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“Who in the heck wears a pale gray jacket in the snow?” he started, horrifically aware that he could barely see her. Grabbing the rope that he had strung between the cabins, he now understood why Houghton asked him to do this and the necessity of it.
You couldn’t see a blasted thing.
He had to get Lena inside and get her to shelter, and they were not coming out of their cabin until August if he had his way. As he walked along the rope, calling her name repeatedly, he nearly bumped right into her. It took everything he had not to grab her and hug her at that moment. Instead, he leaned forward and hated that he was having to yell so close to her.
“Cabin! Heading to the cabin,” he repeated. “Follow the rope, and don’t let go.”
Jake then reached out, resting a hand on her waist, and walked closely behind her through the snow. If something happened and she felt, got to a point where she couldn’t walk, or lost the rope for some reason?
He wasn’t losing his grasp on her –ever.
It seemed to take forever, but they finally made it to their cabin and saw the raw, pink color on her cheeks along with the pained look in her eyes. She looked scared and knew she had to be bitterly cold… because he was half-frozen himself.
“Stay here,” he said. “Keep your coat on for two seconds while I start some hot tea and a fire, okay? I’ve got you,” he said tenderly, kissing one of those cheeks to gauge just how cold it was, worried it was frostbite.
“I’ve got you,” he repeated and quickly moved about the cabin as she stood there in her coat, shivering. As soon as the fire had started, he shook off his coat and climbed the ladder into the loft reaching across the flooring to yank the blanket off the bed where she slept.
Forget privacy, boundaries, and all that jazz. He had to get her warm.
“I want you to listen to me, okay?” he said gently, looking at her. “Your coat is wet, your socks are probably soaked, and we need to warm you up. Everything that is wet is coming off…” and he paused expecting a fight, only to see her eyes meet his as her teeth chattered audibly. “We’re going to put it in a pile, and I’ll hang it in a bit, but for now? I need you warm, dry, and to be okay. I promise.”
Gingerly, he peeled her coat off, noting that the snow was indeed packed in creases along her elbows where she’d had her arms bent to carry the food to the others.
“You are so good, trying so hard, and doing everything you can…” he whispered, feeling almost detached as he pulled off her coat and knelt to remove her boots. Her socks were cotton – not the woolen ones and he winced, imagining how frozen she was.
He pulled off her gloves, and she instantly put her hands together, wincing at the contact.
“You need sturdier stuff out here or should have taken mine,” he chided softly, pulling the sweatshirt over her head and remembering she had been still sleeping in her t-shirt and sweats. “Got anything on under those?” he asked politely, trying to keep the hoarseness out of his voice as she nodded, still chattering and not talking yet as she shook visibly.
“Lumberjack, sweats don’t provideanyprotection from the wind at all. At least wear lots of layers or something,” he painfully whispered, stunned that she’d made it this long as he peeled them off while looking away from her underwear before carefully bundling her unclothed form in the blanket to give her privacy and warmth.
He remembered a sandstorm back in Ghazni that had him coughing up dust and sand in everything for days afterwards. He had never felt so raw – and his skin was sore everywhere it was exposed, having been ‘sanded’ literally by the blowing debris.
Guiding her to sit on the loveseat, he moved to get her a cup of tea.
“Sip on this,” he instructed softly.
“C-C-Cold,” she whispered, looking at him, shiverring badly.
“I know. I’m trying,” he said tenderly and picked up a foot, briskly rubbing it to warm it up. Her delicate toes were red and so cold, making him feel infinitely protective of his pretty girl. “I’m going to warm you just a bit. I want you to drink that tea, and then we are going to snuggle until you can’t stand it anymore.”
“P-Promise?”
Jake looked up at her and felt his heart turn over in his chest at the simple word and realized that he loved this stubborn little woman more than anything in the world.
“I promise,” he whispered. “I’m going to hold you until you are heartily sick of me.”
And he kept his word.
As soon as she finished her tea, he refilled it, put another log in the small fireplace, and checked their phones for text messages.
Everyone make it back to their cabins?
Yep
Yes – thank you to whoever dropped the groceries at the door. I appreciate it!
Yes – and that was Lena. She’s warming up now. How’s Max?
