A few minutes later he stomped the snow off his boots on the log cabin’s porch. He’d parked beside Zach’s truck down in the main yard. Someone would have to plow out the rest of this driveway before anything less than a 4x4 could get in the whole way.
Jo met him at the door. “Gabe!” She reached up and gave him a hug.
That was nice. He patted her back. “How are you doing?”
She grimaced. “Okay, I guess. Zach said he told you what happened.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.” He’d lost a baby once, too. Sure, the circumstances had been different, but at least he had a clue.
“It’s been a rough week, but God’s got it.” She beckoned him in. “Take your coat off and stay a while. Zach’s just gone out to grab an armload of firewood.”
“Toasty in here.” He shrugged off his jacket and hung it up before removing his boots.
“We’d like to keep it that way with that storm brewing.”
“Unc Abe!” shouted Maddie as she barreled into his legs.
Gabe reached down and swung her to his shoulder as she squealed with delight. He was going to miss watching this little rascal grow up. He was going to miss a lot of things.
“Let me get you some tea,” Jo was saying as she led the way into the compact main room.
How long did he have before Sierra returned? Probably long enough. “Sure. Thanks.” He set Maddie down and tickled her. “Cold out today.”
“The temperature has dropped something like twenty degrees, I think.” She busied herself in the kitchenette and emerged a few minutes later with two cups of tea. “Here, Maddie, Mama will get you some juice.”
“Joo?”
“Yes.” Jo poured a bit of apple juice and a lot of water into a sippy cup and handed it to her daughter.
Gabe’s eyebrows went up. A plastic sippy cup from Jo? Would wonders never cease?
Jo curled up in the armchair across from him, tucking her feet under herself.
“Did Zach tell you my news?” he asked when she sat silent.
She grimaced. “Yes. I wish you wouldn’t have, but Zach says the sale is final, and nothing can be done.”
Gabe kind of wished he hadn’t, too. At least part of the time. Change was never easy. “He’s right. The papers are legally binding.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving us again. Just when you got back.” Her brown eyes darkened.
“Some things can’t be helped. You know that.”
“If it’s Sierra…”
“Partly.” Okay, totally. But no one was going to get him to admit that out loud any day soon. “But that’s not why I’m here.”
“I wish you’d talk to her.”
He barked a sharp laugh. “I’ve tried, trust me. It’s like talking to a brick wall.”
“Things have changed.”
“Not toward me, they haven’t. She’s the one who shut me out, Jo. You have to understand. That means the topic is closed until she chooses to open it.” He snorted. “Rather, unless she chooses to. No guarantees it will ever happen that I can see.”
Zach came in, carrying an armload of firewood and accompanied by an icy wind. “Rubachuk! What brings you out here on this blustery day?” He kicked off his snowy boots and crossed over to the wood stove, where he lowered his burden to the hearth.
“It wasn’t to tell us he and Sierra have talked to each other,” Jo said tartly. She uncurled, headed to the kitchenette, and turned the kettle back on.
Zach glanced at Gabe and shook his head with a grin.
A person always knew where they stood with Jo. She called it like she saw it. “I did have a reason for making the jaunt out here. I’ve started packing up the apartment.”
Jo glared at him from the kitchenette, her lips pursed.
Fine, he’d look at Zach while he spoke instead. “I don’t know what to do with my furniture. I heard you all might be doing some building next year and thought I’d offer you first pick. Not that it’s all that valuable, but most is in decent shape.”
Zach and Jo exchanged a glance.
“There’s the kitchen table and chairs, the living room set, and the bed, night stands, and dresser. Know anyone who can use any of that?”
“Aren’t you going to need furniture where you’re going?” Jo dropped her hands to her hips.
“Well, that’s the thing. I don’t know where I’m going, so I don’t know what I’ll need. Doreen is taking back the hutch we borrowed from her in the first place, along with a bookcase. Which leaves another bookcase, actually. Add that to the list.”
“Gabe, you can’t up and leave town like this.”
