Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold Romance) (16 page)

He lightly kissed her, then stood. “I’m going to go outside and see if I can get a cell signal. I want to tell Melissa what happened so she can close up the store and let the authorities know we’re staying out for the night.”

“There goes my reputation,” she said with a grin.

He didn’t smile back. “Are you worried about what people will think?”

“I meant it the other way,” she assured him. “I have wild friends. Knowing we spent the night together in a cabin will impress them.”

He stared at her intently. “Was that a joke?”

“Yikes, I must be doing it wrong if you have to ask.”

He surprised her by hauling her against him and hanging on tight. “You’re better.”

She could barely breathe. “Excuse me?”

“You were sad when we couldn’t find a tree, then freezing after the snow attack. You were barely talking. Defeated.” He drew back and looked at her. “I didn’t like it.”

His concern was kind of sweet. She touched his face. “You’re really weird, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that before.” He stood. “I’m going to try to call Melissa. Then I’ll get firewood. You rest. That’s an order.”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

“In this situation, I’m your doctor and you will listen.”

“Ooh, tough-guy doctor. I’m trembling.”

Something flashed in his eyes. Something hot and hungry that made her very aware of her seminaked state.

If he took, she wouldn’t say no, but Gabriel had already proven he needed more than that. He needed her to be the one asking. To be sure.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. “Stay warm.”

She nodded and he left. When she was alone, she stood and found her legs were steady. She was cold but no longer chilled. Wrapping one of the blankets around her like a cloak, she explored the small cabin.

The furniture was worn, but looked clean. There were bookshelves with paperbacks ranging from spy thrillers to romances. A deck of cards sat on a stack of board games. On a shelf by the kitchen was a glass paperweight with a rose inside. A little Statue of Liberty sat on a windowsill.

The bathroom had running water, which was great. There was food and even a small portable radio. She checked for batteries and when she found them, turned it on. Sure enough, the local Fool’s Gold FM station came in. She grinned. Later, they could listen to music. Although she doubted Gabriel would find the oldies station very romantic. Not with his brother acting as DJ.

She crossed to the small window and tried to see through the falling snow. The tree hunt had been a good lesson for her. It was easy for her to fall back into her former competitive spirit, she thought. Determined to win, no matter what it took. That drive had propelled her through law school and later had given her the inner strength to defeat her illness. But it didn’t make her a restful person. She wanted to maintain her Zen self. Which meant that she probably should have taken one of the first trees she’d seen in town instead of making Gabriel go up into the mountains with her.

She saw movement outside and watched him walk to the woodpile. He brushed off snow, then lifted the tarp. She turned back to the interior of the cabin and crossed to the sofa. As for what was going to happen that night, she still hadn’t decided. She knew what her body wanted, but her heart and her head were different matters.

The front door burst open. Gabriel stood in the entrance, his head and shoulders covered with snow, his expression oddly agitated.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You’re not going to believe it.
I
can’t believe it.”

She got the feeling she didn’t have to panic, but still. “You’re not a very good storyteller. What is it?”

“A mother cat with kittens. By the woodpile.”

He continued talking, but she didn’t listen as she reached for her wet clothes.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. “I can handle it.”

“You’ll need help. Sometimes cats are afraid of men.” She pointed to the door. “Go keep an eye on her. I’ll be right there.”

He hesitated, but then looked her over, nodded and went back out into the storm.

She pulled on her jeans and shrugged into her T-shirt. The sweater was too wet to be any good. She struggled with her damp socks, pulled on her boots and jacket, then stepped out into the frigid afternoon.

Gabriel was pacing by the woodpile. As she approached, he faced her and shook his head. “The babies are really small. Their eyes are barely open. She’s cold and starving. We’ve got to get her inside.”

He raised the tarp over the wood and Noelle saw a mother cat had tried to make a bed by the vent from the cabin. She would guess that was the warmest place she could find. Four little kittens were huddled up against her, mewing as if they were uncomfortable.

The mama cat was small and thin, with big eyes. Her coat wasn’t very long and seemed to have some tabby mixed in. She watched Noelle warily, no doubt afraid of what would happen next.

Noelle dropped to her knees, ignoring the cold and soaking snow, and pulled her gloves off her hand.

“Hey, pretty girl,” she murmured, holding out her fingers to the mother cat. “It’s okay. Are you lost? Do you live out here by yourself? Because it’s really cold. I think you should come in with us.”

The cat stared at her for a long time before finally sniffing her fingers. The action told Noelle she had to have belonged to someone at some time. Wouldn’t a feral cat simply take off?

