Free Mistaken Gifts by Elena Aitken

her boot made contact with the wood, she felt her foot slipping. She tried to right herself by stepping up with her other foot, but that only served to throw her off-balance further, and the only thing that went through her mind as she crashed through the logs was how infuriating it was that Jeff was right.  
    Moments later that thought flew out of her head too, replaced by piercing sensations of pain shooting up her arm.  
    "Eva!" She vaguely heard Jeff’s voice call out but it seemed so far away, like an echo. Eva thought she might have heard him talking to her, his voice a mumble in the back of her head. The blue mid-day sky grew darker and after a moment, the sun was all but gone, and there was nothing but darkness.
    ~ ~
    Jeff scrambled over the logs as fast as he could in the snow. Eva had gone down hard.
    "Eva?" He called her name again, but still no answer. Just his luck that she’d pass out in the woods, and after he’d worked so hard to convince her there was no danger. Of course, that had been with horses and technically…
    "Eva," he said again as he reached her side. He tugged off his knit cap and gently lifted her head so he could slide it underneath. "Hey," he said. "Are you okay?" His eyes scanned down her body, coming to rest on her arm that was twisted and wedged between two logs.  
    She fluttered her eyes, gradually coming to, so he spoke again. "You’re okay." He kept his voice soft and neutral. "You must have blacked out for a moment."  
    Eva blinked again and slowly her beautiful eyes started to focus on him. "It…it hurts." Her voice was barely a whisper, but he could hear the pain laced through her words.  
    "Don’t try to move your arm," he said. "Let me check it out first."  
    "It hurts. I just need to—" She pulled and a look of pain and panic flashed across her face.
    "Oh, no, you don’t," Jeff said. He gently pressed her back down, holding his hand on her shoulder. "I don’t want you to cause more damage. Let me look at it." He held her gaze, trying to convey with his eyes that she’d be okay. It must have worked because she nodded once and closed her eyes against the pain she knew must be coming.  
    Jeff rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment more before wiping the stray tear off her cheek. Eva’s breaths were coming quick and shallow and he knew he didn’t have long before she’d try to get up again. Reluctantly, he pulled his gaze away and got to work.  
    Fortunately, the logs hadn’t shifted terribly in the fall, and Eva simply had the misfortune of slipping directly between two of them. Jeff lifted the top one away, to expose her arm. "Okay," he said. "Just slide it out, but don’t try to bend it yet. It might be broken."  
    Eva did as she was told and soon was free, cradling her left arm to her chest.  
    "Are you okay?" He slid off the log pile and came around, so he was standing on the ground next to Eva, who was still somewhat precariously balanced on the logs.
    "Does it look like I’m okay?" she snapped and regret instantly crossed her face. "I’m sorry," she said. "It’s not totally your fault."
    "Not totally?" He crossed his arms in front of him and examined her.  
    She shot him a look but didn’t say anything further. Even when she was in pain, the woman couldn’t cut him a break.
    But they couldn’t stay in the woods all day. It would be getting dark eventually, and if she sat too much longer, she’d be soaked and then frozen, and the last thing he needed was to hear about that. Jeff sighed. "We should get you back to the Lodge," he said. "Let me help you up."
    She scooted towards the edge of the log pile as best she could with only one arm. She winced with the movement and bit her lower lip. "I can manage."  
    He had no doubt that she could manage on her own, but it would probably mean hurting herself further and there was no way he was going to stand by and watch that. Besides that, there was nothing he wanted more than to have her body pressed