“I knew Sven could take care of it.”
“Where’d you find the guy anyway?” Bob asked, following Shep out of the trailer.
“Craigslist,” Shep said then gave Bob a playful jab in the ribs when the other man gaped at him. “Just kidding. He came highly recommended from over at Snowsun Mountain.”
“Seriously?” Bob’s heavy eyes widened and he shook his head. “You think it was smart to trust the competition to send us a ski lift mechanic?”
“I’m sure they’re not going to sabotage us. We’ve got a long way to go before we’re competing with Snowsun.” The popular ski destination was situated on the other side of the pass and had been steadily growing in the past few years.
“You’re the boss,” Bob said as they walked out of the trailer, shading his eyes to watch the empty chairs on their journey up the mountain.
Sven Mileston waved from where he stood at the base of one of the towers about halfway up the main mountain.
Shep took a deep breath, appreciating the scent of tangy pine that hung in the air. He imagined what the ski mountain would look like in a few months, crowds in colorful gear making tracks through fresh powder. He actually thought about how the board at Trinity would react if he told them he wanted to stay on in Colorado to run the resort once it opened. He could step down from his current role to become... Well, he didn’t quite know what he’d become. The only thing he was certain about was that with Rosie as his priority, his life needed an overhaul.
Gone were the days he could take off for a new venture on a moment’s notice. The crazy part was, he didn’t think he’d miss it. Since the night of his kiss with Paige, when he’d shared with her his family’s history, something inside him had shifted. He felt a sense of contentment he hadn’t even known was possible. It had been less than a week, but he had a feeling he could get used to quiet evenings spent at home with Paige and Rosie and possibly even more kids.
He pressed a hand to his chest when his heart stammered. Was he turning into a family man?
Paige had made him see that he was different from his father—he could be better than his dad, who for all of his issues had loved his family. Time and distance from his anger had allowed Shep to see that. Maybe his father really had been hard on Shep because he wanted him to succeed where his father had failed.
Shep would do anything to be the kind of dad Rosie deserved, and maybe he could be the right man for Paige, as well.
Home.
The word took on so much more meaning when she was attached to it.
A loud whine filled the air, followed by a scraping sound, the earsplitting clatter of metal on metal.
Shep looked up the mountain to see Sven, his expert ski lift mechanic, frantically waving his hands and shouting at the men standing at the base of the ski hill, watching the lift.
“Shut it off,” Shep yelled, taking a step forward.
Bob cursed as one of the chairs lurched and they both ran toward the lift.
“Shut it down,” Shep called again, looking between the men at the bottom and Sven midway up the mountain.
Suddenly there was a deafening crash as one of the chairs plummeted to the rocky hill below as the cable snapped.
“Move!” he hollered to the men. Debris soared through the air and tumbled down the hill.
There was a flurry of activity below him, and then another chair fell. “Look out,” Sven shouted.
Shep pulled his gaze away from the men to see the snapped haul rope careening toward Bob, who’d moved toward the emergency shutoff on one of the metal towers. It was virtually impossible, as there were safety features built into the lift to keep the cable from dropping to the ground but he couldn’t deny what was happening.
Without thinking, Shep ran toward the older man, pushed him to the ground as the heavy cable swung closer. It hit Shep square in the chest, sending him backward through the air before he crashed against an outcropping of rocks on the mountain.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Ten
“He’s going to be all right,” Paige whispered, swallowing back tears as she slipped into the hospital room later that night.
“Yes,” a deep voice answered from the shadows.
She swiped at her cheeks as Cole straightened from the chair where he’d been sitting in the corner. Her gaze didn’t waver from Shep, propped against two pillows in the sterile hospital bed, his head wrapped in gauze and a bandage covering the right side of his chest.
“He woke up about an hour ago,” Cole told her in a hushed voice. “Had a massive headache, but he was lucid which Jake said is a good sign.”
“Jake Travers?” Paige asked, recognizing the name of one of the local doctors. She knew there were three Travers brothers who’d grown up in town. Josh was married to the famous actress, Sara Wellens, and the two of them ran Crimson Ranch, a guest ranch outside of town.
Paige had met and liked Sara and Josh but was better friends with Olivia, who’d married the youngest brother, Logan. Jake, the oldest, had married Olivia’s sister Millie. All of them now lived in Crimson.
“He was on duty in the ER when they brought in Shep.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cole run a hand through his hair. The handsome sheriff looked about as shaken as Paige felt. “The wound on his chest is superficial,” Cole explained. “A burn from the loose cable that hit him. The bigger concern was his head. No one is sure how hard he hit the rocks.”
“Have they done tests?” Paige moved forward, reached out a hand to touch Shep’s leg under the blanket. Somehow she needed to ground herself, to prove that he was here and would be fine.
“An MRI and a CT scan.” She heard Cole take a deep breath in and out, like he was trying to control his emotions. “Everything came back normal, so there doesn’t seem to be any brain damage.”
