Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
“Where are we going?” Ana asked from the back seat of Mason’s truck.
“Can’t tell you,” Mason replied, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.
“Why?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Gabriela, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned her head to look at her daughter. Ana was staring at the back of Mason’s head with a skeptical frown that was completely at odds with the excitement sparkling in her eyes.
“Can you give me a hint?” the little girl asked.
The corner of Mason’s mouth quirked up ever so slightly. “No.”
Ana groaned and crumpled with a theatrical flair, falling into a slouch with her arms limp beside her and her head lolling back. “Why not?”
“You’re too good at guessing.”
“Well, how would you know that?”
Mason shrugged; it was amazing how nonchalant the gesture looked despite the breadth of his powerful shoulders. “Just a guess.”
Gabriela shook her head and laughed at Ana’s exaggerated ugh. She knew Ana wasn’t truly upset about this, she was just overly excited and antsy—like most kids were in the days leading up to Christmas.
Only four more days to go. It hurt that Gabby didn’t have anything to give her daughter for Christmas, that there were no presents for the girl to open, but Ana had already demonstrated maturity beyond her years when it came to this situation.
It hurt Gabriela’s heart even more to know Ana would swallow her own disappointment and sadness and soldier on for her mother’s sake.
Next year, Ana. Next year, you’re going to have so many presents on Christmas morning that you won’t know where to start.
But Gabriela did have some money in her account. Perhaps Mason would let her borrow his truck for a bit so she could at least get stocking stuffers and a gift or two for her daughter. He’d insisted on buying everything else for them, but Gabby had to do at least that much.
“Mom, will you tell me?”
“Sorry, Ana. I don’t know either.”
“Come on, I know he told you.”
Gabby glanced at Mason just as his eyes flicked toward her. For a moment, they held each other’s gazes, sharing a smile.
“He didn’t tell me anything,” Gabriela said as she turned her attention to the window. “That’s why it’s such a surprise.”
They were currently driving through downtown McCall on their way to wherever it was Mason was taking them.
The streets were lined with piled snow, and the light posts along the sidewalk were adorned with garland and lights and big snowflakes that would shine after dark.
Even if this town got a little crazy when it was full of tourists, especially during the Winter Carnival every January, and even if this part of it was designed to cater to those tourists, there’d always been a charm to it.
“Can you at least turn down the heat?” Ana asked. “It’s hot.”
“You can take off your coat,” Mason said. “Going to be driving for a bit.”
Ana didn’t waste any time in tearing off her heavy winter coat, filling the cab with those swishy sounds for several seconds as the material rubbed against itself.
It wasn’t long before they turned off Third Street and left downtown behind them.
Gabriela tried to take in the scenery as they drove—though she’d lived in the area for her entire life, it seemed there was new construction she hadn’t known about everywhere she looked—but her eyes kept creeping back to Mason.
He was just as sexy in profile as he was head-on, especially with that gleam in his eye.
She really didn’t know where he was taking them.
He’d told them to bring their big coats, snow boots, gloves, hats, and scarves, so she knew they’d be outdoors, but that was it.
And though she wasn’t necessarily the biggest fan of the cold, she was glad to get out of the house after that awkward breakfast—during which Gabriela had been unable to look at Ana without nearly dying of embarrassment, whereas every time she’d so much as glanced at Mason, memories of what they’d done in his bed had sparked that flame in her core anew.
But she was an adult and didn’t feel shame for what she and Mason had shared. She was allowed to…enjoy herself, to have sexual relations with a man, to feel pleasure, to feel like a woman again.
To be more than just a mother.
Though she could have done without her daughter popping in and interrupting them. Gabby had been so close. So close.
Looks like I’m going to have to have The Talk with Ana sooner than I expected.
As they drove on, the homes and cabins on the sides of the road became sparser, and the pine trees that dominated the region filled in the gaps.
That was always one of the things Gabriela had loved about living up here—drive five or ten minutes in almost any direction, and you’d find yourself surrounded by nature.
They passed a sign declaring that they’d entered the Payette National Forest not long afterward.
Gabriela’s gaze wandered a little more easily out here.
She’d always loved the way the forest looked in the winter, with the ground blanketed in white and clumps of glistening snow clinging to the boughs.
When the sun hit the snow just right, it set all the ice crystals aglow like they were countless glittering diamonds.
She’d never seen anything quite like winter in these mountains.
