“Okay. I’ll make the decision. We are going to try this. Get dressed in your swimsuit, and I’ll be right back.”
Before she could change her mind, he walked off to his own room.
Brent grippedCandace around the waist as he helped her down the steps. He insisted on picking her up, but she wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted to hop down with his help, saying something about worrying he would drop her. As much as he wanted to show off how strong he was and just carry her down the steps against her will, he knew that would set them back to square one. They were finally making progress, and he didn’t want to rock the boat.
When they reached the bottom, she took hold of her crutches and insisted on crutching the rest of the way. He walked beside her, ready to catch her if she were to slip once they got outside.
Once they opened the doors to the concrete walkway that led to the hot tubs, a blast of cold air had them both exhaling suddenly.
“Oh, my God. It’s cold.” She looked up at him. “We can go back inside if you want.”
He shook his head and grabbed a few towels off the cart sitting just inside the door. “Nope. We’re doing this.”
They slowly crutched through the snowy pathway. By the time they reached the hot tubs, they were both shivering.
“Still want to do this?” she asked.
“Yep. There’s no turning back now.”
He quickly stripped his sweatshirt off and set it on top of a towel on a nearby bench before taking her crutches and helping her out of her sweatshirt. He took her around the waist and liftedher over the edge of the hot tub on the shallow steps and slowly lowered her until her foot on her good leg touched the seat. Then he stepped inside and helped her find a comfortable position while simultaneously keeping her injured foot out of the water and elevated on the edge of the hot tub to reduce swelling.
Once they were both seated, they breathed a sigh of relief as the hot water warmed them.
“It’s going to suck getting out,” she said.
He laughed. “Yeah, I’m thinking we should skip the sweatshirts and just get to the door quickly before putting them on again inside.”
“I agree.”
“I might just have to help hustle you along so we don’t freeze.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“I might just pick you up and run.”
“And slip on the ice and damage my foot further? I’ll pass.”
“Oh, ye of little faith.”
She laughed. “I think I’ll take my chances with freezing my ass off.”
“Okay, okay. You can call the shots,” he said with a wink.
They sat in silence for several minutes. Brent took a moment to glance around. The other hot tub was empty, as he had expected. It was quiet except for the wind rustling the nearby pine trees. Looking up, all he could see were the falling flakes.
Montana was beautiful this time of year, albeit cold. This was his first time visiting Wintervale, but he knew he would come back. There was something magical about this place.
But perhaps it more had to do with Candace warming up to him.
He looked over at her, and without thinking, his hand snaked around her waist. She looked over at him, surprised, but didn’tresist as he scooted closer. He gently settled her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean against him, and breathed her in. Strawberries. His favorite.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Enjoying the moment.”
As if that was a good enough answer, she relaxed into him.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said.
