Free Snowed In by Cassie Miles

love what you do.”
    She knew how lucky she was. Some people never found a lifestyle and occupation that made them happy. For her, the B and B came ready-made. “I like running this place, and I do a good job. It’s pretty much perfect.”
    “You wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.
    “I’ve got no complaints.” There was, however, a glaring hole in her perfect B and B bubble. Like so many Bentley women before her, Sarah was alone. Though her mother had been an exception, falling in love with her father and raising Sarah and her brother, her mother fit the mold of a strong, independent woman. She’d refused to change her family name and insisted on staying at the B and B until Sarah was old enough to take over. It hadn’t been a surprise when her mom decided on law school.
    Glancing across the table at Blake, she couldn’t believe how much she was talking. Hospitality was all about the guest, and Sarah usually sat back and listened while others chatted. “Enough about me.”
    “I want to hear more,” he said. “This is just starting to get interesting.”
    “Really? You didn’t think the legend about the mystery Frenchman was intriguing? He was supposed to have a lost treasure.”
    “I want to hear about you, your story.”
    He pinned her with his sharp, blue-eyed gaze. And she felt like he could see through her defenses to the core of her loneliness, the fear that she wasn’t meant to find a mate and would live her life alone at the B and B. Not that it was a bad life. Her work with the Forest Preservation Society fulfilled her, and she was constantly busy.
    His gaze invited her to share her truth, but she wasn’t ready. She cleared her throat. “Give me the update on the security plans.”
    “I talked to Jeremy this morning. He’s been monitoring chatter about the general and hasn’t heard anything about a kidnap attempt. I’m hoping that the failure was enough to discourage another try.”
    Not exactly a solid reassurance. “What about Kovak’s investigation?”
    “He’s still digging through records from rental car places and checking hotel registries. We don’t have a name to go on. So this is a lot of guesswork. As for Farley and his friends, they don’t know anything.”
    “We’re stuck at zero?”
    Blake picked up his coffee mug and shrugged. “Forewarned is forearmed.”
    Four-armed? She imagined a Hindu goddess with extra limbs, even though she knew that wasn’t what he meant. “Because we know there’s a threat, we can be prepared. Like you said, four-armed.”
    He picked up the tablet-size computer screen and passed it to her. “This shows the feed from four different cameras. Give it a swipe, and it shows four more directions.”
    She checked out the black-and-white views that showed the approach road and the area surrounding the B and B. Tree branches bobbed in the wind. A glob of snow fell from a high point. In one view, she saw a bull elk with a six-point rack of antlers. “Very cool.”
    “I can transfer these views onto your computer or even a phone,” he said. “At night, the cameras switch to infrared vision.”
    With this kind of surveillance, it would be difficult for anyone to sneak up on them. “The Reuben twins are going to love this. I told them to come back tonight so they could help out.”
    “Good thinking. Even with the cameras, nothing beats an actual guard standing watch. They hear things, sense changes in atmosphere and see things a camera doesn’t notice.”
    He spoke with the voice of experience. He’d been trained for this kind of work, and she appreciated his skill. “I want to thank you,” she said, “for making the wedding possible. Emily really has her heart set on this ceremony.”
    “I’m glad it worked out.” He rose from his seat and stood behind her, watching the display on the screens. “I like it here. I wanted to stay.”
    When he reached past her shoulder to swipe the screen, she felt the warmth of his body and caught a whiff