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cut off by the moaning wind. When he reached the cabin, he found her breathless on the porch, grinning. “I love snow. I mean, love it!” she said, kicking the toes of her boots against the top step to knock off chunks of the white stuff.
    Jake just managed to avoid shaking his head. “I’ll get the luggage. Go on inside and close the door.” She stared at him. “Please,” he added, and then turned to jump back into Mother Nature’s wrath.
    He sprinted back to the SUV and tapped on the driver’s window, which rolled down a crack. “You need to get out of here unless you want to sleep in the command center.” Jake said. He gestured to a small, new building fifty yards from the house. Another SUV was parked nearby, the roof of the vehicle already blanketed with a foot of snow. He doubted it would be going anywhere soon.
    “I’ll make it. Jackson’s only ten miles away.” The driver gave him a thumbs-up. “Just heard from Agent Evans. She can’t make it tonight, but she’ll chopper in tomorrow morning.” He squinted against the snow. “Unless the pilot can’t get through.”
    “I don’t want to hear that,” Jake said. Even though the idea of days on end with only the lovely Carolina for company sent a shiver up his back that didn’t have anything to do with the cold.
    The driver laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will be fine.” He pointed at another building, the windows alight, at the edge of property, just inside the fence. “Caretaker’s cabin. From what I’ve heard, she’s a cranky old lady. Very eccentric. She owns a gallery in Jackson, but lives in a one-room house.”
    Jake nodded. “I know. She’s a friend of the family. Drive safe, man.”
    After grabbing Carolina’s large suitcase, his duffel, and their two laptop cases, he hurried up the steps and into the house slamming the door behind him.
    “Whew,” he said, blowing out a breath. “It’s freezing up here. I’ve seen more snow in the last ten minutes than I’ve seen in my whole life. Guess that’s not hard, since I grew up in Florida.”
    Carolina stood in the kitchen, her hands splayed on the countertop facing the living room. “Wow. That little speech is more than you’ve said in six hours. Good job.” She smiled. And although the kitchen was dim, her obvious enthusiasm, albeit sarcastic, lit the room up like a neon sign.
    He grunted in response. “Thanks, I guess. Uh, Agent Evans won’t be arriving until tomorrow.” He paused. “Were you wanting to see your friend tonight?” God, he hoped not.
    “No. I’d love to, but I need some rest first.” After flipping on the lights above the kitchen sink, Carolina pulled open the refrigerator door. “Want some dessert?”
    Jake thought about the mammoth burger he’d eaten at a diner in Jackson a half an hour ago. It was sitting like a rock. “No thanks.”
    “Well, all those groceries were delivered, and I’m not wasting them.” She poked her head inside the fridge. “Oh! Rice pudding. I wonder if we have raisins.” She turned, plunking a plastic tub on the counter. “I’m going to heat this up and curl up on the sofa. Could you make a fire, please?”
    He glanced at the cold fireplace and then back at her beaming face. She looked . . . different. Relaxed. Content, even. The cream-colored turtleneck she wore enhanced the pink of her cheeks and her dark, glossy hair. He’d never seen her in jeans before. Then again, he’d only known her for two weeks. Had she been in dresses and heels that entire time? It didn’t matter. She looked happy this way. He just hoped it wasn’t a show to mask her hurt over Roger.
    She cleared her throat, and his gaze snapped back up to her face, noting her raised eyebrows. “You’re staring again,” she said.
    Yes, he was. He turned and headed across the Western-patterned rug on the living room floor. He needed to quit doing that. She was going to start thinking he was creepy. He gave her a curt nod. “I’ll