Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold #12.5)(47)

Life, she thought humorously. Designed to keep her humble.

She decided to stay where she was for a few more minutes and enjoy the moment. Gabriel was warm and solid against her back. She hadn’t slept with a man in a long time, she thought. Hadn’t shared her life so intimately. It felt good to be with him.

Part of the healing process, she thought. While her body had gotten better months ago, it was taking her spirit longer. She’d been touched by death, had seen firsthand the evidence of her mortality. Had nearly lost everything and then had needed to fight her way back.

That was behind her now. She’d made a new home, new friends. She was safe and supported. She had let go of the past. Now all she needed was her second act, she thought with a smile. The good stuff—a husband to love and kids. Memories. She wanted lots and lots of memories.

The man next to her rolled onto his back.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, his voice quiet in the darkness.

“I did. What about you?”

“Great, except for your snoring.”

She shot up into a sitting position. “I don’t snore.”

“I know. I was kidding.”

She glared in his general direction. “That wasn’t funny.”

“It was to me.” His hand stroked her back.

“We need to work on your sense of humor,” she told him.

“Yet people tell me it’s one of my best qualities.”

She heard a rustling sound by the fireplace and reached for the lantern by the bed. After turning it on, she saw the feline guest had stepped out of her makeshift bed and was stretching. The cat looked at her and meowed.

“I think that’s a request for a bathroom break and breakfast,” Noelle said as she stood.

She tried not to think about the fact that she was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, panties and nothing else. But it hadn’t made sense to sleep in clothes and hey, Gabriel had stripped down to his briefs.

Nearly naked, she thought, doing her best not to watch him get out of bed. Staring seemed so rude. Still, under the circumstances, she was willing to be chastised for bad manners.

Fortunately he decided to be the one to let out the cat, so he walked across their small cabin. The fact that he came into her field of view wasn’t really her fault, she told herself as she took in his broad back and narrow waist. He had a great butt, she thought with a sigh, then turned away and headed for the bathroom.

When she’d used the facilities and brushed her teeth, she returned to the main room to check on her jeans. “What time is it?” she asked. “It must be early if it’s still dark.”

Gabriel had pulled on his clothes and was collecting his boots. “It’s daylight,” he said.

She glanced toward the still-dark window. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s snow.”

She shook her head. “No. Not past the windows.”

“Well past. It stopped snowing but based on how much we got in the night, it wasn’t anytime close to midnight. I would say it went until a couple of hours ago. You should have seen the look the cat gave me when I opened the door for her. She wasn’t amused.”

Noelle crossed to the front door and pulled it open. The cat ran back inside and shook herself off. Noelle stared at the feet of snow surrounding the house, piling up toward the room and stretching for as far as she could see. Up above the sky was bright and blue, but here on earth, it was like living in a snow globe.

“Are we going to be able to get out today?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I’m going to call Gideon and find out about the snowplows. We’ll need them to come down the private road. Otherwise it’ll take days for me to dig us out back to where we turned.”

“I can help,” she told him. “Weren’t there several shovels by the woodpile?”

“Yeah, but even with two of us, it’ll take days to dig us out. It’s a quarter mile of maybe four feet of snow. That’s not easy.”

He finished tying his boots, then headed for the bathroom. Noelle fed the cat and checked on the kittens before opening the freezer and quickly removing two casseroles. If they were going to be stuck here another day or so, they would need food, which meant defrosting before reheating. As for the rest of the contents of the freezer, she figured they had the rest of the day before they had to think about how to keep the food in the freezer cold. Of course, sticking it all in a snowbank would be a quick solution.

“I’ll be back,” he told her as he stepped out of the bathroom.

“Be careful,” she told him, following him to the door.

He surprised her with a quick kiss, and then he was gone. She looked at the mother cat.

“I know what you’re thinking. It all starts so casually but before you know it, you’re a single mother of four, trying to make it through a hard winter.”

The mother cat closed her eyes and began to purr.

* * *

Gabriel wasn’t sure how far he walked to get a signal on his cell phone. All he knew was that by the time he reached the top of the rise, he could barely see the house and he was cold, wet and tired.

He turned on his cell and was pleased to see three bars pop up. He dialed his brother.

“Do you know what time it is?” came the grumbling greeting. “I work the late shift, bro.”