“Yeah, and he’s finding all kinds of things.”
“Great. A fuckin’ nut job. Just what I want to deal with,” he grumbled and hung up. “Fuckin’ snow.”
My mouth twitched as he hung up.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Mable asked.
This girl and her big heart.
“She didn’t sound like she was in critical condition, but to be completely honest, I didn’t exactly ask,” I admitted.
A howl of wind hit the cabin, and we both looked outside as the snow started swirling sideways. “Gentry doesn’t like the snow, either?”
“Hates the snow,” he admitted. “He’s originally from Florida. Never gets below seventy there.”
“So you and him moved up here together?” she asked innocently.
My stomach twisted as I thought about how to answer that without outright lying to her.
I didn’t want to lie, but it seemed like I didn’t have much of a choice.
“We found each other once we got up here,” I admitted carefully, not lying, but not telling the entire truth, either. “Seems y’all aren’t super welcoming to newcomers. You give us a lot of shit about our cold intolerance.”
Like I’d hoped, she took the bait and changed the subject. Only, it was back to even more personal questions.
“Why did you move up here if you hate it?” she asked. “Montana is beautiful in the summer and all, but the winters make you want to die.”
“I needed a change of pace,” I admitted, which was honestly the truth. “Plus, it’s kind of nice being in a place that actually has four seasons.”
Again, not a lie.
But definitely not the whole truth, either.
I gestured toward the TV. “What do you want to watch?”
Sixteen
Guys like girls who take charge. Ask them out. Plan a date. Overthrow the government. Take some hostages. Burn down his ex’s house. Maybe buy him a puppy.
—Cody to Mable
Mable
I was literally in heaven.
It was no longer snowing outside. The wind wasn’t howling. And for once I could see the sun.
But the snow was thick, it was still cold as fuck, and I was curled up on the couch with Romeo with a fire burning in the fireplace, watching one of my favorite movies in the world.
“What makes you like this one so much?” Romeo asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I had a huge crush on Nicolas Cage. I was left to my own devices a lot, and the library had a ton of movies you could rent. All of the newer, good ones were always gone. But the older ones were always available. I think I love The Rock more, but my second favorite movie has to be The Shawshank Redemption.”
He jerked. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think that man deserved to be in prison, and I think it makes me happy that he was able to escape and live.”
Something odd came over his features for a long second before he cleared them and said, “This is my favorite part.”
