Snowbound - Harlequin.com
Snowbound - Harlequin.com Snowbound - Harlequin.com
164 SNOWBOUND Pros with the snowshoes, they made it up the hill faster than John would have liked. By then, the plow had reached the van and come to a stop, the blade a foot or two from the bumper. John greeted the men who emerged, recognizing faces from last winter. “Glad you could make it.” “Just sorry it took so long. Been a busy weekend,” the bearded guy said. “Heard even Portland got buried.” “Six inches. Can you believe it? Damn near closed down the city. Had the traffic slip-sliding away.” John shook his head. “I can imagine.” “Well.” The man surveyed the boys. “You three part of the Willamette Prep group?” They nodded. “Did we make the TV news?” Hopper asked. “Might’ve.” He chewed for a minute, then spat a stream of brown tobacco juice. “Yeah, a couple of groups from that Knowledge thing… What was it, somethin’ like a football game? Anyway, a couple of groups didn’t make it back.” “A couple?” John knew the first thing Fiona would ask. “Is the group from the other school okay?” “Yeah, they were stuck up Government Camp way.” He nodded roughly north, toward Mt. Hood. “That road got plowed a while ago.” Relieved, he nodded. They turned their attention to the problem of getting the van back on the road. Finally, Dieter got elected— because he was skinny and capable—of lowering himself into the soft snow and shinnying under the van
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 165 to wrap a chain around the axle. They dragged him back out, clutching the end of the chain. Then, with the snowplow pulling and the boys pushing, the van bumped back onto the road. It took a hell of a lot longer to turn it around. The plow widened the road as much as possible. Then John got behind the wheel and backed up, inched forward, backed again, while everyone else pushed, until the damn thing faced uphill. Predictably the boys cheered and gave each other high-fives. John felt branded as the cripple who hadn’t been able to pull his weight. Telling himself none of the boys had the skill to maneuver the vehicle under such difficult conditions helped about as much as a skinny bandage on a bone-deep gash. The truth was, he couldn’t have been much use. His leg and hip wouldn’t have stood up to the strain at the same time as his feet were slipping in the snow. Face it: he was a cripple. The highway guys introduced themselves to the kids, and everyone shook hands. John expected to be seeing the two men regularly this winter. Not likely nature would throw a temper tantrum like this in November and then turn mild and easygoing come December and January. John figured it would pay to be on good terms with the guys who had to dig him out every time the snow came down. After some discussion, they backed the plow out to the highway and John followed with the van so that they could finish plowing his road down to the lodge. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to get out with his SUV.
- Page 114 and 115: 114 SNOWBOUND “Yeah!” they said
- Page 116 and 117: 116 SNOWBOUND would that constitute
- Page 118 and 119: 118 SNOWBOUND Tabitha, both blond a
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- Page 124 and 125: 124 SNOWBOUND Crap. Oh, crap. He’
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- Page 128 and 129: 128 SNOWBOUND their path having rea
- Page 130 and 131: 130 SNOWBOUND “Does it happen oft
- Page 132 and 133: 132 SNOWBOUND steady, he took out a
- Page 134 and 135: CHAPTER EIGHT FIONA NOTICED that Jo
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- Page 138 and 139: 138 SNOWBOUND “Are you sure? I do
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- Page 142 and 143: 142 SNOWBOUND She flushed at the id
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- Page 146 and 147: 146 SNOWBOUND convincingly. And yet
- Page 148 and 149: 148 SNOWBOUND “If I get him, I’
- Page 150 and 151: 150 SNOWBOUND “Do you mean,” sh
- Page 152 and 153: CHAPTER NINE KISSING FIONA gave him
- Page 154 and 155: 154 SNOWBOUND cupping his mug to ke
- Page 156 and 157: 156 SNOWBOUND Stryker had roared ba
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- Page 160 and 161: 160 SNOWBOUND God. He wished it wou
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- Page 166 and 167: 166 SNOWBOUND Time could be elastic
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- Page 170 and 171: CHAPTER TEN IN HER REARVIEW MIRROR,
- Page 172 and 173: 172 SNOWBOUND “Why are you making
- Page 174 and 175: 174 SNOWBOUND to pull into a slot,
- Page 176 and 177: 176 SNOWBOUND She was especially in
- Page 178 and 179: 178 SNOWBOUND John, We made it safe
- Page 180 and 181: 180 SNOWBOUND Then he skipped over
- Page 182 and 183: 182 SNOWBOUND couple in a Lexus SUV
- Page 184 and 185: 184 SNOWBOUND Go see her. When was
- Page 186 and 187: 186 SNOWBOUND or the depth of commu
- Page 188 and 189: CHAPTER ELEVEN THE ROAD FELT famili
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- Page 194 and 195: 194 SNOWBOUND “You’re the exper
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- Page 198 and 199: 198 SNOWBOUND enough time alone to
- Page 200 and 201: 200 SNOWBOUND not hers—who wander
- Page 202 and 203: 202 SNOWBOUND “Temporarily.” Hi
- Page 204 and 205: 204 SNOWBOUND “Yeah.” Just like
- Page 206 and 207: 206 SNOWBOUND time within the last
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- Page 210 and 211: 210 SNOWBOUND THE FIRST DAYS were w
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164 SNOWBOUND<br />
Pros with the snowshoes, they made it up the hill<br />
faster than John would have liked. By then, the plow had<br />
reached the van and <strong>com</strong>e to a stop, the blade a foot or<br />
two from the bumper.<br />
John greeted the men who emerged, recognizing<br />
faces from last winter. “Glad you could make it.”<br />
“Just sorry it took so long. Been a busy weekend,”<br />
the bearded guy said.<br />
“Heard even Portland got buried.”<br />
“Six inches. Can you believe it? Damn near closed<br />
down the city. Had the traffic slip-sliding away.”<br />
John shook his head. “I can imagine.”<br />
“Well.” The man surveyed the boys. “You three part<br />
of the Willamette Prep group?”<br />
They nodded. “Did we make the TV news?”<br />
Hopper asked.<br />
“Might’ve.” He chewed for a minute, then spat a<br />
stream of brown tobacco juice. “Yeah, a couple of<br />
groups from that Knowledge thing… What was it,<br />
somethin’ like a football game? Anyway, a couple of<br />
groups didn’t make it back.”<br />
“A couple?” John knew the first thing Fiona would<br />
ask. “Is the group from the other school okay?”<br />
“Yeah, they were stuck up Government Camp way.”<br />
He nodded roughly north, toward Mt. Hood. “That road<br />
got plowed a while ago.”<br />
Relieved, he nodded.<br />
They turned their attention to the problem of getting<br />
the van back on the road. Finally, Dieter got elected—<br />
because he was skinny and capable—of lowering<br />
himself into the soft snow and shinnying under the van