Her rescuer’s body blocked most of the wind but temperatures had plunged and her clothes were still wet. She couldn’t help shivering and buried her forehead against his back to keep her face out of the cold.
“We’ll be there in a minute.” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. “I’ve got a fire already going inside and we can get you warmed up in no time.”
She held on to the idea of warmth as they trudged through the storm, taking a turnoff she barely saw and heading up a long, twisting driveway until they reached a sprawl of outbuildings and a sleek glass-and-cedar house.
He rode to the front door, swung off the horse and reached to help her down.
Gemma managed to swing her good leg over the saddle but hesitated to dismount, not at all sure her bad leg would be able to support her.
“I’ve got you,” Josh assured her. His words comforted her in a way she couldn’t have explained. She hopped down and he did indeed catch her, his muscles strong and capable as he helped her to the ground.
Was it her imagination or did he hold her just a smidge longer than necessary? She tried to ignore the little burst of heat that flared inside her.
He led the way up the porch and opened the door for her. A blast of warmth enveloped her and she wanted to cry, suddenly feeling as if she had been cold forever.
“I need to go take care of Ollie. Make yourself at home. Toby can keep you company. The fire should still be going and there are warm towels in the dryer. You need to get out of those wet clothes first. There are clean clothes in the laundry room. Feel free to change into anything dry you can find.”
Her teeth were chattering too hard for her to do anything but nod.
Josh gave her a look of concern. “Are you okay? Ollie can wait a minute or two, until I get you settled.”
“I’m f-f-fine,” she assured him, though she was quite certain the chatter of her teeth said otherwise. “Go take care of your h-horse.”
“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
She nodded and with the dog leading the way, she went toward that warmth.
His house was beautiful, with comfortable-looking furniture, muted colors and Western decor that seemed just right.
“Where’s the laundry room?” she asked Toby. She could swear the chocolate-colored dog cocked his head toward a hallway where she could hear a low hum.
“Thank you,” she said. The dog followed her as she limped in that direction, ignoring the ache in her leg, and opened a solid wood door. It was indeed a laundry room, warm and steamy and fragrant.
She opened the dryer and found it loaded with dark green towels nearing the end of their dry cycle. She pulled two out and used one to drape over her shoulders and the other to dry off the dog so he didn’t continue to drip on the floor.
A little more searching unearthed a pair of baggy sweats folded on the counter of the laundry room as well as a frayed hoodie that read “Camping. It’s In Tents” with the logo of his sporting goods store.
She scooped them up. “Powder room?” she asked the dog, hoping for further guidance.
This time, Toby merely gave her a quizzical look. Apparently she was on her own for that one. She opened a few doors until she found a bathroom decorated in sage greens and browns.
Leaving the dog in the hallway, she closed the powder room door and quickly changed out of her wet things and into her borrowed finery. Oh, if her mother could see her now, Gemma thought with a slightly hysterical laugh as she looked down at the baggy sweats and the disreputable hoodie.
After hanging her clothes to dry on the shower rod, she opened the bathroom door. Still no sign of her host but the dog was waiting by the door.
She smiled and petted his fur, already mostly dry.
She followed the irresistible lure of the fire crackling in the other room. The living room had vaulted ceilings and massive windows. She could see the lights of Haven Point sparkling below and imagined the view would be spectacular in the daylight.
As she sat by the fire, the stress of the past hour seemed to catch up with her. She closed her eyes, her head sagging against the cushion of the chair, so very grateful to be safe and warm and alive.
CHAPTER TWO
JOSH MADE HIS way back to the house through the driving snow that made it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of him. At least the lights of his house glowed a welcome through the storm.
He had lived in this area of Idaho his entire life except for the years he played college baseball in California but the intensity of fall and spring storms could still take him by surprise, especially when they seemed to come out of nowhere.
Kind of like his unexpected visitor. And not just today but six weeks earlier, when she showed up one day in Haven Point with her big green eyes. He had known who she was at once and had almost blurted it out but caught himself when his cousin Katrina had introduced her as the new hotshot programmer working for Bowie, Kat’s husband.
He had been so astonished to see Gemma here in Haven Point, straight out of his memories and his imagination, that he hadn’t known what to say. He had a feeling he had been a jerk that day at Kat’s barbecue, fumbling over his words, staring at her too long, saying all the wrong things.
Whatever he’d done, they seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot. While Gemma had been warm and approachable to everyone else in town, she seemed to turn standoffish and painfully polite around him whenever they encountered each other.
Josh
