CHRISTMAS AT THUNDER HORSE RANCH by Elle James

coffee.
    “We really appreciate all you’ve done for us. Truthfully, we’d have been happy just to sit in front of the fire to thaw.” Emma sat in the chair Dante pulled out for her and stared down at eggs, bacon, ham and biscuits. “Breakfast never looked so good,” she exclaimed.
    “You’re an angel.” Dante hugged the older woman and waited for her to sit in front of a sandwich and chips before he took his seat.
    Marge’s cheeks bloomed with color.
    “My Marge can make most anything with a camp stove and a Dutch oven. And she can dress a mule deer like a side of beef.”
    Marge waved at her husband. “He only married me because I liked hunting.”
    Olaf grinned. “And she was the prettiest girl in the county.”
    Emma hid a smile. The pair clearly loved each other. “How long have you two been together?”
    Olaf’s head tipped to one side. “What’s it been? Thirty years or more?”
    Marge shook her head. “Going on forty.”
    “And you still don’t look a day over twenty-nine.”
    “Big fibber.”
    Emma caught Dante’s smile and joined him with one of her own. The warm food and good company went a long way toward restoring her stamina.
    By the time Marge and Olaf bundled them into the truck, Emma was beginning to think all was right in a crazy world. She found it hard to believe that only that morning someone had tried to kill them.
    As Olaf drove the long, snow-covered road to Devil’s Lake, Emma had far too much time on her hands to think. Whoever had shot down Dante’s helicopter hadn’t been satisfied with him being injured. He’d come back to finish the job. The big question was, would he try again?

Chapter Five
    At the truck stop at Devil’s Lake, Dante was able to get a call through to headquarters. The dispatcher on duty was relieved to hear from him. They’d sent out several helicopters to circle the last known location of his helicopter. The snow had done a nice job of hiding the crash site and they’d just located it beneath three feet of powder when Dante had made contact.
    Dante waited while the dispatcher connected him to his supervisor, Jim Kramer.
    “T.H., where the hell have you been?”
    Dante laughed. “Slogging through three feet of snow to get to someplace warm.”
    “You had us all worried out here when you didn’t show up at quittin’ time.”
    “Nice to know someone cares.” Dante had been with the CBP long enough to be a part of the team. When a chopper went down, everyone took it personally. The loss of a teammate hit everyone hard. “Rest assured, I’m not dead, yet.”
    “Glad to hear it.” Jim paused. “What happened?”
    “I was shot down by a man with a Soviet-made RPG.”
    “What?”
    “Look, I’m sitting at a truck stop in Devil’s Lake. The storm hit this area pretty hard and a lot of electric and phone lines are down. I was about to hit up a few of the truck drivers to see if anyone could get us back to Grand Forks. When I get back, I’ll fill you in on all the details.”
    “Fair enough. But I can do you one better. Biacowski is out searching for you. I’ll send him over to pick you up.”
    “As long as he has room for two.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I had a little help getting away from the burning fuselage and then surviving the storm last night by someone who works out at the university.”
    “Thank him for me, will ya? You know how hard it is to find good pilots.”
    “Will do.” Dante didn’t bother to correct his supervisor on the gender of the person who’d helped him. After arranging a location to pick him up, Dante hung up and turned to find Emma hugging Olaf.
    Something that felt oddly like jealousy tugged at his insides. Not that he had anything to fear from Olaf. The man was married and old enough to be Emma’s father.
    What bothered him was that she’d felt comfortable hugging the old guy and hadn’t so much as touched Dante since they’d made it back to civilization.
    When Samantha was alive, he’d been