be some weather tomorrow, but nothing today. But that was Colorado weather in the high country—unpredictable as hell. “I know, damn storm snuck up on us. But we might have to go out and find her when this lets up. She’s not answering her cell.”

“Did you try the truck two-way radio? We don’t use them much these days, but they still should work, and it comes on automatically. She has to be in the truck—let’s hope she’s not out in this.”

“Good idea.” Beau was out the door and to the closest truck in seconds. Before he even got it started the twins got in with him.

“Just checking on our girl,” Cade said.

Beau nodded and reached down to where the radio snugly fit under the dashboard. He grabbed the mic, selected the frequency for the vet truck, and keyed the mic. “Alyssa, this is Beau. Can you hear me?”

Not a sound.

Chase said tightly, “Just keep saying it every few minutes.”

Beau nodded and tried again.

* * *

Alyssa was flippin’ freezing. She was trying not to run the truck’s heater too often in case this damn storm lasted hours. She would rather be cold in the daylight, than cold in the dark. She’d used the warming blankets stored in the truck to make a tent for the two mothers and babies. Yeah, they were animals and should be fine, but she wasn’t going to let them freeze on her watch—at least not until it was a them-or-her type of situation.

It was time to start the truck to heat the cab; she was getting too cold. As she cranked the starter she thought she heard something. She looked out the windows but there was nothing except white. Hopefully she wasn’t going crazy. The engine roared to life and a few seconds later blissful warmth came out the vents. She sighed in relief and again there was an unfamiliar noise. It sounded like a very faint voice. She rolled down the window to listen and got a face full of snow and nothing else. It wasn’t the radio—she’d turned that off earlier, when the forecast didn’t give any pertinent information about the weather and how long it was going to last. They were laughing it off and telling everyone welcome to springtime in Colorado. Dumbasses.

She sat quiet, barely breathing, until she heard it again. It sounded like her name coming from the floor. She leaned down to hear better and spied a two-way radio tucked up under the dash. She cranked the volume up and grabbed the mic just as Beau bellowed. “Alyssa, this is Beau, can you hear me?”

She didn’t know whether to cheer or cry, so she clicked the mic and said in a shuddery voice, “Yes, Beau. I can hear you.”

“Well, thank God. It’s about fucking time you answered. I was about to have a heart attack.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for asking so sweetly. And the calves and their mothers are doing well, also.”

Beau laughed and then groaned. “Are you really fine? Where are you? What happened? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“I will be happy to answer all your questions as soon as you tell me how long this damn blizzard is going to last.” Her voice got shriller with each word. And before Beau could answer, the snow stopped and the sun came out. Well, fuck.

“About now. Looks finished to me.”

Alyssa sighed. “You have the craziest weather I have ever seen.”

“Yep, I’ll come get you now, so you don’t have to drive in the white stuff and the mud that will be soon to follow. If you tell me where you are.”

“But I’ll still have to drive this one back.”

“No, the twins are with me. We’ll come get you and they can drive this truck back. What coordinates are you at?”

She was feeling so relieved that she had tears threatening and she could hardly speak. She hiccupped. “My phone got smashed on a rock, so I don’t know the coordinates. But I’m in the far corner by that tree that’s all twisted up.”

“Perfect. We’ll be there soon. How about you stay on the radio and tell us what happened? I’ll give the mic to Chase, so Cade doesn’t talk your ear off.”

“Okay, hurry Beau. I’ve had enough alone time today.” She started telling them the story, and before she was finished she saw a truck coming toward her. Tears of relief welled in her eyes and her throat closed. She didn’t realize she was quite as frightened as she was, until there was nothing left to fear. She let the mic drop to the seat beside her and leaned her head on the steering wheel and let the tears come.

Beau opened her door and pulled her into his arms and held her until the waterworks stopped. Chase gathered up the warming blankets, while Cade checked the cattle to find them happy and dry.

Beau chuckled. “You used the warming blankets on the cattle instead of keeping yourself warm? You do realize they are animals and used to being outside.”

“Not the calves—they weren’t even dry when this snow started. I wasn’t going to let all my hard work freeze when I could sit in the truck and stay warm.”

Beau touched her hands. “You feel kind of cold to me.”

“I didn’t know how long this snow would last and I didn’t want to run out of gas if it got dark.”

Beau’s jaw tightened. “There is no way in hell I would have left you out here until dark. I’d have gotten the snowmobiles out, and come after you long before the sun set. Plus, spring storms like that one only last a couple of hours at most, providing the sun is shining before it happens. If we’d been socked in with clouds that would have been a different story.”

“Good to know, now. But I didn’t know then and my phone was smashed, so I couldn’t even Google it.” Her throat closed again and tears threatened.

Beau looked at her. “Let’s get you back to the house. You must be starving.”

“I had my granola bar from this morning.”

Beau kissed her forehead. “Scoot over and we can get out of here before all this snow melts and turns to mud.”

“It won’t melt that fast, will it?”

“Wait and see.”

She was surprised when much of the snow was melted by the time they got back to the house. Once the storm had passed through it had brought sunshine and warmer temperatures. Colorado has very odd weather.