He raised his eyebrows at Jo. “Oh?”
“You just can’t. It isn’t right.”
Gabe grimaced. “It’s not a question of what’s right, Jo. Sometimes a man has to do what he has to do. I was lured into thinking there might be a reason to stay in Galena Landing, even though I’d planned to put the store on the market as soon as I got back stateside.”
She inhaled sharply.
“So I’m simply going back to my original plan. It wasn’t as spontaneous as it seems.”
“Talk some sense into him, Zach.” Jo spun back to the kettle.
Zach held out both hands in a helpless gesture, meeting Gabe’s eyes. “I agree with her, man, even though I know it doesn’t do any good.”
“Too little, too late,” agreed Gabe.
“Where there’s life, there’s hope,” Jo shot back as her cell phone rang. She picked it up off the counter and glanced at it then at Gabe. “Sierra? Wonder why she’s calling.” She swiped the phone on. “Hey, girl, what’s up?”
She listened for a moment. “No way. Are you okay?”
Gabe couldn’t help leaning closer, not that he could make out Sierra’s words.
“Where exactly are you at? … Okay, sit tight. Oh, I guess you can’t do anything else. … No, you’re right. It’s a long time to wait for a tow truck. … I’ll talk to Zach.”
“What happened?”
“She slid the car off the road turning off Cottonwood and onto Highway 95. She said the tires caught slush, and down she went.”
“There’s quite a ditch on that corner,” Zach said.
Jo glanced from Zach to Gabe and back again. “Think you could pull her out with the pickup?”
Zach nodded. “Probably. I have a good tow rope.” He bit his lip. “Only thing is, Noel’s not home. I could sure use some help.” He looked at Gabe.
Sierra needed a hand, and he was in a position to provide it. No brainer. “I’ll come.”
“You sure? Thought you two weren’t talking.”
Gabe stood. “We weren’t. Maybe we still aren’t, but that doesn’t mean I’d let her freeze to death in a ditch. Daylight’s wasting, Nemesek.”
Chapter 33
Sierra rubbed her hands together, trying to stay warm. She hadn’t really dressed for the weather. Yeah, she had a parka on, but yoga pants and tennis shoes were not exactly winter wear. Thin leather driving gloves. No hat.
Of course, she’d expected to drive to Tyrell’s, and then home in one piece. Catching her tires in the soft snow and sliding down a four-foot embankment hadn’t been part of her plans.
So much for being self-sufficient. Why did stuff like this always happen to her? Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic. But it seemed she’d been bouncing from one crisis to another for months.
She rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. How long did it take to get frostbite? When would Zach arrive? Would he really be able to pull her car out of this ditch or would she have to call a tow truck from Wynnton after all?
The rumble of Zach’s pickup filled the air.
Sierra wiped a circle of condensation from her window and caught her breath. It might be Zach’s truck on the highway, but it was Gabe sliding down the steep bank to her car. Gabe pounding on her window. Peering in through the spot she’d just cleared.
“Sierra! Are you okay?” He tugged at the car door,
but it was wedged against the snow bank.
He yelled something up to Zach, who looped a thick rope from his elbow to his hand and around. Zach nodded and disappeared.
Gabe worked his way around the car and yanked the door on the passenger side open. The frigid wind blasted inside with him. He reached for her seatbelt clasp and undid it. “Are you hurt? Can you crawl out this way?”
Sierra’s teeth chattered in relief. She fumbled for the lever to push her seat further back, giving herself room to climb over the console.
“Come here, sweetheart. You can make it.” Gabe backed out to give her room, his hands outstretched.
The endearment melted a bit of the ice around her heart as she struggled across to the passenger seat. Those feet and legs barely felt like they belonged to her. So numb.
She stopped to catch her breath, but Gabe tucked one arm under her knees and one around her shoulders, lifting her as though she weighed nothing. She was pretty sure that wasn’t true. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Need a hand?” hollered Zach over the wind. He waded through the snow toward them.
“I’ve got her!” Gabe shouted back.
