How would her life have been different if she hadn’t gotten sick? It wasn’t a question she allowed herself to think about very much. Would she have married Jeremy? At the time she would have said yes. That he was the one. But he hadn’t stood by her and he hadn’t been willing to see her as more than damaged goods. He’d walked away so easily, she’d started to wonder if he’d ever loved her at all.

Gabriel straightened. “I can’t do the spirit of joy but I can manage an attitude of acceptance. Good enough?”

“Sure. We’ll find your joy along the way.”

“I didn’t think it was missing.”

He put the truck back in Drive and pulled out onto the road. Noelle got out the directions the mayor had given her and told him to turn at the private road three miles up Mother Bear Road.

“As long as we don’t run in to the namesake,” he muttered.

“She’s hibernating. Bears hibernate.”

“You’d better be right about that.”

They turned at the corner and then continued up the mountain. Gabriel kept track of the distance. The road had been recently plowed and they traveled easily, but when she pointed to the private road, everything changed.

Here the snow was thick and the truck moved sluggishly through the growing drifts.

“You sure about this?” he asked. “If it snows much more, we’re going to get stuck.”

She looked at the paper with the instructions. “It’s less than a quarter mile to the cabin. From there, we walk.”

“There’s a cabin?”

“Yes, for emergencies. The city owns it. Or maybe the county. The mayor says it’s kept stocked for when people get lost. She said we go directly east from the cabin for a few hundred yards and then we’ll find the trees.” She stared up at the sky. “The snow is letting up. It’s a sign.”

“Lucky us.”

She ignored him and watched for the cabin. When she saw it and pointed, Gabriel nodded. He turned the truck so they were facing out, then they bundled into their coats, scarves and gloves and stepped out of the cab.

The first thing she noticed was the stillness. There was only the sound of their footsteps crunching in the snow. All around them was pristine wilderness. Bare trees, na**d bushes and smooth, fresh snow. There weren’t even animal tracks. The cabin was dark and silent, with snow on the roof and drifts piled up nearly to the windows.

“It’s like we’re the only two living creatures in the world,” she said with a sigh. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, it is.”

She turned to smile at him, only to find he was looking at her with anything but amusement. There was an intensity in his blue eyes, a flash of hunger that had her wanting to step toward him. But then he blinked and it was gone.

Tree first, she told herself, trying to sound mentally stern. Man-seduction later.

“Okay,” she said, pulling out her directions. “We go east.”

Gabriel pointed. “That way.”

She was going to ask how he knew, but figured she’d been enough of a pain, dragging him out here in the first place. Besides, it’s not as if she had some innate sense of direction.

“Lead on,” she told him when he’d collected the ax and some rope from the back of the truck.

They made slow progress through the deep snow. Noelle quickly realized there was no way she could have done this herself. Just getting out here would have been a challenge and it wasn’t as if she knew how to chop down a tree. Maybe she should have gone with one of the ones in town, she thought, then pressed her lips together. She must remember not to mention that to Gabriel.

“So, you and Mayor Marsha,” she said as she struggled to keep up with him. “That must have been interesting.”

“She wanted to talk to me about the new hospital in town.”

“New hospital? Oh, right. The one they’re building. I have a friend, Montana. She’s married to Simon Bradley. He’s a—”

“Famous plastic surgeon who specializes in people who have been burned. I was told. The mayor did her best on selling me the job.”

“Were you interested?”

“No.”

Disappointment weighed heavily in her belly. She wanted to say that Fool’s Gold was a great town and the people were really friendly and that if he stayed they could... What? Fall in love? Gabriel didn’t want that. He didn’t want a wife and a family. He believed the risk wasn’t worth the reward. If he stayed she would want to spend time with him and doing that would most likely lead to getting her heart broken. Better for them both that he disappear while she was still in emotional control.

“You’re going back into the army?” she asked.

“I haven’t decided.” He looked up as it began to snow again. “According to my dad, I don’t get to leave. I owe them until I’ve done my twenty.”

“He doesn’t want you to choose?”

“Sure. As long as I choose what he wants me to.” He pointed straight ahead. “Trees,” he said.

She wasn’t sure if he was excited about the find or simply wanted to get her to change the subject. Regardless, she kept moving her legs through the thick snow, and watching for the perfect tree.

Chapter 9

Noelle shook her head.

Gabriel wanted to complain that this was the fifth tree she’d rejected, but he couldn’t blame her. Trees that grew in nature had a lot more flaws than groomed trees grown specifically for the holidays. One had an entire side missing, while another’s branches were oddly twisted. She would have done better picking one from the lot. Not that he was about to say that. She was getting more dejected by the minute.

Even though she was wearing a thick coat and a scarf, he could see her shoulders were slumped. Her hat had lost its jaunty angle and now simply hung down by her ears. He wanted to tell her that they would find what she was looking for, but he wasn’t sure it was out there. The perfect Christmas tree had been elusive this year.

Snow fell harder as they waded through the heavy drifts. They’d both worn heavy boots, but were getting soaked from boot tops to knees. The temperature was dropping.

“Noelle,” he began, not wanting to disappoint her, but unwilling to risk their safety. “We need to go back.”

She nodded without speaking.

“Hey,” he said, reaching for her. “You don’t have to—”

The rest of his sentence was swallowed by a rumbling sound as the trees above them suddenly lost all their snow. Huge clumps fell on top of them without warning, nearly burying them. Noelle screamed, then slid to the ground where she disappeared completely. He managed to stay standing, but found himself in waist-high banks.

“Noelle!”

He dove into the snow, reaching for her with both hands. She’d landed on her butt but had already pushed up her arms and was digging her way out. As he dragged her up, she pushed against the ground and managed to stand.

