Josh knew he had a reputation, not completely unearned, as a guy who shied away from anything serious.
He had always figured he had plenty of time to decide what he needed and wanted out of a relationship. His two older brothers each had married young, right out of high school in one case and college in the other, and both were now divorced and entangled in ugly custody fights.
Josh had decided he needed to grow up first and figure out the best kind of man he could be before he found that someone special.
And then Gemma Summerhill had moved to Haven Point and shook his entire world.
It was ridiculous. He had spoken with her exactly three times at various social occasions in Haven Point. Four now, he supposed, counting the past half hour. None of those encounters seemed to have done anything to soften her sharp edges around him.
He never struggled to talk with women. Ever. He was usually completely comfortable with them.
So why did she leave him so tongue-tied? She was smart, for one thing. Bowie Callahan, Katrina’s husband, had mentioned at that first meeting that Gemma had genius-level tech skills and that he and Aidan felt extraordinarily lucky to have her on their team.
More than that, Josh knew the truth, the secret she had apparently decided not to share with the rest of Haven Point. Keeping it was becoming increasingly difficult.
Maybe today, the first chance he had to talk to her alone, might offer him an opportunity to clear the air between them and start over.
With that spark of optimism, he walked into his house. He took off his coat and Stetson, listening for some sign of her. All he heard was Toby snoring.
Concern flared and Josh wanted to kick himself. He was an idiot. She had fainted for a few seconds earlier. He had been so busy worrying about getting her warm and safe through the storm that he hadn’t remembered that until now.
He should have made she sure she was settled before worrying about Ollie. His horse could have handled standing out in the snow for a few minutes. What if she’d passed out again and hurt herself?
As soon as he had the thought, a reassuring calm quickly followed. If that were the case, if she had fainted again or were in trouble, Toby would be whining or pacing to raise the alarm.
Still, Josh hurried through the house and stopped dead when he reached the fireplace where he saw the fire had burned down to embers and needed a log.
Toby was curled up on the floor, keeping a watchful eye on a blanket-covered figure asleep on the sofa.
She looked fragile, delicate, skin almost burnished translucent in the fire’s glow. Everything he knew about Gemma Summerhill told him that was an illusion. She wasn’t fragile or delicate. She had been through a terrible ordeal and had the scars to prove it.
He wanted to stand there all evening, drinking in the sight of her, but that was a little too stalker-ish for him. Not wanting to startle her too much, he cleared his throat quietly.
“Gemma? Miss Summerhill?”
She stirred a little but didn’t awaken. He was torn between his instinct to let her continue sleeping and his conviction that she wouldn’t be happy with him if he did.
Now that he knew she was safe, he could give her a few more moments while he changed out of his wet clothing and made a few phone calls, he decided.
Those few moments turned into twenty by the time he returned to check on her. By then, he had stoked the fire in the great room and the two ground-floor bedrooms in case the power went out, made a couple of phone calls to find out the status of the mudslide cleanup areas and pulled a ready-to-heat minestrone soup out of his freezer.
They wouldn’t starve, at least. He had a freezer filled with meals, both from the gourmet service he used and from relatives and friends who were always bringing him a plate of this or that.
He and Gemma had enough provisions to spend the entire winter hunkered down here in the mountains while the weather howled outside.
The idea was far more appealing than it should have been.
Toby rose and padded to his side. The dog’s movement seemed to pierce her subconscious, waking her where his voice hadn’t been enough. He watched her eyes flutter a little then open the rest of the way.
“Oh,” she said, her cheeks turning rosy. “I think I must have fallen asleep.”
“I believe you did.” He was enamored with her accent and wasn’t ashamed to admit it to himself.
“I’m so sorry.” As she stretched a little, the blanket fell down, revealing that she wore his favorite hoodie and a pair of his sweats. She reached down to pet Toby and he tried not to be jealous of his dog.
“What time is it?” she asked. “Have they cleared the debris so that I can drive home?”
“No. I’m sorry. I’ve just been on the phone with a friend who works for the county road crew and he says they won’t be able to make any headway on the slide until morning. Apparently another rockslide is blocking the road between Haven Point and Shelter Springs, which has to take priority because of the volume of traffic that uses that road and the proximity to the hospital.”
She looked stricken. “Oh dear. Is there another way I can go home tonight? Surely there’s another road off the mountain.”
He pointed out the window. “The storm is still going strong. We’ve got six inches of snow. By morning we could have a foot. I’m afraid we’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“I can’t possibly stay here.”
She didn’t need to sound so aghast at the very idea.
“I’m sorry, Miss Summerhill, but I’m afraid