“Go inside,” she told Gabriel in a low voice. “Back up slowly so you don’t startle her. Look for canned meat. There’s probably tuna. Open the can, then bring it to me.”

Noelle stayed where she was, speaking softly, offering reassurance. He returned with an open can. She took it from him and scooped up a little with her fingers, then held it out to the mother cat.

She gulped the tuna flakes in a single bite, then stood and meowed. Noelle saw she was horribly thin and obviously exhausted.

“What happened to you?” she asked, then stood. “Come on, sweet girl. Let’s get you and your babies inside.”

She held out the can so the cat could sniff it, then dropped a little on the snow. The cat ate it and took a step toward her. They repeated the procedure a few times, then the cat retreated to stay by her babies.

“Get a towel,” Noelle told Gabriel.

He raced back inside and returned with a hand towel. Noelle put it on the snow and reached for the cat’s first kitten. The mother watched her intently but didn’t try to stop her. Noelle collected all four tiny kittens on the towel and started toward the house.

“Get the tuna,” she said as the mother cat followed her inside.

It didn’t take long to create a bed for the mother cat and her babies. They placed it close to a vent so she would be warm. While Gabriel poured her a bowl of water, Noelle dumped the tuna onto a dish and fed her. The mother cat inhaled her meal, then returned to her babies and began to wash them. By the time Noelle had struggled out of her clothes and was wrapped in her blanket again, mother and kittens were sound asleep.

Gabriel returned with the wood he’d gone looking for in the first place. He put it by the fireplace, then slipped out of his jacket and removed his boots.

“How old do you think they are?” she asked in a soft voice.

“A couple of weeks. They have their eyes open, but they’re still blind.”

“You know a lot about cats.”

“My ex had a couple. One got pregnant, so I heard all about the process.”

He sat on the sofa and angled toward her. Noelle watched the cats sleeping. “Did you get in touch with Melissa?” she asked.

“I did. I told her we were going to stay put until it stopped snowing. She was fine with locking up the store. She said the roads into town are temporarily closed, so no one is getting in or out.”

“It’s a real snowstorm.”

“Does that make you happy?” he asked.

She nodded. “We’re warm and safe and we now have a cat with kittens.” She glanced at the sleeping family. “It’s so cold out there. I don’t know how she survived this long.”

“Look at how thin she is. I doubt she’s been eating. She probably wouldn’t have made it much longer.”

Noelle didn’t want to think about that, but knew he was right. “If we hadn’t come along,” she began.

Gabriel took her hand in his. “See? Your tree obsession served a purpose.”

She nodded. “We’re her Christmas miracle. And don’t tell me it’s not Christmas yet.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Chapter 10

Noelle woke up to total darkness and a sense of warmth and safety. It took her a second to realize where she was and why there was an arm around her waist. As she blinked, her mind filled in the blanks. The search for the tree. The tree-snow attack, the cabin and the mother cat and her kittens.

She and Gabriel had spent a quiet evening reading and listening to the radio. Power had lasted until nearly nine, then it had gone out. He’d started a fire and they’d used the battery-operated lanterns sparingly. Their only rough spot had been when they’d let the mother cat out to use the restroom. For ten anxious minutes, they’d waited for her to come back and discussed what they would do if she didn’t. But she’d appeared on the doorstep and meowed to get in.

Now Noelle wondered what time it was and how long she’d been asleep. She’d planned to make a move and think about seducing Gideon, only exhaustion had overcome her before she could figure out how best to be seductive. She’d been asleep long before he joined her in the bed.

He was pressed up against her, his arm around her waist. In a perfect world she would roll over and do something suggestive. Unfortunately, there was a whole list of things that got in the way. For one, she wasn’t sure what he would find sexy. For another, she really had to pee, and rounding up the issues was the fact that she needed to brush her teeth before kissing anyone.

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.”

“Sorry,” Gabriel told him. “I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” The question was immediate and all sleep had fled Gideon’s voice. He was a soldier on alert.

Gabriel explained about the search for the perfect tree in the middle of a snowstorm and how he and Noelle were snowed in.

“We got at least four feet last night,” he said. “Maybe more.”

His brother started to chuckle. “A cabin in the woods. Good one. Next thing you’ll be telling me you had to share the only bed to keep warm.”

Gabriel thought about the long night with Noelle snuggled close. Despite his exhaustion, he’d found it difficult to sleep. His body had wanted to do things with her. Sexual things. The fact that he’d found condoms when he’d checked out the bathroom hadn’t made sleeping any easier. Because now there was nothing standing between him and what he wanted—except his promise.

