Snowbound with an Heiress

“Here, boy.”

The dog’s ears perked up. That had to be a good sign. The pup took a few steps forward. His nose wiggled. Then his tail started to wag.

“That’s it. Come on.”

The dog’s hesitant gaze met his and then returned to the cracker. The pup took a few more steps. He was almost to Jackson.

Jackson lowered his voice. “That’s a good boy.” He laid the cracker flat on his hand and took a wobbly step forward. The dog watched his every move but held his ground. Jackson stretched out his arm as far as it’d go.

And then the dog came closer. After a few seconds of hesitation, he grabbed the cracker. Jackson caught sight of the blue sparkly collar on the dog’s neck. Something told him that this was most definitely the woman’s dog. The flashy collar was in line with the woman’s rhinestone encrusted cell phone and her perfectly manicured nails.

As the dog devoured the cracker, Jackson knew this was his moment to make his move. Balancing his weight on one foot, he bent down. He lunged forward to wrap his hands around the little dog.

The dog jumped back and Jackson lost his balance. He reached out to regain his balance, but he’d moved too far from the large rock. He instinctively put his weight on his injured leg. Wrong move. He swore under his breath.

“What in the world!” came the beautiful stranger’s voice.

It was too late. She couldn’t help him. His injured leg couldn’t take the pressure of his weight. It gave way. He fell face-first into the snow.

Jackson sat up with snow coating him from head to toe. He blew the snow from his mouth and nose. Then he ran a hand over his face. At that moment, he felt something wet on his cheek. He opened his eyes to find the dog licking him. Ugh!

“Aww...you found him.” A big smile bloomed on the woman’s face. If he thought that she was beautiful before, she was even more of a knockout when she smiled. “You’re such a naughty boy for running off. Come here, Gizmo.”

“Gizmo? What kind of name is that?” Jackson attempted to get to his feet. He failed.

The woman’s brows drew together, but she didn’t move to help him. “What’s wrong with his name?”

Jackson sighed. “It’s a bit cutesy for a boy, don’t you think?”

“Cutesy?” Her green eyes darkened to a shade of deep jade.

“Never mind.” What did he care what she named her dog? If his head wasn’t pounding, he would have kept his thoughts to himself. He would have to make a mental note to tread carefully going forward. Without Mae’s help, he hefted himself to his feet.

In the meantime, she picked up the dog and brushed snow from Gizmo. “We need to get you home and in front of a fire. You poor baby.”

As Jackson brushed himself off, he couldn’t help but watch how the woman oohed and aahed over the dog. What amazed him the most was how the dog was eating up the attention as though it knew exactly what she was saying.

Mae turned to Jackson as though an afterthought, holding out a stick. “Here you go.”

He accepted the sturdy-looking branch. Somehow it made him feel like some sort of Paul Bunyan figure. Although his suit and dress shoes would definitely suggest otherwise.

“How in the world did you find Gizmo?” she asked.

Jackson couldn’t actually admit to having done much of anything, but if she wanted to give him partial credit, who was he to reject it. After all, if he hadn’t thought of the crackers in his pocket, the dog might have run off again.

“We sort of found each other. And he likes the same crackers as I do.”

“Crackers?”

“Yes. I have some in my pocket. They were supposed to replace my lunch, but I got distracted when I turned on the wrong road and my GPS wouldn’t work out here. Anyway, I forgot about them.”

She nodded as though she understood, but there were still unspoken questions in her eyes. “I hate to say it, but the snow’s not letting up. If anything, it’s getting heavier.” She frowned as she glanced upward. “I threw a bunch of snow on the fire when I was looking for Gizmo. I think it doused it. If not, this heavy snow should take care of it.” She turned to him. “Are you ready to hike out of here?”

“I don’t see where I have a choice.”

“I’ve got to carry Gizmo because the snow is starting to get too deep for his short legs. And I’ll take your bag as you’ll need all your energy to move on your good leg. But you can put your arm over my shoulder to balance yourself. Hopefully between that and the cane, you’ll be able to make it back to the cabin.”

“Sounds like a plan.”