By the time my wall was built, my chest heaved and I grunted from the pain throbbing in myribs.
I placed the heater at my head and lay back on the cold concrete to wait for warmth to take me. My heart pounded through the pain shooting across my torso. The ibuprofen was wearing off, and I’d left in such an angry rush I hadn’t taken any withme.
The ground sucked away every bit of warmth the heater putout.
“Get up, Linda. Get up and find some blankets or something,” I muttered to myself, eyeballing the SUV. If it was unlocked, I might be able to get comfortable afterall.
The back door popped right open. The cord to the small heater was barely long enough to reach the floorboard of the vehicle. I sat it on the carpeted floor and closed the door as far as it would without cutting off the cord. I’d let it warm the vehicle up while I searched forblankets.
I started in on the totes I’d used to try to trap heat in the corner of the barn. The first tote I opened took my breath away. Griffin’s haunted eyes flashed in my memory as the contents of the container stared up atme.
Baby clothes. Pink baby clothes. A tiny romper with Sun Queen embroidered beside a flamingo lay on top. I picked it up with shaking hands. Why’d he have pink baby clothes? Chandler and Ellion hadn’t mentioned anykids.
In my gut, I knew why. Whatever fire had given him those scars had taken away the angel who’d worn those pink baby clothes. I moved the tote and went to the next. It was full of pictures, many singed at the edges. A woman around my own age smiled up at me from the seat of a horse-drawn buggy. Her wedding dress shined, and her tiara sparkled in the bright sunlight. I scrutinized her wedding attire. The tiara was really bulky, not my taste atall.
Griffin sat beside her, face unscarred. He was absolutely breathtaking. His brown hair had more blonde highlights in the picture. His brown eyes twinkled the way Ellion’s did. He appeared carefree and hopeful, a man embarking on a promisinglife.
Under that photo was a picture of the beautiful blonde—of course she was blonde—holding a newborn. They sat in a hospital bed, taken moments after she’d given birth, and she looked like she’d left a long day at the spa. I had no doubt that by the time I pushed a watermelon out of my body, I’d more resemble a swamp beast than like I’d been pampered all day. I ran my fingers along the baby’s face, heart breaking with the surety of what happened to that mother andchild.
Sure enough, under that were two death certificates dated almost three years before. They’d died in the spring. I pulled two obituaries out of the box. I choked back sobs reading about Griffin’s wife and daughter. A news article under that cleared up all the questions. His house had caught fire and was almost a total loss. Mom and baby were found in the nursery, and it was thought they probably never even knew there was a fire. They died of smoke inhalation in their sleep. The article said ‘the father’ was badly injured trying to find his family and get them out. Arson wassuspected.
I forgot my ribs. I forgot how cold I was. I stared at the picture of Griffin’s wife, Amanda, and daughter, Andee. I imagined what might have been for that sweet baby girl and how much pain Griffin must be in every second of everyday.
Slowly, the cold intruded on my contemplation, and I realized I was neck deep in someone else’s personal past. I replaced the photos and articles in the tote and moved on to the next one, moving past totes filled with what was obviously random objects salvaged from thehouse.
The very last tote I opened was full of blankets. Of course, the last one. I took the entire tote back to the SUV with me. I climbed in, and the heater had completely warmed the interior of the vehicle. Tears once again fell as the heat enveloped me like the world’s best hug. I fiddled with the back seats until they lay flat and I was left with what passed for a halfway decent bed, considering the circumstances. I spread most of the blankets out for cushion, put the heater on the lowest setting, and settled in with a blanket pillow and the fluffiest blanket wrapped aroundme.
My stomach rumbled, and my ribs throbbed with pain, but I was warming and I was alive. Somehow I’d make it out of the mess I’d landed myself in and never set foot in a state that experienced significant snowfall again. I burrowed into the blankets, thoughts of Amanda and Andee on mymind.
“Linda.”A gruff voice intruded on my dreams. “Linda. Wakeup.”
My eyes flew open, and I sat up with a gasp. My circumstances and surroundings came back to me in a rush, and I realized I wasn’t alone in the SUV. Griffin sat in the front passenger seat, a behemoth of a man, twisted around so he could shake my foot and try to wake meup.
The heater had done its job too well, and the interior of the vehicle was roasting. I scrambled over to the heater in the floorboard and turned itoff.
“You could’ve burned the barn down doing that. Why are you hiding out here?” heasked.
I blinked at him, confused. “Hiding? What’re you talking about? I almost died.” And that was just trying to deal with the loft. I kept the heater escapade tomyself.
He scoffed. “How’d you almost die going from the house to thebarn?”
I didn’t understand how he could be so blasé about that storm outside. “How’d you get here? Did you bring one of the other snowmobiles to find me?” Iasked.
Griffin blinked a few times before he began to laugh uproariously. “Did you take a snowmobile out here?” heasked.
My temper ignited. “How the hell else would I get out here? I was trying to leave you alone since you so obviously wanted me gone. I wastryingto get to my patient’shouse.”
He made a sad attempt to stop his laughter. “I’m sorry,” he chortled out. “There’s a tunnel from the house to this barn. Didn’t you look behind that door over there?” he pointed to a cornerdoor.
Once I checked to make sure it was locked tight, I’d ignored it since I’d assumed it ledoutside.
I stared at the door, mouth hanging open. Laughter bubbled up my throat. It was either laugh or dissolve in tears. All the cold, hunger, rib pain. It was all for nothing. If I’d opened door number two I could’ve been in the house, snug as a bug and arguing withGriffin.
I clutched my ribs, grimacing through my laughter. “I can’t believe myselfsometimes.”
Griffin watched me with one grizzled brow arched. “You stole a snowmobile and tried to get to your patient’shouse?”
I nodded, ignoring the fact that I wanted to run my fingers up his chest and dig my fingernails into his pecs. I shook my head. Where the hell did that come from? He was a dick, and I’d be damned. Although… angry sex was alwaysfun.
