Free Wide Spaces (A Wide Awake Novella, Book 2) by The 12 NAs of Christmas, Shelly Crane Page B

texting me those times, I'm pretty positive. She told me she had called you to mess with you, but there had been a accident or something and she wanted to let me know in case you were in trouble."
    "The police didn't bring me here?"
    He shook his head. That bashfulness that kept him so grounded surfaced, making me melt with the warmth of it. "I did. I…drove around looking for you when you didn't make it to your parents'."
    My heart slammed. "You came out in the storm-"
    A woman wearing a Santa hat came through the door before I could finish. She smiled at me and then smiled at Mason. "How did you sleep, hero?"
    Hero? He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm fine. I want you to tell me that she's fine," he said and looked at me.
    "Well," she spouted and looked into my eyes with a light, "she's not freezing to death anymore, so that helps things, right?"
    "What?" I heard myself say.
    She turned her curious gaze to me. "What do you remember about the accident?"
    "Just…that. The snowplow was coming and a truck came around him. I had nowhere to go but the trees."
    "That's it? You don't remember Mason bringing you in?" I shook my head. She smiled and proceeded to tell me how Mason had been looking for me for hours out in the snowstorm. How he went to the police and the hospital refusing to quit until he finally found me. Then how he smashed the ice around the car with a wrench to get the door open to retrieve my freezing body, almost freezing to death himself in the process.
    "When he carried you in, he had mild hypothermia himself, and you, my dear," she smiled again, " were knocking on death's door. Literally." She shot a look at Mason. "We had to bring you back once. And then Mason laid in the bed with you to warm you up until you were stable."
    I swung my gaze over to Mason. He had been watching my face the entire time, and now, he gulped and didn't look away. He looked heartbroken and concerned. I didn't understand why he'd feel heartbroken. I wa s all right, I was right here…unless he thought I wasn't going to forgive him.
    I squinted at him. Yeah, it sucked that he didn't mention Adeline. And yeah, it hurt when he said that he felt guilty loving me. But those weren't deal-breakers. Didn't he know that? I tilted my head and watched his thumb as it caressed the backs of my fingers. He didn't, did he? He honestly thought I was going to leave him, to break off everything, because of this.
    We were supposed to be getting married in less than a week. I couldn't let him think that for another second because he had saved my life, risked his own life for me, and then stayed here with me all night, keeping me safe and warm…and he sat there thinking I was going to leave him.
    I leaned forward as much as I could, grabbing his arms and pulling him to sit on the bed beside me. His arms stayed loose and tentative at our sides, unsure of my motives, but I reached around his neck and held on for dear life as I burst wide open.
    Everything that I wanted for myself was right here in this bed with me. I didn't care if the nurse was there. I needed Mason more than I needed my dignity right then. I loved and hated the fact that he had risked his life for me. It was such a strange contrast.
    I whispered in his ear through my sobbing throat, "I love you."
    It was then he let him self go. All his muscles released and his arms, though careful, engulfed me with his warmth. With me pressed into his chest, he lifted one of those big warm hands and cupped my cheek, his thumb running over my lips as he rested his head to mine. I could practically taste the gratefulness coming from him. He had bandages on his arm and his hands. I ran my fingers over them gently, telling myself I'd ask him later. They were new, so I knew it had been from his search of me.
    He got hurt for me even while he thought I was so angry I was going to leave him forever.
    I heard the door close somewhere behind him, but we stayed like that. When he felt my tears on his hand, his