Breaking Free: A Colorado High Country Crossover Novel, Pamela Clare [i can read book club .TXT] 📗

“Thanks.”

Winona hurried into her bedroom, dressed in layers—jeans, a warm silk jersey camisole, her purple long-sleeved T-shirt with the yellow feather on the front, and warm socks. Then she combed the tangles out of her wet hair, squeezed the moisture out of it with a towel, and left it loose to air dry.

She found Jason sitting on her sofa with a cup of coffee in his hands. “Have you had breakfast?”

“Yeah, thanks. I’m good.” Jason wasn’t much taller than Chaska, but he dominated the space, the coffee mug seeming small in his hands.

She stuffed things she might need into her backpack—a water bottle, gloves, a hat, a notepad, and pen—and laced into her hiking boots. “The local vet is covering the clinic later today, but I need to do morning rounds.”

She let Jason feed the eagle, his fascination making her smile.

He sucked in a breath when the big bird flew down, talons out, to dig into its meal. “Look at that.”

The morning was cold and crisp as they walked to Jason’s truck, the air fresh with the scent of pine and golden aspens.

Winona had to hurry to keep up with his long stride. “I texted Jack for directions to the Cimarron last night.”

Jason touched a button on his keychain fob, starting the truck’s engine. “It’s already programmed into my GPS. McBride gave me the address. He has nothing but praise for Jack West and his family.”

Neither did Winona. “When the fire hit, most people were at work and couldn’t make it home to evacuate their livestock. Jack and Nate showed up with trailers and rescued other people’s horses. No one asked them to do it. No one paid them. They just showed up. They helped me evacuate the clinic, too.”

“They sound like good people.” Jason opened her door, then walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

They headed toward the Peak to Peak Highway.

Winona stowed her backpack by her feet. “Naomi was so happy to see the photos of the cabins. Thanks again for all you did to see that through.”

“I was glad to help.” Jason turned up the heater.

“I got to hold little Shota again.” Winona had kissed his toes and held his tiny fingers. “I had no idea how much I would adore him.”

Jason smiled. “What does his name mean?”

“It’s the Lakota word for ‘smoke.’ It’s an old-fashioned boy’s name. But, really, they named him after my wolf.”

Jason stared at her as if he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Your … wolf?”

She laughed. “Yeah. What? Doesn’t everyone have a wolf?”

He chuckled, the sound warm. “I don’t even have a dog—well, unless you count that stray that comes around sometimes.”

She told Jason how Shota and his two littermates had been rescued from a smuggler by a game warden and how she’d managed to save only Shota. “I got a special permit and built an enclosure for him. We became a pack—me, Shota, and Chaska. We brought him inside, played with him, took him for long hikes.”

“You went hiking with a wolf?” The disbelief on his face made her laugh.

“That’s how Chaska met Naomi.” Winona told him how Naomi had been taken captive by a couple of fugitives while camping in the mountains west of Scarlet. “She escaped, but they shot her in the arm. She fell into a ravine trying to hide from them and broke her tibia. She lay there all night alone in the rain. Shota found her the next morning and saved her life. That’s how she and Chaska met. He helped Zach track them.”

“Did they catch the bastards?”

“One died in a shootout. They caught the other one a short time later.”

“Good.” He glanced over at her. “I understand your nephew’s name now. That’s a good name. But where’s Shota, the wolf?”

Winona had known he would ask. “During the fire, I had to evacuate him to the Forest County Fairgrounds. I sedated him, but it just wasn’t safe for him there—so many people, so many other animals. I found a wolf sanctuary that would take him for as long as he needed a safe home. I dropped him off there.”

Her throat went tight, tears blurring her vision, an ache in the part of her heart that belonged only to Shota. “When I went to get him, I saw that he had bonded with a female—a beautiful white wolf named Aput. He had a much larger enclosure and a new pack. I couldn’t take that from him, so I … I left him there. I let him go.”

She blinked her tears away, hoping Jason hadn’t noticed.

He took her hand, squeezed, his fingers warm. “That must have been hard.”

“It was best for him, but I miss him.” She willed herself to smile. “I visit when I can. He’s always excited to see me.”

“I bet he is. You saved his life and raised him. You’re his mother. Now I know why you love wolves.”

Winona was touched that Jason seemed to understand.

For a time, they drove in silence.

Jason glanced down at the GPS screen. “McBride tells me that if Jack offers us his chili or a steak, we can’t say no. He says the Cimarron is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

Winona couldn’t deny that she was curious. “I’ve never been there, but from the stories I’ve heard, Zach is right.”

Jason fought to keep his eyes on the road. “McBride wasn’t kidding.”

“Holy smokes!”

The Cimarron sat in an open valley surrounded by white-capped peaks, the mountainsides gold with aspen. Nestled in the middle of the valley was perhaps the largest family home Jason had ever seen. Constructed of stone and logs, it had a steep, multi-gabled roof, high cathedral windows, and a portico driveway accented by a colonnade of polished logs.

“It looks like a Swiss chalet that grew up, married rich, and became a mansion.” There was a note of awe in Winona’s voice.

Jason laughed. “Good description.”

“Can you imagine living here?”

“Hell, no. For most of my childhood, our house didn’t have plumbing or