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I tucked my scarf into
my North Face jacket, doing my best to trap the heat inside of my coat. I
would need it on the long ride to the hunting cabin on the other
side of the property. It would take us at least three hours by way
of snowmobile to arrive at the little secluded cabin in the woods.
I had convinced Daddy that two friends and I would be messing
around for the next couple days. Movies, girl talk, and plenty of
alcohol to keep us toasty. What I hadn’t disclosed was that my two
girlfriends weren’t really coming, and instead I had invited my
almost boyfriend, Collin. After I was accompanied out by Luke, one
of our ranch hands, it would be just me and Collin Fawnsworth for
the next blissful seventy-two hours.
    Collin’s father owned a ranch much like my
own and his pockets were overflowing with money. It was true that
we had grown up living similar lifestyles, and I hoped that
spending some quality time together would really solidify our
upcoming nuptials. If you think that arranged marriages aren’t
happening in the United States these days, you know nothing of the
ranches of Colorado. All wealthy land owners with daughters find
another wealthy land owner with a son to whisk her away, probably
on bareback into the sunset. That is unless you are my father, who
thinks a winter wedding between myself and Collin would be more
appropriate. I think his reasoning is that you’d be crazy to take
your clothes off in this type of frigid weather, and let’s be
serious he doesn’t want to think about his daughter in that
way.
    I put my hands in my gloves, wiggling my
fingers to make sure they were fully in before going outside. I
looked out the window one last time, a small chill going through my
body. It really was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and
created a gleam on the newly fallen snow. I could see across the
ranch pretty far, looking out over an acre into the mountainside.
There my visual ended, meeting the roughness of the trees. They
seemed foreboding, but I shook the feeling off as it was such a
perfect winter day.
    With my hand on the doorknob, I called out
to Linda, our cook, “See you in a few days!”
    I saw her smiling face pop around the corner
of our massive kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. “You have
a good time, dear, but be careful, Cheyenne. My knee is tellin’ me
a storm is coming.”
    She rubbed her left knee gingerly. It’s her
indicator. Linda is always predicting the weather, and to her
credit she’s usually right. Nonetheless, on such a perfect winter
day I couldn’t imagine that any harm could come to me.
    “ I gotcha. See ya!” I
smiled at her before allowing the blistering cold to touch my
cheeks as I left the comfort of my home.
    The snow felt soft underneath my boots as I
made my way across the open land to the barns. They house our
cattle and horses, but also all of my father’s big toys, including
the snowmobiles. He had moved most of the equipment to the out
buildings last year after he purchased another car. His toys could
no longer fit in the six car garage that we owned. The machinery
was a bit excessive, it was true, but I appreciated them being out
in the barn as I could go out more often to visit the horses under
the guise of checking on the ranch hands. Daddy didn’t like his
toys bothered. As I approached the back of the stable, I could hear
a few horses neighing in the distance. They didn’t appreciate being
cooped up like this, but with the snow last night my father was
afraid that some of the yearlings would freeze. The yearlings were
wild and mischievous, and they valued their freedom over anything
else, probably even their lives. Being in the stables made them
restless and uncomfortable, and sometimes I felt just like
them.
    I stomped the snow off my boots and closed
the door behind me, feeling the warmth of the heated barn take the
sting out of my skin. I walked through the office and found Fred,
the head of our household, making small talk with