Guardian of Lone Wolf Peak by Evelyn Winters

Author:Evelyn Winters [Winters, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

The longer they were away from the house, the more Nick was able to calm down. He walked her around the back of house and showed her the chicken coop. It wasn’t like anything she had imagined, it was large, heated, and had an area for the chickens to roam protected by chicken wire. He even showed her the lone barn with the milker and two sable mares. Apparently when the snow got bad enough, it was faster to ride the horses to the station. Emmie had a greenhouse outside the kitchen that she grew their vegetables in and just down the road was a fruit tree orchard.

He also showed her places from his youth. The tree he had fallen out of and broke his right arm reaching for the biggest, reddest apple, the mountain lake where he had learned to swim, and the trail where he liked to ride the horses in the summer. They had even gotten into a short, vicious snowball fight after Nick had started laughing at her when she had fallen in her snowshoes after trying unsuccessfully to scale a log that had been blocking the main trail and she dumped a handful of snow down the back of his jacket in revenge. They knelt together afterwards, breathless from laughter, the legs of their jeans getting soaked from the snow. It was the best time she could remember having, she didn’t even know if she had ever laughed with Chloe like she had that afternoon with Nick. He was a completely different person away from his family, softer, more open.

By the time they were back inside and gathered around for dinner, Benji still hadn’t come back. Nathan carried two plates of Emmie’s pot roast up the stairs, Charles kissed his wife sweetly on the cheek and sat at the head of the table to eat. Nick’s leg was pressed against hers underneath the table. Still no Benji. No one mentioned it, not even as the fall sun sank behind the peak of the mountain, painting the sky in golden streaks of dying light.

Maybe he runs away a lot. She tried to calm herself with the thought, but she knew firsthand how cold it was after dark. Surely someone would go looking for him. She pushed her food around on her plate, picking at it whenever Charles cast his disapproving eyes towards her seat. She was too concerned to eat, but too polite to excuse herself and let it go to waste.

She perked up as the front door opened and sure enough, Benji came trotting into the dining room. His cheeks were flushed from exercise, his blond locks dusted with fresh snow. Emmie jumped up at once to retrieve the plate she wrapped in foil to keep warm in the oven.

“Did you have a nice walk?” Emmie asked him politely, pouring him a cup of black tea.

“You shouldn’t have left.” Charles talked over her and for some reason jerked his head at Nick. Nick seemed to content to ignore everyone at the table, though he kept their legs pressed flush together.

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