Snowed in with the Cowboy

He gritted his teeth. “I’m well aware that my father died, Chloe, you don’t have to repeat it four times.”

“Well, me, too,” she said, looking ferocious. “I loved your father. I did. He was the only father that I ever knew. And it’s not... I’m not minimizing that. But I’m just saying.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re saying,” he said, choosing to ignore her now that she was in such an unreasonable mood.

He was the one that should be in a mood. He was the man stuck sleeping on the floor for the night. He was the man who had increasingly inappropriate thoughts about the woman he was trapped in a room with overnight.

“I’d better call Jackson,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing his brother angrily.

Chloe was staring at him, her eyes luminous. And he didn’t want to analyze what they might be illuminated with.

“Hello?” His brother answered on the first ring. “What’s up?”

“Chloe and I are stuck in town,” he said. “Not Gold Valley. Granite Ridge. The tunnel is blocked behind us and the mountain pass is closed, so we can’t get up to the cabin tonight.”

“Hell. What are you going to do?”

“We got a place at some lodge,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”

“Well, I hope you can make it up,” Jackson said. “We’re going to have burgers tonight.”

“We are not making it up tonight. The snow was falling heavy down here.”

“Damn,” Jackson said. “I was hoping that maybe it was just that thick up here.”

“Apparently not. Apparently, the forecast snowstorm finally came through, and it’s making up for all the years it didn’t.”

“Well, that’s damned inconvenient.”