Chapters (62)
- Cover
- Half Title Page
- Books by Katie Powner
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
He’d spent the last two days working twelve-hour shifts on the belt down at the Duncan place. Last night in bed he’d told her he’d never had sore forearms before. She’d found it kind of funny and endearing but also troubling. His life had been so different from hers up until now. None of that had mattered when they first met. He’d made her smile again. Made her believe there was life after death. But now she was beginning to wonder how much they actually had in common.
A whistle blew, and the volleyball game started. She spotted Amber and her son near the bottom of the bleachers, and Amber’s words ran through her mind: “We should meet up for lunch sometime.” Maybe it would be nice to catch up with Amber. They’d never been close before or anything, but they were about to have a lot in common. She touched her belly.
Jeremy scanned the crowded gym. “Does anyone around here do anything for fun that doesn’t involve school sports?”
“Yep.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “Hunting. Skiing. Fishing.”
“Okay.”
“Rodeo. Snowmobiles. Hiking.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “I get it. But all those things happen outdoors.”
“So?”
“So the outdoors is pretty cold around here.”
Bea patted his knee. “I hate to tell you this, but it’s only the beginning of October. It’s going to get much, much worse.”
It had been a mild fall so far, but snow had dusted the tips of the Bridgers like powdered sugar ever since the freezing rain, and she could feel winter in the air.
“How much worse?” Jeremy asked.
“Ever felt forty below before?”
His eyes widened. “Forty below what? Zero?”
She nodded. “That’s how much worse.”
The storms she’d seen in Atlanta had been different from anything she’d experienced before, but it rarely froze there. Let alone fell below zero. And the weather in Santa Clara had been predictable. Mild.
Montana was a different story. In the spring and fall, the temperature could swing fifty degrees in a twenty-four-hour period. In the winter, you could go days without seeing the thermometer top zero. And the summer? There was no telling what the weather might do during a Montana summer. A girl had to be ready for anything.
Atlanta and what happened there crossed her mind, and she shuddered. A girl had to be ready for anything living on her own in the big city, too.
That was a different kind of survival.