“The cabin is on a private road,” he said, ignoring his brother’s comments. Gabriel described the location. “Mayor Marsha told Noelle about it, so she’ll have more details. There’s no way we’re getting out of here until they plow up to the truck.”

Gideon swore. “My truck? The truck you borrowed?”

“That would be the one.”

“Great. Now I’m motivated to get you rescued.”

Gabriel grinned. “Thanks for caring.”

“Hey, I love that truck. Okay, I’ll make some calls. You have cell service in the cabin?”

“No. I’m about a quarter mile away.”

“Then I won’t make you wait while I phone around. Give me a couple of hours and call back. By then I’ll know something.”

“Will do.”

He disconnected the call and headed back for the house. When he was nearly there, he saw something moving in the snow. An animal, he thought. Something small and...

He came to a stop and swore. No way, he thought. No way in hell. But there it was. A mother cat with a kitten in her mouth. She was heading for the cabin.

While their rescues from the previous night had been a kind of tabby, this cat was gray with white paws. Her kitten was older and bigger than the others, but it was still as she carried it through the feet of snow.

He approached cautiously, not wanting to frighten her. The cat waited patiently by the front door, obviously expecting to be let in.

He opened the door and she darted inside. He followed. “We have more company.”

Noelle was stirring a pot on the woodstove. She saw the mother cat and then looked at him. “Seriously?”

“That’s what I said.”

“How many are out there?”

“I have no idea.”

The new mother cat walked over to the other one. They greeted each other with obvious familiarity. The gray mom set her kitten next to the tabby, who drew it close and began grooming it. Then the new mom headed back for the door.

“She has a family,” Noelle said. “We need to get them all inside.”

“I’ll go with her,” Gabriel told her.

Fortunately, the mother cat chose to cooperate. She led the way, occasionally glancing back as if making sure he was keeping up. She’d made her home midway up a tree, in a hole created by some other creature. There were two kittens shivering inside, including a little gray tabby that didn’t have a tail.

“Hey, guys,” Gabriel said, reaching for the kittens. They both glared at him and hissed. Their sharp claws ripped through his hand.

“Nice,” he muttered, looking at the mother cat. “You couldn’t teach them better?”

She watched anxiously as he tucked the squirming kittens inside his coat, against his chest. They settled immediately, apparently deciding warmth was more important than dealing with the abduction.

The mother cat meowed and kept pace with him as they made their way back to the cabin. Once the babies were settled by the fireplace, the two mothers curled up around their families and went to sleep.

Noelle dished up a heated chicken and noodle casserole and they sat down at the table. “We need to look around after breakfast,” she said. “To see if there are any other cats in the area.”

He nodded and told her about his call to Gideon. “He’ll have information for me in a couple of hours. In the meantime, we’ll start digging out. We work for an hour, then come in and rest before heading out again.”

“Forced exercise. Experts do say to work it into your lifestyle.”

“I don’t think this is what they had in mind.” He thought about the drifts he’d seen and how the house was buried. “The main roads are going to be their first priority. We have food, water and shelter. There may be people stranded.”

She picked up her fork. “You’re trying to warn me that we could be here a couple of days.”

He nodded. He knew the window contest was important to her, but he doubted they would get back in time to do anything. And they sure weren’t going to be looking for the perfect tree.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck,” she said. “I dragged you out here.”

“I came voluntarily.”

She smiled. “Technically, you were complaining, but this isn’t the time to go into that. Melissa will take care of the store. If the snow is this bad in town, then it’s not like we’re going to be getting a lot of customers anyway.”

She scooped up some chicken. “We have kittens, we have a radio, we have a supply of delicious casseroles. Could it be any better?”

He knew she was teasing, but that part of her believed what she was saying. She wasn’t the type to look on the dark side. And she was right—they were safe and would hold out for a week, no problem.

She glanced at the kittens and smiled. He studied her profile. She was so beautiful, he thought. Giving. Unexpectedly competitive. She was nothing he’d expected for his vacation and yet now he couldn’t imagine what he would have done with himself if he hadn’t met her.

* * *

Noelle studied the cards in front of her. All she needed was another two and either an eight or a king of spades and she would be out, she thought, careful to not let her expression show her glee. She’d never had much of a poker face.

It was midafternoon. She and Gabriel had already had four sessions of digging out. Snow was heavier than it looked, especially when measured in feet. They’d dug what was more trench than path to the truck, then gone to work clearing the vehicle.

Gabriel’s second call to his brother had told them that the town had been slammed, as well. That while the plows were out and working, they wouldn’t get up Mother Bear Road until the following morning. The good news was Mayor Marsha had promised the private road would be plowed up to the truck, so all they had to do was get it dug out and then wait to be rescued.