Pain lanced through Paige’s chest at the very thought of that. “But they don’t know for sure? Is that why they’re keeping him overnight?”
Sienna had called her to explain what had happened to Shep, and it had sounded horrible. A faulty ski lift and a metal cable and Shep pushing another man out of the way.
She’d wanted to rush to the hospital as soon as she’d heard but knew she couldn’t leave Rosie. The girl was too young to see her daddy in this kind of shape.
Sienna had come over to keep her company, and Paige had done her best to maintain a facade of normalcy for the little girl. Of course, Rosie’d had trouble settling for bed, mostly because Shep hadn’t been there to tuck her in.
As soon as Paige was certain Rosie was asleep for the night, she had left Sienna at the inn and driven to the hospital with instructions for her friend to call immediately if Rosie woke.
Now she wished she’d been here sooner. She needed to see Shep awake, wanted to hear his deep voice and feel his dark gaze on her. She wanted to tell him she’d been a fool these past few nights, lying in her bed awake until the wee hours wishing she was in his arms.
What good were the walls she’d erected around herself and her heart when life could change everything in a moment? She’d learned that lesson once with her cancer diagnosis, but here she was again, regretting that she’d let doubt and fear keep her from acting on her feelings for Shep.
He wanted her. The way he’d kissed her proved it. There were no guarantees for anyone, and suddenly she wanted to risk her heart with Shep more than she’d ever wanted anything.
“They want to observe him,” Cole confirmed. “If there’s no change, he’ll be discharged in the morning. How’s Rosie?”
“Confused,” Paige told him, stepping away from the bed. “I told her Daddy was working late and he’d see her tomorrow.”
“It’s a good thing she has you at this point,” Cole said quietly. “That has to make it easier.”
Only nothing was easy about this situation.
&nbs
p; “Thanks for loaning Sienna to me for the night.” She gave Cole a small smile. “I appreciate having her stay over so I can be here.”
“She wouldn’t have it any other way.” Cole shook his head. “It feels like Shep and I have been in some kind of a fight for most of our lives, but when I got the call that he was unconscious in the ambulance...”
“I know,” Paige whispered.
“I’m going to stop by the inn before I head home and kiss my future wife good-night,” he told her.
Paige nodded. “Tell her I’ll be there when Rosie wakes up. I just need to spend some time here.”
“You mean something to him,” Cole told her. “The fact that he brought you to dinner and that he’s moved into The Bumblebee—”
“It’s because of Rosie,” she interrupted, heat flooding her cheeks. She didn’t want to start believing Shep might really care about her. If things went south, it would be too much to bear. Her emotions were one thing. She could give her heart to him without any expectations and feel certain she’d be okay on the other end. There was still some level of control there. To believe he might care for her in the same way...
“Maybe at first,” Cole agreed. “He’s not easy to love.”
Paige stilled at the mention of the word love.
Cole laughed softly and ran a hand over his face, unaware of the effect he was having on her. “Trust me—I know him better than anyone. I’ve never seen somebody so adept at pushing away the people who care. It’s him being scared of getting hurt.”
“He told me about how hard your dad was on him and what happened when he died.”
“Really?” Cole didn’t bother to hide his shock. “I’m glad. He needs someone like you in his life, Paige.”
She pressed her lips together, hoping Cole was right. “I’ll call you if anything changes while I’m here.”
“Sounds good,” Cole answered and exited the room.
Paige stepped close to the bed again, ran her hand along Shep’s bare arm, which sat on top of the sheet. It was the first time she’d seen him without a shirt, and the sight more than lived up to her expectations, even with the bandage. He was broad and tanned, muscles evident under the smattering of dark hair across the uninjured half of his chest. Stubble covered his jaw and she reached up to brush the hair from his forehead then pulled her hand away when he groaned softly.
“Shep? Are you awake?”
He sucked in a deep breath and then his eyes blinked open. “You lifted the sheet,” he said, his voice groggy but amused. “To check out my junk.”
Paige gasped. “I most certainly did not check out your...” She waved a hand in the general vicinity of his lower body. “Your anything.”
“You wanted to,” he said, and one side of his mouth curved in the flirty half smile she’d come to know so well.
“Are you teasing me?”
“Yeah,” he admitted, his smile fading when she let out a choked sob. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. It was a joke. A bad one, I admit, but I didn’t mean anything by it. I promise.”
She covered her mouth with one hand, shook her head as she tried to get a hold over her tumbling emotions. “I’m not mad,” she said when she trusted her voice not to crack. “But if you’re teasing me, that means you’re okay.”
He let out what looked to be a relieved breath. “One benefit of being so hardheaded is that it takes more than a flying ski lift cable and a field of boulders to take me down.” He made a fist with one hand and gave his head a light rap then winced.
“This isn’t the time to be macho,” she scolded, reaching for his hand and lacing his fingers with hers.
“I’m more a YMCA man, anyway.”
She gave a strangled laugh. “You really are okay. Insufferable, but okay.”
