Victoria Pade - Awol Bride

If the bleeding had stopped or at least slowed down, maybe she could finally take something for the pain.

“Conor?” she called, hoping maybe he’d hear her from wherever he was—maybe there was a basement or a cellar or something...

But still there was no answer.

Where was he?

It occurred to her suddenly that if he was outside in this storm, maybe something had happened to him.

That sent a strong wave of alarm through her and she got up.

Too fast.

Her head went into such a spin that she fell back onto the sofa.

“Okay, that wasn’t great,” she said out loud.

She waited, took some deep breaths, tried to relax.

The dizziness began to pass.

But the worry that something might have happened to Conor didn’t. She had to see if he was okay.

She got up again, this time much more carefully. She was definitely weak. Her knees felt as if they might give out.

But she wasn’t going to let that happen. She did what she’d been doing since the day Conor had left her on her own—she willed herself to push through. Pain, weakness, fear, depression, whatever—she stood on her own two feet regardless!

And now that she was on those two feet all she needed to do was go to the other side of the room. That was nothing, she told herself.

She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders like a cape and clutched it in front with one hand. Keeping her other hand against the wall for support, she took careful steps, aiming for the other side of the room and the window over the kitchen sink. Hoping as she did that she wouldn’t discover Conor outside, hurt or incapacitated in some way. Because she was in no shape to rescue him.

Along the way she reached the doorway off the kitchen and found that there was another small room with a door leading outside.

The room appeared to be a catchall—a pantry stocked with food and a supply room where she saw snowshoes and a shovel and an ax among other things.

Other things that didn’t include Conor.

So she bypassed the room and finished the trip to the kitchen sink.

When she got there she maintained her grip on the blanket with one hand and held on to the edge of the sink with the other.

“Wow,” she said as she peered out the window at the storm. She’d seen some bad ones, but this topped the list.

Just then the snow swirled away from the cabin and she caught sight of something moving to the left.

She craned forward, looking hard through the window. There was definitely someone out there. Someone big. It had to be him. Maybe at a woodpile? Getting firewood made sense.

Feeling relieved, she turned and slowly retraced her steps back to the couch as a slight shiver shook her. Even with her blanket cape, the blood-soaked wedding dress was not the warmest of attires.

The sofa was a welcome respite when she got there again. Sitting at one end she pulled her knees up to her chest, tightened the blanket around herself so every inch was covered and returned to staring into the fire that was the only source of heat.

Her short venture had used up the little oomph she’d had and she rested her head to the back of the sofa cushion, thinking that it was a good thing Conor didn’t need her help.

And what kind of a weird practical joke was fate playing on her today, anyway? First Gary’s old flame dropped into his lap and now hers?

She closed her eyes at that thought and made a face.

She did not like the way things had gone with Conor so far. Most of all, she didn’t like that she’d lost control over her emotions. She hadn’t even realized she was still that angry with him. What had happened with him was ancient history. She’d come to grips with it long ago, chalking it up to experience. It had taken her some time—well into adulthood, actually—but she’d even come to think that he’d probably made the right decision. How many teenage marriages actually worked out?

So, if it was all water under the bridge—which it was—why hadn’t she just been indifferent, detached, completely unemotional toward him?

She should have been. Instead, she’d been anything but. The only explanation she had for it was that today had just thrown too much at her. Seeing Conor again had been the straw that broke the camel’s back...even if he happened to be the person who had kept her from dying today.

The person she should have been grateful to.

She chafed at that thought.

Grateful to Conor Madison?

This really was a practical joke on fate’s part—now she had to be grateful to the guy who had dumped her?

Fabulous, she thought facetiously.

But she also wasn’t happy to have behaved so poorly toward Conor.

Not that he didn’t deserve her scorn and contempt. But showing it put her in a position she didn’t want to be in. She didn’t want to be the smaller person. The grudge-bearer.

And she didn’t want him thinking she cared.

So that lashing-out thing wasn’t going to happen from here on, she vowed. Not when it might make him think she hadn’t gotten over him. That their childhood romance had been so important to her that she was still hurt or mad or something. Anything.

Because she wasn’t.

It wasn’t as if she would ever choose to be stuck in a snowstorm, in a small space with him, but since she apparently couldn’t alter that, she wasn’t going to let it be a big deal. She was just going to make the best of it until this all passed.

Then they would part ways again.

But in the meantime he was not going to get to her. He was basically a stranger to her now. A stranger whose company she would have to endure for a little while whether she liked it or not.

A stranger who had grown into one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen...

That didn’t matter, either.

Even if it was the truth.

He’d always been handsome, only somehow time and a few years had done wonders for him. It had taken chiseled features and added some hardcore masculinity and a ruggedness that screamed raw sensuality. It had built even more muscle mass onto his body and turned him into a hunk-and-a-half.

But it really didn’t matter. Not to her. It didn’t have any effect on her. He didn’t have any effect on her.

So move on, storm, she commanded.

Because as soon as it did, she could get out of this place and put Conor Madison back in the past, where he belonged.

When the back door opened she knew it. The sound of the screeching wind wasn’t muffled and a frigid blast of air whipped through the cabin.

Maicy didn’t budge. She just went from looking at the fire to watching for Conor to appear through that door.

Finally, he came into view. Snow and droplets of water dotted dark hair that was in unfairly attractive disarray. The collar of his navy blue peacoat was turned up to frame his sexy jawline, and the coat accentuated shoulders a mile wide now.

But none of it was going to have an impact on her, she told herself.

“You’re awake,” he said when his eyes met hers.

“I am,” she confirmed, forcing her tone to be completely dispassionate and neutral. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten. How do you feel?”

“I’m okay,” she insisted, unwilling to confide more in him.

“I need to know, Maicy,” he reprimanded, so she told him the details, still assuring him she was fine, but adding that she wouldn’t mind a little pain reliever for her headache.

“And I don’t suppose you brought my suitcase from my car when you got me out, did you?” she asked, huddling in the blanket.

“I didn’t,” he said, leaving his coat in place as he brought firewood around the utility table. “I was only paying attention to you—I didn’t even notice anything else in the car. I have my duffel, though. You can wear something of mine when you’re up to changing—something warm.”