Mason turned onto a side road, and the truck jostled as it left the pavement and rolled onto packed snow. Ana grasped the two front seats and pulled herself forward to look out the front.
Shimmering white dust fell from branches overhead, melting as it hit the windshield. Snow crunched under the tires, as loud as it would’ve been had the truck been driving over loose gravel.
“So what are we doing out here?” Ana asked.
Gabby chuckled, though she was quite curious herself. “It’s a surpriiiiiiise.”
Her daughter rolled her eyes.
“We’ll stop soon,” Mason said, glancing at Gabriela and Ana for a moment. “Snow will be too deep if we go too much farther.”
Gabriela twisted to look out the back window. The narrow road they were driving on was flanked by trees on both sides, and they’d already driven far enough that the main road was out of sight.
“That’s it. We’re lost,” Ana announced.
“Not lost,” Mason corrected, another faint smirk lifting his lips, “but we could wind up stranded.”
Gabriela stared at him.
His brows rose, and he chuckled. “We’ll be fine. If the truck gets stuck, I can push it out.”
Now Ana was staring at him, too.
Shaking his head, he shifted on his seat, reached down, and tugged his phone out of his pocket. “Also have this.”
A minute or two later, the road opened into a small clearing.
“Hold on to something,” Mason said.
Gabriela arched a brow at him as she reached up for the oh shit handle on the doorframe. “Sit back, nena.”
As soon as Ana had leaned back, the engine rumbled, and the truck put on a burst of speed.
“Oh my God, what are you doing?” Gabriela breathed, tensing and slamming a hand onto the dashboard. She was almost certain that had all come out of her mouth as a single, prolonged word.
Of course, Ana was giggling in the back seat.
Mason turned the wheel, guiding the truck into a turn that whipped its back end around. Snow sprayed in the air all around the vehicle, and Gabriela could feel the tires sliding, and though that adult, maternal side of her said she should panic…she couldn’t deny the thrill.
She hadn’t done anything like this in years—not since she was a teenager, when everyone would mess around in the snow trying to drift around turns and make their pickups fishtail.
The truck came to a smooth stop, rocked very slightly on its shocks, and was still. It was now facing the road they’d just come down.
“Again, again!” Ana cheered.
Mason turned his face toward Gabriela, grinning. “You all right?”
Gabby’s heart was pounding, and her stomach still felt like it was down by her feet, but she grinned back at him. “Yeah.”
For an instant, his grin took on a wicked slant, and heat danced in his eyes. Then he turned his attention forward, shifted the truck into park, and killed the engine. “We’re here. Coat on, Ana.”
“Yay!” Ana threw off her seat belt and grabbed her coat, jamming her arms through the sleeves.
Gabriela unbuckled her own seatbelt and picked up her coat, which was bundled on the wide armrest between her and Mason.
“And what are we doing here?” she asked as she pulled her coat on.
Ana bounced on her seat. “Are we going to build snowmen?”
Mason tugged on his own coat and zipped it closed. “I guess if you show me how.”
She gaped at him. “You’ve never built a snowman? Mom, we gotta teach him.”
Gabriela chuckled. “I think we do. But we’ll do that at the house.”
“Awwww, but Mooooom.”
“How can we make a snowman without a carrot for a nose?”
“Okay, fine.” Ana placed her hands—now bundled in gloves—on the front seats and leaned forward again. “So, what are we really doing?”
“It’s Christmas in four days,” Mason said. “We need a tree, right?”
Ana’s face lit up. “We’re getting a tree?”
“Here?” Gabriela asked.
“Tree lots in town packed up already.” Mason shrugged. “Figured there are plenty of trees out here.”
“Don’t you need a permit to chop a tree down?”
Mason’s brow furrowed, and he tilted his head. “A permit? What do you mean?”
“You know, like a piece of paper from the government or whatever that says you have permission to cut down a tree. I’m pretty sure they sell Christmas tree permits from the forest service that have certain parameters for what you’re allowed to cut down and all that.”
The crease between his brows deepened, and his lips fell into a frown. He swept his gaze over their surroundings, over all the trees at the edges of the clearing, before looking back at her. “There are millions of trees here. Why do I need a piece of paper to say I can cut one down?”
Gabriela tilted her head. Mason was genuinely perplexed by this. It was no different than a fishing or hunting license, which most people who lived in this area had. How did he not know what a permit was?
“Because…it’s the…law?” she said, wondering if she was the crazy one.