The Snow Leopard's Baby (Glacier Leopards 2)

“We have water,” Jeff said. “I doubt it’s warm, but we have a fire. Let me get that for you—no, you stay sitting down, you should keep off those feet—and once you’re all settled, I’ll go get us some more firewood.”

Leah settled back to the couch from where she’d been about to stand up. It felt weird to sit still while someone else waited on her. Being a single mom of a ten-month-old, she pretty much never got to do that.

But Jeff was being so businesslike, and was so clearly just doing his job. This once, it was probably fine to let someone else take care of her, since he was the expert.

Jeff paused as he was walking away, though, and turned back. “Actually, before I do that...would you tell me your name?”

“Oh!” Leah couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to introduce herself to the man who’d saved her life. “Leah. Leah Sanders. And this is Emily.”

“Nice to meet you, Leah and Emily.” Jeff smiled for the first time, and it lit up his whole face, transforming him from handsome to truly stunning. “I’m going to go get your water, just sit tight for a few minutes.”

He turned back to the kitchen. Leah settled back into the couch, resisting the urge to fan herself. That smile. She felt like she needed sunglasses.

Leah couldn’t be interested in a man right now, because taking care of Emily took up all her attention, and deserved all her attention. It wouldn’t be fair to the man, to Emily, or to herself. But there was nothing wrong with looking, right?

To distract herself, she pulled Emily close and kissed her on the forehead. The baby was starting to stir, making discontented noises and scrunching up her face.

She couldn’t believe that they were safe. She’d been so, so sure that they were going to die, especially near the end. Thank God for Jeff Hart.

It had been stupid to keep driving once night had fallen, she realized now. She’d never gone through the pass in a snowstorm before, and she hadn’t truly understood how dangerous it could be. Especially in a beat-up old car like hers, which was more likely to have trouble in bad weather.

Well, she’d learned a lesson. “That’s right,” she said to Emily, whose eyes were blinking open. “We’ll be smarter about driving in the snow from now on.”

Although it was hard to imagine what she could’ve done differently.

No, that wasn’t true. She knew what she could’ve done. Left town earlier. If Leah had given up a month ago, or two months ago, she would still have had some money left, and it wouldn’t have been so late in the year. She could’ve made it through the mountains no problem and gone to her mom with at least a few dollars in her pocket to help out with.

She’d just been so determined to make it work, so sure that she could find some other source of income if she just stuck it out longer, tried harder.

She knew better now. “We’ll also be smarter about what we can do with the things we have now,” she told Emily, who met her eyes with a serious baby gaze. “Not what we might get in the future.”

“What was that?” Jeff appeared with an old-fashioned kettle, made of what looked like cast iron.

“Nothing,” Leah said quickly. “Just talking to the baby.”

“She’s awake!” Jeff crouched down so that he was on eye level with her. “Hello, Emily. I’m Jeff.”

Emily regarded him solemnly. Leah couldn’t help but notice the powerful muscles in his thighs, as he crouched so close. He was smiling a little at Emily, and he was just so good-looking it seemed almost unfair.

“She’s always a little out of it when she gets up from a nap,” Leah told him.

“Well, Emily, I’m just the same,” Jeff said. “So I can’t blame you at all.”

Then he reached out and took one of her tiny hands between his thumb and forefinger, and shook it. “It’s very nice to meet you, Emily.”

Leah felt the hint of a laugh in her chest. “Tell him how happy you are to meet him, Emily!” she said to the baby. “He saved us from the snow.”

Emily kept her wide eyes fixed on Jeff’s face.

“Believe me, Emily, it was my pleasure.” Jeff stood up in one easy, graceful motion and held up the kettle. “Time to heat up some water.”

It turned out that the fireplace had one of those hooks on it that you could hang a kettle from. Jeff got the kettle situated and came back to the couch.

“That’ll take a few minutes. How’s she doing? She seem okay?”

“She’s fine.” Thanks to you. “She slept the whole time we were out in the snow. You were tired from crying in the car for four hours, weren’t you?” she asked Emily.

“That does sound tiring,” Jeff said. “For her and for you.”