Page 49 of Hard Rain Coming

When Dallas didn’t respond, she gathered enough courage to look up. His eyes glittered in the gloom, but there was no mistaking the heat inside them.

“You’ll be stuck up there for a couple of days,” he said, watching her closely.

“I know.”

“It’s going to be a tough go, getting up the mountain.”

She cracked a wry smile. “I’ve been through worse.”

Dallas took a step back. “Yeah,” he replied, voice low. “I was there with you.” He nodded to the door. “Let’s go. We have to head back toward the main house anyway, so you’ve got time to change your mind. We should leave that thing you call a dog with Nora.”

“Why?”

“My cat will have it for lunch.”

She walked past him and shook her head. “I think Lily can stand up for herself.”

“It’s your dog’s funeral.”

Vivian bent her head against the blast of wind and snow, and after Dallas got himself settled on the Ski-Doo, she crawled up behind him. With Lily snuggled inside her jacket, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and closed her eyes.

She wouldn’t open them until later. Wouldn’t think about the right or wrong of her actions. Or the consequences, for that matter.

As Dallas revved the sled and they headed into the storm, she couldn’t help but think how right this felt. And for Vivian Bridgestone, feeling good and right always led to something dark.

Would this be any different? With secrets between them and a past that had left scars, how could she and Dallas ever have something worth saving? Was she setting herself up for another heartbreak?

But then, could you break a heart that was blackened, bruised, and broken?

Chapter Sixteen

It was a tough go getting up to his place, but once they were past the treeline, at least he’d been afforded some bit of shelter from the wind and snow. It took nearly an hour and when Dallas arrived at his home, he instructed Vivian to go into the house, while he headed for the barn. There’d been no conversation. No back-and-forth. He hadn’t given her an opportunity for any of that, because with him and Vivian, things generally headed south when she wanted something that he didn’t.

At that moment, he needed some space.

He’d left her on his porch and immersed himself in barn chores, welcoming the physical labor because it stopped him from thinking about things. In particular, why in hell he’d agreed to bring Vivian up here. So, he cleared his mind and worked, and, nearly two hours later, had nothing left to do. The animals had been fed, the stalls mucked, and new bedding laid down. They had fresh water, feed, and, though it was chilly, the animals would be fine. With one last glance around the barn, Dallas closed up. With his head bent against the wind, he trudged through waist-high drifts until he reached the house.

It was early afternoon, but the gray sky wasn’t letting much light through. Smoke rose from the chimney. He was surprised to see the entire porch had been cleared of snow. He considered walking around to the mudroom door, but the snow was too deep. As it was Dallas was able to shake most of it from his clothes and boots, before stepping inside the warmth of the house.

He smelled chili and spied a large pot on the stove. His stomach rumbled as he shrugged out of his gear, then headed for the mudroom to hang up his pants and coat. When he walked in, Dallas was immediately assaulted by five kittens, while the mother watched him lazily from her bed in the corner. The smallest, his favorite, was nowhere to be seen.

“Ringo,” he called softly, looking in the closet. He called once more, but the kitten didn’t appear, and he figured the little fur ball had hidden himself away behind the washer or dryer. Dallas made sure the mother’s food bowl was full and noticed her water had been topped up.

He closed the door and turned around, and that’s when he spied Vivian curled up in the oversized chair by the fireplace. She was asleep, wrapped in one of his mother’s old blankets, and there, tucked up underneath her chin, was Ringo. Poking out from the other side was Lily, who stared back at him with one eye open.

It was weird seeing her in his place. Dallas watched her for a few moments, then headed upstairs for a shower. The hot water felt good. It wasn’t until he was underneath the spray that he realized just how tense he was. After he cleaned his body, he rolled his shoulders and neck and leaned against the tiled wall, enjoying the hot spray.

He was in the shower so long the water began to cool, and with a sigh he stepped out and dried off. He pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of track pants, then headed downstairs. Vivian was still asleep, so he made himself a coffee. With nothing to do but listen to the storm rattle the windows, he settled in across from her and sipped the warm brew. A frown marred her forehead, and he wondered what it was she was dreaming about. Then he berated himself, because trying to figure out the inner workings of Vivian Bridgestone’s mind was like trying to figure out a Rubik’s Cube. Damn near impossible.

He'd just set down his empty mug on the table beside his chair when Ringo’s little head rose, and the kitten spied him. The kitten stretched lazily, gave Vivian’s chin a quick lick, and then began the perilous journey down her body so that he could get to Dallas. The animal paused when he got to the edge of the sofa, eyeing the distance to the ground with a swishing tail and a plaintive cry.

Dallas was about to rescue him, but Ringo half fell, half jumped down, and ran to him, his claws digging into his cotton pants as he pulled himself up to triumphantly sit on Dallas’s lap. The kitten was tenacious. He chuckled, picking him up to give him a quick scratch behind the ears.

“He’s sweet.”

Dallas glanced over to Vivian, who now sat up and watched him and Ringo. Her eyes were still sleep-heavy, her hair a tangled mess, and her skin glowed.

God, she was beautiful. No way around it.