"The trouble, it might drag you down; if you get lost you can always be found."

- Song "Home" by Phillip Phillips

Chapter One

Cody, Wyoming was now officially the coldest freaking place on earth.

Bella concluded this rather quickly the moment she took a step out of her cab, the blast of wind that hit her nearly freezing her right where she stood.

"Holy-"

With a fierce gasp she plunged right back into the toasty warm confinement of the vehicle, slamming the door shut with a solid bang. Teeth chattering wildly, Bella wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees, her whole body shivering violently in a vain attempt to stay warm. The cab driver turned his head and stared at her, the reason as to why he was wearing mittens on both hands finally dawning on her.

"I-is it a-always t-this c-c-cold?" Bella stuttered, blinking in despair as her eyes began to water, the drops running down her cheeks and neck. She had never been so cold in all her life. Ridiculous!

"Only during the winter, ma'am. Here in Cody we normally have about three hundred days of sunshine every year. During January, that's when it gets real chilly the most. It's the wind that gets ya. I recommend wearing a scarf from now on, miss, if you don't mind me say'in," he drawled, blinking sympathetically at her in such a way that made her feel like she was a puppy being consoled.

"It's only N-November," Bella stated in horror, grimacing at the sound of the wind as it howled outside her window. How on earth would she ever be able to go out there again? What had she been thinking, moving to Wyoming to live with her father? Was she insane?

Clearly, if she thought she could live here until she turned eighteen, the time of age when she would become a legal adult and move somewhere with a bit more reasonable temperatures for the living.

She had recently turned seventeen two months ago. That meant she had to stay here for one whole year, which had been her choice, don't forget. But had it been the right one?

Of course, she reassured herself, continuing to shudder. There was no way she would have stayed with her step-father, Phil, after his cruel betrayal. And Charlie, her real father, had wanted his daughter to stay with him since she was fifteen, so personally this was for the best.

And she was going to stick to her decision, no matter what. If she had to endure several months of bone-chilling weather, so be it. Even if that meant losing her toes to hypothermia, which she had a feeling was happening right this very second.

"Er – Miss Swan?"

Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, Bella once more focused her attention on the cab driver who was patiently waiting for her to exit the vehicle. She groaned softly and glanced out the window with dread. Saying a silent farewell to her toes, Bella opened the door and ran straight to the trunk, flinging it open in one swift movement before grabbing her suitcases one by one and throwing them onto the ground.

She slammed the trunk back down, waved good-bye to the cab, and then grabbed both of her suitcases with each hand, praying her fingers wouldn't fall off by the time she made it inside. However, before she had taken at least one step towards the house Charlie appeared out of nowhere with a huge grin stretched across his face.

"Well, there you are Bella! We were expectin' you about two hours ago."

Charlie, never particularly being one to give welcoming hugs, stood awkwardly in front of his daughter for a moment before deciding to grab a hold of one of her suitcases.

Bella lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "W-we?" she managed to muster between violent shudders, glancing longingly towards the one-story house that sat quite literally in the middle of nowhere. Back behind it she could see the outline of the mountains that towered high in the distance, and just the sight of them took her breath away.

"Me and the boys – er, the cowhands," he clarified after seeing the look of confusion on her face turn into an expression of vivid bewilderment. "I'll introduce you to them once you're all settled in."

Nodding, Bella followed him quickly towards the house, which she could tell now was all white, with a nice porch out front. On the porch was a couple of old charming rocking chairs, and napping on one of them was a black cat.

Bella was so immersed in her observations that she didn't heed Charlie's warning until it was too late. One moment she was striding quickly towards the porch steps and in the next her back was flat on the ground and a long, sloppy pink tongue was aggressively licking her face.

"BEAR! UP!"

Mortified, Bella stared at the huge dog as it let out a loud, sharp whine and obeyed his master's wishes. Leaping off her chest, the dog, which she figured to be a black and white malamute after noting his broad stature, backed up a couple strides and then stopped, tilting his head to stare at her with a pair of dark black, beady eyes.

"Bella! Are you all right?"

Charlie reached down to help her up, but before he had the chance she stuck out her hand and shook her head.

"I'm f-fine," she stuttered, standing up in a dizzy state before quickly regaining her composure. She turned her head to gaze once more at the huge animal, amazed by its size.

"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized with a sigh, "Bear's still young, he doesn't know anything yet. One of my cowhands, Jasper, is working with him but he hasn't showed no progress yet," he added with a soft grunt.

Bella was about to ask just who this Jasper was, but decided to keep her mouth shut. I'll find out soon enough, she thought, glancing back to the door.

"Oh, right, you're probably freezing, aren't ya? Well, come on in then. Just don't bother Toby. He gets real moody when you wake him from his nap," Charlie warned.

Toby? Bella thought, exasperated. Charlie nodded to the cat and her mouth formed a silent 'oh.'

The moment they stepped inside, Bella let out a long sigh of relief. Warmth! Oh, how she loved the warmth. Precious, beloved warmth…

"Bedroom's this way," Charlie grumbled, rolling her suitcase down a small hallway to the right. Bella followed him until they both reached her bedroom, which was on the left.

Stepping inside, Bella looked around. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small, either. It was a normal size, pretty much. A queen size bed was against the wall on the left and her dresser was just beside it. On the opposite wall was a desk, and the window was located straight ahead. All in all it was roomy, Bella decided.

"Hope this is okay. It's been a guest house for the last couple of years, but since it's yours now you can do anything with it you like," Charlie remarked.

Bella nodded and murmured, "It's great."

"Er, good. I'll go and uh…cook some dinner. Give you some time to unpack."

She flashed him a startled glance. "You cook?"

Charlie grinned sheepishly and then shrugged. "Well, I'm not a professional if that's what you're thinkin', but I know the basics."

Bella raised an eyebrow, trying not to look too doubtful as she replied, "Um, sure."

After Charlie had slipped out into the hallway and closed the door, Bella went to work on unpacking all of her suitcases.

One year, she reminded herself, placing a folded shirt into one of the drawers. Just one year, that's it. I can handle that…right?

After she had finished unpacking, Bella decided to go out and have a look around. This time however, she was going prepared. Taking up on her cab driver's suggestion, she wore a bright red scarf over her favorite dark blue sweater, along with an old pair of blue jeans and her brown boots. Her long brown hair was down, framing her pale face, which probably looked even more ghastly now that she lived in a place where it was twenty-freaking-one degrees out.

Inhaling a deep breath of cold, fresh mountain air, Bella headed towards the big red barn that was located not far from the ranch house. As she walked towards it she wondered if people would start calling her a "cowgirl" now.

Whoever chooses to call me cowgirl, she decided, is going to receive one hard kick in the ass.

She definitely was not happy with the fact that her father had chosen Wyoming, over all the other places in the United States, to move to after him and Renee had separated. And now that Renee was gone…fighting the tears that had started to build up in the back of her eyes, Bella finally approached the barn. Swinging the door open, she stepped inside.

…and collided into stone.

Or, what she assumed was stone. Stumbling backwards, she was in danger of banging her head against the door when, unexpectedly, a pair of surprisingly strong, rough hands grabbed her by the waist and held her upright against the doors.

During that whole instant Bella's eyes had been closed. Now, she was afraid to open them.

But then she heard the voice. It was a deep, harmonizing voice, wrapped in a gorgeous, high country drawl. Never had she heard such a distinctive voice. And what he said, well…

"Hey there, darlin'."

It made her heart pound mercilessly inside her chest.

Finally her eyes fluttered open and she stared straight into a pair of liquid gold...and a face so irrevocably handsome it had to be a sin.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave me your thoughts. :)