Rocky Mountain Hideaway (To Love Again Book 2) by Kate Fargo

deeper into the over-sized pockets of the jacket, her face raw from the wind. “Are we going to make it down?”
    “I think we better stay here.”
    “Here?” Isabel looked around at the trees and fallen bush and shivered again at the wind whipping around her shoulders. “We can’t just stay here.”
    “We won’t make it down. I think I can find the trail right now, but we’ll lose it before we get to the bottom. We need to find shelter and try to stay warm.”
    Isabel shook her head. “No, oh no, we can’t just stay here.”
    “Listen. Jesse and I found a cave here a few years ago. I think I can find it again. We’ll be out of the wind and snow, at least. If not, I’ll build a lean-to.”
    “A lean-to? This isn’t Grizzly Adams, Tray. I’m not staying on this mountain in the middle of this storm.” Isabel set her lip in a determined line and Tray took another approach.
    “We won’t make it down, Isabel. Our best chance is to find a place to stay warm and dry. We have to stay on the side of the mountain.” He spoke slowly and clearly, hoping to calm her with the straight facts of the situation.
    “I’m not staying up here in this storm.” Isabel turned abruptly and started through the trees.
    Tray lunged for her and grabbed her arm. “Don’t be a fool - there’s nowhere to go. I’m not going to risk going in circles in these woods and wearing ourselves down. We need to conserve our energy and we need to get to shelter. Right now.”
    Without waiting for a response, he kept a tight grip on Isabel’s forearm, and started deeper into the woods away from the trail. “I think I can find the cave again, but we need to find it before the snow gets heavier.”
    Tray struggled on through the woods, dragging Isabel along with him. He loosened his death grip on her arm and clasped her hand. They dodged through trees and stumbled over dead fall. Visibility was getting worse and Tray calculated that they should have hit the rock face by now. He was keeping his eye on the ground for anything that would make good cover for a lean-to. They couldn’t lose much more time looking for the cave.
    He stumbled into a tree that had fallen and rested on the ground at about waist height. “This will be a good spot for a lean-to,” he announced, releasing Isabel’s hand and dropping the pack to the ground.
    Isabel looked around. “Why here?”
    Tray slapped his hand on the fallen tree. “We can lean other dead fall on this log – create a bit of a shelter for ourselves.” He picked up a long piece of wood laying on the ground and propped it up against the tree. “Like this. Look for pieces like this. Don’t go more than a few feet away, okay? There’s lots to work with right here. Don’t lose sight of this spot.”
    Isabel’s eyes widened in alarm. “You … you’re not leaving me!” Her voice quivered. “Where are you going?”
    “Just a little farther away. We’ll need some bigger pieces. You gather here, and I’ll gather just over there,” he pointed deeper into the trees. “Promise me you won’t leave this spot,” he said over his shoulder. “Promise - it’s easy to get dis-oriented with so much snow - promise me Isabel.”
    “I promise,” she said, but Isabel’s words were whipped away by the wind before they reached his ears.

 
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
     
     
    Isabel had gathered everything within a wide circle of their spot, careful to always keep the fallen tree in sight. She surveyed a good pile of dead trees in front of her. They were going to have to stay in the woods overnight - she was petrified at the thought. She longed for a hot cup of tea, some supper, and her bed.
    But right now, her biggest worry was Tray. What if he didn’t come back? She’d had time to find and pile all of this wood and still he wasn’t back. Panic rose in her throat and she grabbed a length of wood and placed it on the lean-to. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it right, but she couldn’t stand here