1
She was so lost.
Ellie gripped the steering wheel so tight her fingers ached as she stared out at the snow-covered road. This was not good. Not good at all.
Her car wasn’t equipped to handle these conditions. Hell, she wasn’t equipped to handle these conditions. She was from Miami, she wasn’t used to snow.
At least the heater in her car worked, but if she didn’t get to her aunt’s place soon, she was going to be in real trouble. She was so scared. She didn’t have a clue about how to drive in these conditions.
She flicked a quick glance at the gas gauge. She’d put twenty dollar’s worth of gas in this morning, thinking that would be enough. But she hadn’t counted on getting stuck in a damn snow storm.
Why hadn’t she checked the weather forecast? She should have waited this storm out somewhere safe before continuing on.
Right. And what sort of motel was she going to find that cost around forty-eight dollars and ninety-cents? ‘Cause that’s all she had left of the money she’d taken when she’d left her parents’ house.
She still felt guilty about that and damn it, she shouldn’t. How long had she put her life on hold to take care of them? They had lied to her. Deceived her. Fuck, how could she have been so damn naïve?
Her eyes filled with tears, their betrayal still raw and cutting. She needed to stop being such a pushover. She’d spent years of her life looking after others. Putting herself last. Doing what she thought was her duty, because they were her parents and they loved her.
You owe us, Ellen.
If you walk out that door you are nothing to us. Don’t ever come back.
A sob welled in her chest. Hadn’t she done enough crying already? They didn’t deserve her tears.
You are no longer our daughter.
It was time to take charge of her life. She was twenty-three years old and she’d never had sex. Hell, she’d never even been on a proper date. And her last kiss had been from Boomer Marston in the back of his pick-up. He’d managed to get his hand up her top to squeeze her breast.
It hadn’t exactly been a first kiss to remember. But it was all she had. What would her life would now be like if she hadn’t done as her parents ordered and broken things off with him?
She could be Mrs. Boomer Palmer. She grimaced. Eleanor Palmer. Yuck. Would she and Boomer now have a passel of little Boomers and Boomettes running around? She risked letting go of the steering wheel to quickly wipe at her face, her vision blurring with tears. She needed to pull herself together.
She turned a corner of the road and a cry escaped her as her heart went into overdrive. A huge tree blocked the road and she was headed straight towards it. Reaching instinctively, she slammed her foot on the brakes.
Her car fishtailed, unable to gain traction on the icy road. It spun, sliding towards the side of the road. Large trees loomed, looking menacing in the near dark and she frantically turned the wheel, trying to get her car back under control. It didn’t respond. The car smashed into a tree, coming to a brutal stop. Her head snapped forward, slamming against the steering wheel. Her vision blurred, blackness creeping around her vision as she slipped into unconsciousness.
* * *
Bear studied the deteriorating weather and knew it would be foolish to attempt to make it back to the ranch tonight. Using the Bluetooth system, he put a call through to the security center at Sanctuary.
“Sanctuary Ranch, you’re talking with Corbin.”
He kept his gaze on the road, dropping his speed slightly. Things were getting ugly out here.
“It’s Bear. Not gonna make it back tonight.”
Sanctuary had been his home since he was a child. When he’d left school, it had felt natural to stay on and work there. He’d never had the desire to go anywhere else. It was where people accepted him, his desires, his needs. Because the people who lived and worked there shared his views. There was a special set of criteria anyone hired on had to fulfill.
Clint Jensen ran the ranch that his great-great-grandfather had set up with his brother. They’d wanted a place where they could live in peace with their wife. Who they shared. Back then, that must have caused a huge stir and he couldn’t blame them for wanting to shelter their wife from any ridicule.
They’d only allowed like-minded people to join them on the ranch. Men who wanted a different sort of relationship. Men who believed that women should be sheltered, coddled and taken in hand when necessary. Clint had followed in his great-great-grandfather’s shoes.
Bear didn’t know if he’d ever be able to fall in love again. He’d been burned once. He’d thought himself in love and it turned out she’d only been using him. She’d lied to him. Deceived him.
“Roger that,” Corbin replied. “Where are you at?”
Bear looked around him. “I’m about an hour south of the ranch but the snow is coming down fast. Not much poi
nt in carrying on. I’m going to head to the cabin.”
Clint’s dad had built a cabin not too far from the ranch for the times he wanted to get away for a bit of solitude with his wife. Bear had used it a time or two himself when he’d wanted to do some hunting.
He’d already passed the first turn-off that lead to the cabin, but there was another road up further he could take. He turned the corner, immediately saw a huge tree blocking the road.
“Shit!”
“Bear? Everything okay?” Corbin’s voice lacked its earlier lazy tone. Now he was all business.
He didn’t answer, his heart racing as he spotted the car off to one side, the front of it crumpled where it had crashed against another big tree.
“Fuck! There’s a car crashed to the side of the road, I’m going to stop and check there’s no one inside.”
And if there is, please let them be alive.
He gradually took his foot off the accelerator, slowing down. He hadn’t been going very fast, and luckily, he’d put his snow tires on his truck the other day.
“Let me know what’s going on and if you need help,” Corbin replied calmly. “I’ll let Clint and Kent know what’s happened. I’ll also alert the authorities about the tree blocking the road.”
“Got it. Will check in soon.”
He left his truck running, switched on the hazards in case anyone came around the corner behind him, although most sane people wouldn’t be out in this weather. He pulled on some gloves and grabbed his jacket, dragging it on before stepping out. Bear moved around the truck and opened up the storage unit he kept in the back. It contained a flashlight, an emergency foil blanket and a first aid kit along with a shovel and some flares. He grabbed the flashlight, since it was growing darker.
He liked to be prepared.
“Hello?” he called out as he approached the other vehicle. “Anyone in the car?”
It had stopped running. He wondered how long it had been sitting here.
“Hello?”