If only he meant it for life. She’d done so much to keep him away, but this… this felt wonderful, being wrapped in his arms.
He stumbled up the steep incline. Zach was there to keep them both from landing in the snow then ran ahead to open the truck’s passenger door.
Gabe slid her into blasting heat.
Sierra hated to let go of him, but the words he’d let slip had only been a natural reaction to aiding a damsel in distress. They weren’t personal. She believed that until she got caught in his eyes. Those deep blue wells pulled her in.
His mittened hand swept her cheek. “Sierra,” he groaned as he pulled away. “I’m going to give Zach a hand with the car. You sit tight.” The truck door snapped shut.
Emotions whirled through Sierra’s frozen gut like the blizzard outside. Too late. Too late. Too late. But was it? He’d come. For some reason, though she’d called on Zach, Gabe had come along. How had that happened?
Her toes began to tingle. She tugged off her driving gloves and, with stiff fingers, struggled to undo her laces. It took ages to get her shoes off and pull her feet up under her, cross-legged. She rubbed her hands up and down her numb legs, willing sensation to return.
The truck bounced a little, like one of the guys had jumped off the tailgate. Zach opened the driver’s door and slid in, glancing her way. “How are you doing?”
“F-fine. F-frozen.”
“I bet.” He grinned. “Well, here is the moment of truth. We’ll see if the beast has the power and traction to get the hatchback out of there.” He shifted into four-wheel-drive low then first gear. “You might say a prayer.”
Like she hadn’t been praying nearly nonstop.
The truck eased forward and came to a stop a few seconds later. The wheels began to spin, and Zach stopped to roll down the window. “More sand under the tires, Rubachuk!”
Gabe’s muffled voice replied, “Got it.”
A clang.
Zach eased the truck forward again. This time the tires caught.
Sierra could almost feel the weight of the little car as inch by inch, Zach and his truck pulled it up out of the ditch, Gabe’s shovel adding sand often. At long last, Zach heaved a sigh of relief and patted the dashboard. “Good job.”
Gabe opened the back door and crammed in beside Maddie’s car seat. He thumped his mittens together and blew out a blast of air. “Cold out there.”
“But warm in here.” Zach glanced in the rearview mirror. “Buckle up, man. Let’s haul this baby home.”
The heat blasting from the vents cocooned Sierra. Made her drowsy. The adrenaline buzz drifted away. She was safe. “Thanks, guys.” Totally inadequate words, but the best she could think up at the moment.
“Just glad you’re okay,” came from the backseat.
* * *
Gabe watched Sierra’s profile the whole way back to Green Acres as she leaned against the headrest, eyes closed. Her face seemed pale beneath her makeup.
Her nearness brought feelings of longing surging to the surface. No matter how many times in that short drive he reminded himself she’d wound up in the ditch coming from Burke’s place, he still couldn’t force from his memory the light in her eyes when she’d seen him sliding down the bank to rescue her.
Okay, maybe he’d imagined it. The window had been pretty fogged in. But still, she’d clung to him with a ton of strength as he carried her back up that hill.
She just didn’t want to fall in the snow and get further chilled.
No, it was more than that.
But she’d been to see Burke. She’d chosen the other guy. He mustn’t forget.
They’d arrived back at Green Acres. He and Zach hadn’t even checked the hatchback to see if it were drivable. Sierra certainly was in no state to have done so, and Gabe had only wanted to keep her in his line of vision.
Her eyes fluttered open as she realized they were back at the farm.
Oh, to kiss those eyelids again. To feel her eyelashes on his cheeks.
Gabe gave himself a shake and opened the back door. He made his way around to the passenger side just as Sierra slid to the ground. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He had no right to catch her, to carry her. She glanced over at Zach, who came around the front. “Thanks, you guys. I don’t know what happened.”
Zach poked his chin toward the hatchback, still linked to his truck. “I should’ve kept an eye on things for you. That car needs new tires.”
“It’s not your responsibility.”
