Only Her Smokejumper Firefighter - Cami Checketts Page 0,22

how worried he was. She must look horrible. Had he really just called her love? She’d repeatedly pushed him away, but it didn’t seem like he’d given up on her.

Shutting her door, he hurried around, loaded up, and drove quickly down the canyon road. He kept glancing over at her and reaching over to gently touch her cheek, almost as if to reassure himself she was really there and hadn’t died of frostbite. As the heat started thawing her out to some degree, she began shivering uncontrollably.

“Almost there, love, almost there.”

There it was again. Could he truly love her after the way she’d treated him?

They raced past town and Ren pushed a button on his steering wheel and instructed, “Call Sheriff Greenwood.”

She half-listened to the conversation. She hadn’t thought it possible, but she actually felt colder now than she had before. Thawing out hurt worse than freezing. At least the freezing became numb after a while. The thawing burned on the outside but made her colder on the inside.

Ren told the sheriff about James Collier trying to take Mavyn against her will and saying some horrible things that intoned he would’ve raped her. The sheriff assured him they’d pick the man up and haul him in. From what she could gather, this wasn’t his first offense.

When the call ended, they were past the resort. A minute later, they pulled into Grams’s driveway. Ren gave her a reassuring smile then leaped from the driver’s side and rushed around the truck. He opened her door, scooped her in his arms, and strode across the driveway and up the cabin steps.

He fumbled to open the door. Mavyn should tell him she could stand on her own two feet so it’d be easier, but she didn’t have the willpower right now. She was safe. She was in Ren’s arms. She was miserable and colder than she could ever recall, but if she died now, she’d die happy. She already knew this man cared deeply for her, no matter how she kept ditching him, and the Lord had helped her. Maybe He cared as well.

Ren pushed through the door and into the house. Grams was in the kitchen looking like she was cooking up a storm. Ingredients and cooked pie crusts were spread all over the counter. “Grams,” he hollered. “She’s frozen.”

Grams’s eyes widened and she cursed softly. “My bathroom,” she instructed, rushing in front of them but looking over her shoulder. “Oh, sweet girl, what happened?”

“Ran off the road,” Mavyn managed to get out.

“You’ve been out in this bitter cold for hours?” Grams hurried through her large bedroom and into the attached bath. She jerked both taps and started the massive jetted tub filling with water.

Mavyn laid her head against Ren’s chest as they stopped next to the tub. She was still shivering uncontrollably, but she felt safe in Ren’s arms. She was exhausted and wanted to just cuddle with Ren and sleep for hours. When she woke, she’d deal with whatever had happened to her out on that road and the miracle of Ren coming for her. Right now it was too much to think about and was giving her a dull headache… or maybe freezing was to blame for the headache.

“Grams, can you get her shoes and socks off while I check her fingers?” Ren asked.

Grams nodded and started unlacing Mavyn’s frozen shoelaces. Ren sank onto the edge of the large tub and asked, “Can you pull your sleeves up a bit?”

He seemed like he didn’t want to let go of her. She didn’t want him to, ever. She tugged up her sweatshirt sleeves so he could see her hands.

He gently touched her fingers, but it still hurt. He nodded. “Still in the first stage of frostbite, maybe early second. You might have some blistering on your fingers, but they should heal all right.”

“Thank you.” She dredged up a smile.

Grams slid her shoes off and then peeled her socks off. She and Ren looked over her toes and Ren proclaimed the same. “You shouldn’t have any permanent damage.”

“That’s good.” She smiled up at him, loving how knowledgeable and in charge he was, yet so tender with her.

The tub filled slowly. It was so big it might take all day to fill it. Ren stood again with her still in his arms. Grams checked the temperature and then adjusted the knobs. She turned to them, planting her hands on her hips. “Don’t look at me with those moony eyes,” she snapped.

Mavyn wondered what