I Choose Us: Book 2 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Christian Romance

Chapter 17

–Lottie–

The wind continued to howl as Lottie lay nestled against Coop's side. Even with the fire burning in the fireplace and the mound of blankets that lay over them, Coop still kept his arms wrapped around Lottie's waist, trying to share as much body heat as they could.

"How long do you think it'll keep this up?" Lottie asked quietly, hoping Coop wouldn't hear the tremble in her voice as she fought to keep her teeth from chattering.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, "but hopefully by in the morning it will have at least stopped enough so someone can find us. I'm sure Wes knows we're missing by now."

"What if he doesn't?" Now that things had calmed down between Lottie and Coop, all she could think about was what would happen next. "What about Cassie? What if they—"

"Shh." Coop tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He nestled his chin against her shoulder and said, "Cassie is with Wes and Anna. I'm sure Wesley loaded them in the truck before we even got outta town and they're probably already safe at their house. That's the benefit of living in the middle of town. Cassie and T.J. probably talked him into building a fort in the living room and they're playing camp out right about now."

Lottie forced a laugh. "Wesley's no doubt having as much fun as them."

"Right. I'm sure they've already roasted marshmallows and they're so hyped up on sugar they'll stay awake all night."

Lottie hummed. She knew Coop was only trying to make her feel better, but she couldn't shake the worry.

"What about Duke?" she asked. "Was he in the house when we left?"

Coop nodded against her shoulder. "He was. I'm sure he's curled up on Cassie's bed right now, snoring loud enough to beat the band."

Lottie didn't miss the slight hesitation in Coop's tone. Duke was old and the weather like this would be hard on him.

She turned in Coop's arms so she was facing him, wrapping her arms around his waist as well. "He'll be fine," she said with more confidence than she felt.

Coop remained quiet as he stared into the crackling flames.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" she asked.

A smile tugged at the corners of Coop's mouth. "The first house we moved into after we got married?"

Lottie nodded as she grinned. "And we only had enough money to pay the first month's rent so we couldn't get the power turned on right away."

"We spent a week freezing, camping out in the living room in front of the fireplace every night."

Lottie chuckled. "All because you were too proud to ask Hank for help."

Coop groaned. "I didn't think I'd ever hear the end of it. He hadn't yelled at me that bad since Wes and I were sixteen and we threw a party when he went out of town."

"You and Wesley threw a party?" Lottie hadn't heard that story before.

"We threw the party of the year," he answered proudly. "It was worth all three weeks we were grounded."

Lottie scoffed. "You threw the party of the year but you only got three weeks? That hardly seems fair."

Lottie felt Coop's leg twitch beneath the blankets and he winced, his eyes closing tightly as he grit his teeth until the pain passed.

"Yeah," he said a moment later, "but it was three weeks Ms. Ruth wouldn't let us hang out at all. That was punishment enough."

Lottie sat up, letting the blankets fall away from her shoulders as she tapped Coop's leg. "Take it off. It's too cold to keep wearing it. It'll just make it hurt worse."