Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
“The left one.”
He nodded, then stood. “Here, let’s stand up slowly.”
I reached for his hands and allowed him to help me up. As I put pressure on my ankle, I let out a small yelp. “Ouch! Okay, it hurts.”
Tanner cursed, pulled out a walkie-talkie from his jacket, and talked into it. “I’ve got her. We’re closer to the cabin on the lake than we are the house. Looks like she might have sprained her ankle and has a bit of hypothermia. I need to get her warmed up.”
“Shit,” came Ty’s voice from the other end.
Ty Senior chimed in, “Take her to the log cabin, Tanner. I had Jimmy stock it with some food last week. The Millers were planning on staying at the cabin for the holiday. They canceled when they saw the storm coming in.”
“That’s luck!” Brock added.
“Sounds good.” Tanner pulled my body tighter against him as we stood there. “We’re heading there now. I’ll check in once I get Timberlynn warm and settled.”
“Got it,” his father said.
“Hold this,” Tanner said as he handed me the walkie-talkie, then he bent down and lifted me up. He carried me over to Pogo and put me up on the horse. Then he jumped on and sat behind me. He took the walkie-talkie from me and winked. I was stunned when I heard a girlish giggle slip from my lips.
Tanner pressed the button and spoke. “Dad, I’ve only got one problem. Pogo. Is there hay or anything in the barn for him? What about the water trough?”
“There’s hay; I always keep it stocked just in case,” Ty answered instead of their father. “As far as the water goes, you’re gonna have to keep checkin’ on it. Hopefully it won’t freeze too bad since that barn is pretty well built and will keep all the wind out.”
“Sounds good,” Tanner said, then handed the walkie-talkie to me again and said, “Hang on.”
He gave Pogo a kick and got him going into a trot. The cold wind felt like knives hitting me, and my body trembled.
“You okay?” he called out over the wind. I put up a thumb to indicate I was, even though I was far from okay. I was freezing, and the faster we got inside, the better.
Tanner was right—we were close to the lake and log cabin. I gasped at the sight before me as we approached. “Goodness, it’s beautiful!” I took in the frozen lake and mountains that surrounded us. Sitting across from the lake was a log house that was most certainly not the little cabin I had envisioned in my mind. It was a one-story log home with a large front porch and windows that made me itch to see what the view was from the inside looking out. A small little wooden bridge was built over a creek that fed into the lake.
“I’ve never in my life seen anything so beautiful! Why don’t your parents live here?” I asked as Tanner laughed. To the side of the house was a large wooden barn.
“The barn!” I gasped.
“That barn is my pride and damn joy. Brock, Beck, and I built that barn with our father. Ty was already out on the circuit and helped when he came back into town, but it was mostly me, Beck, and Dad who built it.”
“Tanner, it’s…it’s beautiful,” I said as he drew closer to it.
The lake was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but then I shouldn’t have been surprised considering I could see it from the main barn on the ranch. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew this wasn’t the most ideal situation to be in, but it occurred to me that Tanner and I would finally be alone. In this beautiful log home, on the lake, during a snowstorm. Fate had a funny way of showing up at times. My entire body trembled with anticipation, or from being cold as hell.
“We’re almost to the house. We’ll get you warmed up soon, babe,” Tanner told me.
I shook my head and looked back at him. “It’s not that. I just realized you and I are going to be completely alone.”
A sexy grin appeared on his face. “That’s definitely one way to warm you up.” Tanner brought Pogo up to the house and jumped off. He motioned for me to lean forward so he could help me down.
“I think I can walk,” I stated, but Tanner wouldn’t let me. He carried me up the porch steps and to the front door. He punched in a code and then walked into the log house.
With a quick intake of air, I glanced around and instantly fell in love, almost forgetting how chilled to the bone I was. “This place is beautiful!” I said as Tanner set me down on the sofa and grabbed a small blanket and wrapped it around me.