She seems convinced I’m okay when the look of concernmorphs into a smile. “I’m Sloane, how are you feeling?” Her voice is soft, and watching her worry about me makes my chest squeeze with guilt.
They’re more bothered with my comfort and safety than I am about upending their entire life. I feel like the biggest ass in the world.
Setting my signature smile on my face, I say, “Ellyot Royce, but everyone calls me Elly. I’ve been better.” I force a chuckle and she responds with a smile. “How long was I sleeping?”
“A few hours. I wanted to check on you since dinner is ready, I thought you might be hungry.” She clasps her hands in front of her slim frame. Next to my five-two, she has to be almost half a foot taller than me. Tall, lithe girls like her have always sent a pang of jealousy through me.
I’ve always considered myself an excellent judge of character, it’s an uncanny ability I’ve had since I was a girl. The energy standing in front of me feels friendly and warm, but I’m willing to bet she can turn unfriendly on a dime.
Since she opened the door, the smell of dinner is thick in the room and my mouth is watering, so right on cue, my stomach growls loudly since I didn’t have breakfast this morning. I set my hand on my stomach, “I guess that answers your question, but can I ask, where are my clothes?”
She tilts her head and a little line forms between her eyebrows, “Don’t you remember? Your clothes were soaked through, so Marley took them to wash, she also wanted to see if she could get the blood out of your coat.”
Looking down at the floor, I try to piece together the slideshow in my head from earlier, but shake my head. “Sorry, everything after seeing the big guy at the side of the house is a blur.”
I’ll never forget the relief that washed over me when I saw him walking toward me, the terror at freezing to death thatwas niggling at my brain vanished when I saw him. His hazel eyes were full of concern even though yesterday they were filled with resentment and irritation.
“You mean Gray. He was the one who caught you when you fell, he brought you in the house and got you warm. After he brought you in here, Marley and I tried to clean you up and make you as comfortable as possible.”
Keeping my smile on my face, even though on the inside I feel like the worst person on the planet, I wonder why they would go out of their way to help me knowing why I’m here.
Who does that?Everyone I know would have turned their backs.
My head feels like it is going to explode and I press my cool fingers to the sore spot on my forehead where I hit the steering wheel. “I appreciate that, I’ve never experienced weather like this before.” I glance at the picture on the dresser. “This is his room, isn’t it?”
She looks around and nods, “Yeah, he’s a pretty straightforward kind of guy, pretty quiet.” She points at the picture of the little girl next to the bed, “That’s his daughter, Lainey Rai, she helped take your coat off.”
“My dad will make sure you’re okay.” I can still hear the confidence and security in that little girl’s voice as she unbuttoned my coat.
Envy for even a fraction of the confidence that comes from a healthy father-daughter relationship pinches in my gut. When I was a girl, my dad would never have helped a person in need, he would have walked right past an injured person while expecting someone else to take care of it. She doesn’t know how lucky she is.
Before I can feel worse about myself, I shake my head and meet her eyes. “Do you think my clothes will be ready after dinner? Maybe someone can give me a ride back to my hotel.”
Her eyebrows go up in surprise and as she takes a breathto respond, another deep voice answers from behind her, “The ice is too thick to drive on, no one is driving you anywhere today.”
CHAPTER NINE
ELLY
WHAT?
PANICsqueezes my chest as my mind spins with images of staying here any longer.
Sloane links her hands in front of her and takes a graceful step to the side to look behind her and Gray’s large body fills the door frame. “What?” I breathe the question as panic weaves into the muscles across my shoulders. “Aren’t there provisions for bad weather here?” I keep my voice calm, even though the pitch rises a little from the fear that’s gripping my stomach.
I have to check in with my dad, tell him everything is going well even if it isn’t. The last thing I want is for Harris to show up here to bully and harass this family. Trying to anticipate how my father will react when I tell him I’m stuck in an ice storm is making my head hurt even worse.
The cut starts to throb over my eyebrow, making me I realize I’m holding my breath. My eyes are locked on the large man standing in the doorway as every possible scenario that includes Harris and my dad plays out in my head, none of them good. I take a deep breath to the count of three and let it out to the same count.
Gray steps into the room making it feel smaller somehow, his boots scratching over the hardwood floor before going silent on the giant plush area rug. He is wearing a blue checkered flannel shirt that’s hanging open over a gray t-shirt hugging every dip of muscle across his chest. The flannel sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, showcasing the veins and corded muscles through the light-colored hairs over his forearms.
The belt buckle in front of the faded jeans hugging his muscular thighs and bowed legs is round, and I can’t make out what is etched on it. Is that a bucking horse? His beard is neatly trimmed across his jaw and those hazel eyes are looking at me like I’m a bug to be squashed.
So much for the concern I saw earlier. Disappointment settles heavy in my stomach and another feeling, maybe shame.
His ball cap is old, and little threads hang and stick out from the frayed edges of the bill over his eyes. “Unless you know how to melt a half inch of ice from the northeast corner of the state, you’re stuck here until it melts.”
Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I stand and rub my hand on my chest as the crushing grip of panic makes it harder to breathe, but I keep the damn smile on my face. A slight sweat is breaking out along my hairline. “Oh.” I hate that my voice sounds small. “How long do you think it will take to melt?”