Zach grinned. “Sort of yes and sort of no. Let me feel some guilt, okay?”
Sierra managed a smile. “Guess I’m grounded until the roads clear enough to get to the tire shop, then. Unless I damaged something else hitting the ditch.”
“It’s probably okay,” Zach said. “I’ll have a closer look when the weather clears.”
They stood silently for a moment, snow sifting down on their shoulders. Sierra turned toward the duplex.
Could Gabe follow her? Didn’t they need to talk? But was he really ready to be told a final no?
“Hey, come over to the log cabin, Sierra.” Zach reached for her arm. “Let’s get you warmed up. Jo was worried about you. She’s probably watching for you out the window.”
She hesitated a moment but nodded, taking a tentative step on the path through the woods.
Zach glanced at Gabe before striding off up the path.
Nice of his buddy to give him a moment alone with Sierra. He waded through several inches of snow beside her, ready to catch her if she needed it. She came close a few times.
Finally he reached past her to open the cabin door, his arm brushing her shoulder. Even through both their winter coats, he felt the touch and stifled a groan.
She’d been to Burke’s. He’d sold the store. Today would be goodbye. He needed to brace himself for the inevitable.
Gabe slid the jacket from Sierra’s shoulders as Jo scurried up then enveloped Sierra in a hug.
“Are you okay? I’ve been so worried.”
“I’m okay. Thanks to some knights in shining armor.”
That sounded promising, didn’t it? He hung up her jacket then his and kicked his snowy boots to the mat.
Jo wrapped a quilt around Sierra and nudged her toward a chair.
“Hey, I’m fine. Don’t smother me.”
“You’re freezing. Do as you’re told.”
Life must’ve been entertaining when these two had been roommates. But Sierra curled up in an easy chair, tugging the quilt closer. She glanced at Gabe from beneath lowered eyelashes.
He gave her a tentative smile.
Jo turned the kettle on. “Maddie’s having a nap, so keep the noise to a dull roar.”
What noise? Gabe didn’t have anything to say. He settled into the other easy chair. All he could do was pray and wait. The rest wa
s up to Sierra.
Jo passed out mugs of tea. “I put lots of honey in yours,” she informed Sierra.
Sierra managed a smile. “Thanks.”
Jo dropped onto the love seat beside Zach. “Well, don’t everyone talk at once.”
Gabe bit his lip. It wasn’t his place.
“Okay, fine.” Sierra pushed the quilt from her shoulders and sat up straighter. “I should’ve been more careful on the road. I knew it was slippery, but I had to talk to Tyrell. It couldn’t be done over the phone.”
Interesting. Gabe kept his expression as bland as he could.
“I had to tell him everything was over.” Sierra’s face was turned toward Jo, leaving her profile open to Gabe’s scrutiny.
Wait. She called things off with Burke? A surge of elation gushed upward. The geysers in Yellowstone had nothing on him.
“How did it go?” asked Jo.
Sierra grimaced. “He didn’t take it very well, but I think he believed me in the end.”
Being a fly on the wall might’ve been interesting. But weren’t they all in hibernation by now?
“Did you tell him—” Jo shot a glance at Gabe before looking back at her friend. “—everything?”
“No.” Sierra sucked in such a deep breath that Gabe could hear it several feet away. “He didn’t need to know.”
The two girls stared at each other. Gabe wished he could read the message that passed between them. “Is it time?” asked Jo.
Sierra nodded, almost imperceptively.
Jo surged to her feet. “Come on, Zach. Let’s go in the other room.”
Zach eyed each person before grasping the hand Jo held out to him. They disappeared down the short hallway to their bedroom.
Gabe studied Sierra as she stared off over the rim of her cup. Was she going to make him ask? He didn’t have it in him.
“So, I… uh… I guess I owe you an explanation.”
He clenched his teeth. “I’d appreciate it.”
“It’s not easy for me to talk about this.”
A Farm Fresh Romance Series 1-3 (A Farm Fresh Romance Box Set) Page 76