“And you really care,” he murmured, studying her.
“Of course I do,” she said with a sniff. “I’m not the only one either. Cole left a few minutes ago, and Sienna is at the house with Rosie tonight. Jase called me after he stopped by earlier. He said he was calling Logan Travers, a friend of his who’s a contractor, to stop by the ski resort tomorrow and make sure everything is getting cleaned up.”
“Huh.”
Something she couldn’t quite read flashed in Shep’s eyes then he looked down at their intertwined hands. “Maybe I should try to get myself killed more often.”
“You know you were a hero today,” she told him.
He glanced up at her, the look of shock in his gaze almost comical. Then he shifted to one side of the bed and patted the empty space beside him. “Climb up here and tell me all about it.”
Paige dropped his hand, glancing over her shoulder. “I don’t think that’s allowed.”
“Heroes get a free pass on the rules,” he told her.
“Not true either.” But she slipped out of her sandals, set her purse on the end of the bed then got in next to Shep, stretched her legs out on top of the blanket. “Although I could be convinced to give you a pass...just for tonight.”
He draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. Paige felt tears prick the backs of her eyes once more as the heat of him seeped under her skin, warming all the places that had turned to ice when she’d thought about him injured.
Her fingers spread over his chest, grazing the edge of the bandage. “Does it hurt badly?”
“Not there,” he answered, “although my head is pounding something wicked.”
She went to sit up. “I should call the nurse. They can give you something for—”
“In a minute,” he whispered into her hair and she settled against him once more. “Right now, you’re the best medicine I can imagine.”
“How much do you remember about the accident?” she asked quietly. Sienna had reported the details Cole got from the men who’d witnessed the whole scene.
“Idiot ski lift mechanic, faulty cable, big crash then I was flying.” Shep ticked off the items like he was reciting a grocery list.
“All of your tests came back clear,” she told him.
“Damn,” he murmured. “I was hoping for some kind of superpower transformation from this. Where’s a radioactive spider when you need it?”
“No more joking,” she chided. “You scared me today.”
He squeezed her more tightly. “How’s Rosie?”
“Sad without you. If it’s okay, I’ll bring her here in the morning. I think she can handle a hospital if it means seeing you sooner.”
“I wish I could go home tonight. I miss that girl.”
“Kids are addictive when they adore you.”
Shep kissed the top of her head. “She’s not the only one who adores me.”
“Seriously,” Paige said with a laugh, “your ego is astounding. Maybe that’s your superpower. Inflated Ego Man.” It was easy enough to joke, although his words weren’t too far off. She was quickly coming to care about Shep more than she would have ever guessed.
“You can call me Ego for short.” Shep’s tone was all mock benevolence.
“Tonight made me realize something,” Paige blurted before she lost her nerve.
“That if I actually did kick the bucket you’d have a better chance of getting the house back?”
“Good point, but no.” She took a breath, nerves dancing across her stomach like they were doing a decent rendition of Swan Lake. “I realized that even if it’s only temporary, I want to be with you. I want to live in the moment instead of worrying so much about the future.”
She felt his heart speed under her hand. Good sign, right?
“You’re with me now.”
“I mean together...you and me...” She paused then added, “And your junk, as you call it.”
“A regrettable moniker at this point.”
She waited for him to say more then tilted her head to glance up at him when he d
idn’t. “Too much? Am I freaking you out?”
He shook his head, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. “I’m trying to figure out what it would take to lock the door to this room.”
“I don’t mean now.” She scrunched up her nose. “You’re sick.”
“But not dead, praise the lord.” He placed one finger under her chin, lifted it and then kissed her, gentle but with an intensity that stole her breath.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said after a moment.
He pressed his forehead against hers. “Take that as a ‘hell yes.’ If it didn’t feel like my brain was about to pound out of my skull, I’d beg you to go find some kind of a candy striper outfit immediately.”
“You’re twisted,” she said, rolling her eyes.
He grinned. “Lucky you.”
“No more talking. You need to rest.”
He didn’t argue, and she lowered her head to his shoulder, content to listen to the rhythmic sound of his breathing. After a few minutes it was clear he’d fallen asleep, so Paige gingerly got out of the bed again.
She took her phone from her purse and texted Cole that Shep had woken and seemed to be quickly mending. Then she lowered herself into the chair in the corner, happy just to be here knowing Shep was going to be fine.
* * *
Shep sat with as much patience as he could muster while the nurse unwound the bandage wrapped around his head.
“You’re a lucky man,” she told him, examining the bump on his temple.
“Damn straight,” he agreed, thinking of Paige’s visit last night.
“Hard heads run in our family,” Cole said from where he stood at the side of the bed.
The nurse, a stout woman in her late fifties, giggled like a schoolgirl then mumbled something about the doctor being with them shortly.
“It’s the uniform.” Cole flicked at an invisible piece of lint on his sleeve. “Drives the ladies crazy.”
“That must explain how you snagged Sienna,” Shep shot back.
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