“You okay?” he asked as he ripped off his gloves, then brushed snow from her face. “Are you hurt?”

She stared at him, wide-eyed. “I was attacked by snow.”

“Or trees. Either way, I’m thinking nature isn’t your friend.”

“What happened?”

As she spoke, he checked her eyes and then urged her to take a couple of steps. Her balance was steady and she didn’t seem to be in pain.

“The snow got too heavy for the trees and it fell. It happens. At least it wasn’t an avalanche.”

She shivered. “I got snow down my back and in my boots.” She drew in a breath. “Okay, I’m done. There’s no perfect tree. I’m not going to win the window competition. We’ll just go with what we have.”

He drew her against him and kissed her cheek. “We’ll find you a nice domestic tree back in town.”

She nodded. “Okay. Sure.”

He didn’t like the resignation in her voice. His Noelle was exuberant and excited. She wanted to win the best Fool’s Gold window, or whatever the hell the contest was called.

“What happened to showing up with joy?”

“I’m too cold and I was attacked. My joy is temporarily beaten.”

“Let’s get you back to the truck,” he said, putting his arm around her waist and helping her wade through the drifts. The ax was heavy in his free hand. “You’ll feel better when you’re warm.”

She nodded, but didn’t speak. He felt her shivering. The cold seemed more intense and the snow fell harder. They used their own trail to make the going a little easier but eventually it filled in completely.

It was only when they were within sight of the house that Gabriel realized his mistake. It was snowing. They weren’t in town or even right off a highway. They were a quarter mile from a regular road that was three miles from a well-plowed highway. The little he could see of the truck wasn’t good. Snow came up past the bumper and it was getting dark.

Noelle looked up and saw the truck. “That’s a lot of snow.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Are we going to be able to drive out of here?”

“I don’t know. We might be stuck until the storm passes.”

She shuddered. He studied her in the fading light and saw that she was pale and shaking. He ripped off her gloves and touched her fingers. They were wet and freezing.

There was no guarantee he could get them out tonight. From what he could remember from the forecast, it was supposed to snow until at least midnight. He looked at the small cabin. There was a chimney and the little he could see was well-maintained.

“Let’s go inside,” he said. “We’ll get you warm and settle in for the night. I’ll see if I can dig us out in the morning.”

He waited for her to make a joke, but there was only the sound of her teeth chattering.

He helped her toward the cabin. They found steps and climbed up them onto the porch. He thought he might have to go looking for a key, but the door opened easily.

Inside was much warmer than outside, but incredibly dark. Gabriel reached for a switch on the wall and was surprised when lights came on.

“They still have electricity,” he said, wondering how long until it went out. “I’ll get you settled and warm, then go find some firewood.”

“You think we’re going to lose power?” Noelle asked through her chattering teeth.

“If it keeps snowing.”

He found the controls for the furnace and turned the thermostat up from forty-five to seventy. A quick tour of the cabin told him it was small—maybe six hundred square feet of open concept. A double bed was at one end, the kitchen at the other, with a living area in the middle. The only closed-off room was a small, three-quarter bath. He checked and there was still running water, although it wasn’t especially warm.

He led Noelle to the sofa and peeled off her jacket. It was soaked all the way through. She must have gotten snow inside when she’d fallen and then it had melted. Her shirt was damp, as were her jeans. She was shaking.

He had her sit, then quickly removed her boots. Her socks were soaked and her feet frozen. He got up and walked to the bed, where he stripped off the blankets. There was a cedar chest at the foot of the bed with more blankets inside. He grabbed all of them and returned to the sofa.

“Stand up,” he said, helping her to her feet. “We have to get you out of your clothes.”

He waited for a funny retort, but she only nodded. She was shaking too hard to undo her jeans, so he reached for the button at the waistband, then lowered the zipper.

The cold, wet fabric clung to her. He eased it down, ignoring her smooth skin and long legs. She stepped out of the jeans, then pulled off her sweater. The long-sleeved T-shirt came next and she was standing in front of him in bikini panties and a bra.

She was long and lean, with small br**sts and narrow hips. Her pale skin was puckered with goose bumps, and she shivered and trembled. As much as he wanted to take a moment and enjoy the view, this wasn’t the time. He quickly wrapped her in the blankets and began to rub his hands up and down her arms and legs.

As he moved over her, he reminded himself that he was a doctor. His actions were purely professional and enjoying them was wrong on multiple levels.

He worked on her until she stopped trembling so hard. “Curl up on the sofa,” he told her. “I’ll get us settled.”

She nodded, still unable to speak.

He checked the vents. Warm air drifted out, but there wasn’t a lot of force behind it. No doubt the unit was small and old. It would take a couple of hours to get the cabin up to temperature. He draped her damp clothes over chairs he placed near the vents. The shirt and sweater weren’t as wet as her jeans, but eventually everything would dry.

He opened the refrigerator and didn’t find any food, but the cupboards were full of canned and packaged goods. He looked in the freezer and was surprised to find it full of casseroles, each labeled and dated. Most of them had been made within the past couple of months. The mayor hadn’t been kidding when she told Noelle it was kept stocked.

He pulled out a couple of casseroles and took the lids off so they could start to thaw. There was a small microwave on the counter, but that would only last as long as they had electricity. He was impressed it was still going, but had a bad feeling about it lasting much longer.

He checked drawers and under the sink. In a small alcove by the front door he found lanterns, both gas and electric. He set the latter to charging, then found two more by the bed and plugged them in.

The stove was wood, which was both good and bad. They could always cook, assuming either of them figured out how to use a woodstove. The closest he’d ever come had been roasting marshmallows on a camp-out. He glanced at Noelle, who sat huddled in her blankets, her eyes closed. She didn’t strike him as much of an outdoor girl.