Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
ERIN
“ Y ou have got to be kidding me.” I lean forward and rest my forehead on the steering wheel in absolute despair. It’s been too cold the past few days to walk around town for work or my errands, thanks to a spring storm that rolled through and reminded us that, although the season may have changed, winter is still hanging on with her icy fingernails.
But halfway home from the grocery store, my car decides to simply stop running.
It’s dead. Deader than a doornail.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
I have a trunk full of groceries that I need to get home, and I’m at least two miles away from my apartment. Glad that my dad insisted that I invest in the roadside assistance insurance, I find the card in the glove box and call the toll-free number.
“One hour,” I repeat when I’m told how long I’ll have to wait. “Well, at least my ice cream won’t melt.”
“I’ll get someone there as soon as possible. The driver will call or text when they’re on their way,” I’m assured before the call ends.
I take a deep breath, blow it out, and frown because I can see my breath in the cold air. It’s damn cold. The week started out pretty decent in regard to the weather, but now it just feels like February all over again. And, of course, I didn’t bring any gloves or a hat with me, because I was planning to simply go from the car to the store and back again.
Just when I’m contemplating a two-block walk to a restaurant to sit and wait for the tow truck, my phone rings.
“Hey, this is Peter with A-1 Towing. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. See you soon.”
My teeth have just started to chatter when the tow truck pulls up in front of me, and a tall, very handsome man steps out of the driver’s side and walks my way.
I get out to talk to him and to get the circulation moving in my legs.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I begin. “It just stopped, and I could barely get it pulled over to the side of the road.”
“Interesting,” he says, eyeing my car. “It’s not a beater.”
“No, it’s only a few years old actually, but it doesn’t seem to enjoy winter weather.”
Peter grins. “Can’t blame it. Well, I’ll get it towed to Brooks’s Garage across town, and they’ll get you figured out.”
“I appreciate it. But I have groceries in the back.”
Peter nods. “I’ll take you to your place first, if that’s okay.”
“Really? That would be amazing. ”
“Let’s do it,” he says, and before long, he has my car secured to his truck, and I’m in the passenger seat, giving him directions to my apartment. “You live above Roger’s garage.”
“Yeah, I do. Do you know Roger?”
“Of course, it’s a small town. I’ll help you get your groceries upstairs.”
“Oh, it’s okay. I need the exercise anyway. Let’s just put the bags on the sidewalk, and I’ll make trips.”
Peter seems nice, but I know better than to let strangers into my house.
“Whatever you want,” he says with a shrug and helps me get the groceries unloaded. I remember to grab my purse and the few personal things I have in the vehicle before Peter drives off, headed for the garage.
“Great,” I mutter as I load up more bags than I should and head for the stairs leading up to my place. “Another expense. I hope this doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg because I can barely make all the bills I have as it is.”
After three trips, everything is upstairs, and I’m winded.
So, I lean on the counter and catch my breath.
“Okay, so I do need to work out more.” I peel my sweater off and get to work putting my things away. Just when I close the cabinet door to what I’ve made the pantry, my phone rings.
“Hello?”
“Is this Erin Montgomery?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hey there. I’m Brooks, down at the garage you had your car towed to, and I’ve had a look through your car.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t hard to find. Are you sitting down?”
I blink and frown. “Should I be?”
“I would advise it, yeah.”
Grimly, I drop down to the edge of my couch. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“Well, it looks like you had a complete computer failure, which is honestly something I’ve never seen. Not to this extent, anyway.”
“Great.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “How much will this cost?”
He blows out a breath. “It’s going to be a couple grand, at least. I’m still diagnosing other things, but yeah, a few thousand. I can have a more complete estimate for you by tomorrow, but I don’t want to mislead you. You’re looking at a lot of money here.”
Of course, I am.
“Is it worth fixing?”
“I guess that’s up to you, isn’t it? If it were my car, I would probably fix it, yeah. But, if it were my wife’s car, I don’t know that I would trust it again. You could sell it for parts and buy another car.”
Sure, if I had the money for a car payment.
“Okay, I’m going to think about that.”
“I’ll be in touch tomorrow with a more accurate estimate. Sorry for the bad news.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I hang up and set my phone aside, rubbing my hands over my face. I do not want to use my dad’s money.
But I need a reliable car. The weather is too flaky here to depend on being able to walk.
I’ll just have to pick up a second job and make what I have stretch.
“Shit, it’s cold.” I rush into the coffee shop the next morning, rubbing my gloved hands together. “So, so cold.”
“Did you walk here?” Millie asks with a frown. “For the love of Old Man Winter, Erin, you can’t be walking around in that.”
I glance back and see that the snow is falling sideways, thanks to the wind.
“I had to,” I reply simply and hurry back to change out of my coat and boots and pull on an apron for work. When I return, Millie is slammed with customers, so I immediately jump in to help.
We stay busy through the lunchtime rush, and we switch back and forth between taking orders and filling them.
Finally, when there’s a break, we both take a breath and survey the mess around us.
“Whoa.” I blink at the crumbs, spilled coffee drips, and other debris on the tile floor. “It looks like there was a battle.”
“There was,” she says. “And we won. Good job.”
Just as I’m grinning at Millie, the door opens, and in walks a group of guys. Millie stiffens next to me.
“The asshole tourists,” she hisses, and I feel my eyes narrow into slits.
“I’ve got this,” I assure her.
“ We’ve got this,” she replies as the leader of the group—sporting a bright black-and-blue eye—steps up. “How can we help you?”
“Shit, it’s you,” he sneers.
“Yep, it’s me. Now, we can work this one of two ways. Either you and your friends can be nice, or you can go.”
“Me? I’m always nice,” he replies and blatantly looks Millie up and down in the creepiest way ever, then turns his gaze to me. “Now, you’re hot. And not as mouthy.”
I raise an eyebrow before I start laughing. I laugh so hard I have to hold my stomach. “Mouthy? Oh, honey, you have no idea just how mouthy I can be.”
“Let’s just go, man.” One of the guys standing in the back taps the asshole leader on the shoulder. “We can get coffee somewhere else.”
“Fuck that. Now it’s the principal of it. What is it with the bitches in this town being little cunts?”
Without saying a word, I pull my phone out of my back pocket and dial 9-1-1.
“This is Erin at the Bitterroot Valley Coffee Co. We need assistance.”
“Oh, please,” he sneers, but he starts to back up a couple of paces. “Gonna tell on me? Jesus, what a bunch of sniveling babies. I guess you’re not so brave when you don’t have some asshole at the ready to fight your battles for you, are you?”
Several customers are standing, just waiting to jump in if this jerk takes it too far and lays a hand on us.
Which I kind of hope he does because I’d love to kick him in the balls.
“I don’t need anyone to fight for me,” Millie says calmly. “But I won’t be harassed, here at my job or anywhere else. This is my home. These are my people. And you’re nothing but an annoying little bug.”
Just as he steps forward, the door flings open, and Millie’s brother, Chase, walks in, his hand on his weapon and fire burning in those hazel eyes.
“What’s the problem?” he asks.
“We’d like these customers to be escorted out,” I reply as Millie continues to have a staring contest with the asshole in question. “They’ve been rude and threatening, and we don’t want them here.”
“I’m not rude,” Asshole says with a smirk.
“You heard her,” Chase says. “Let’s go, guys.”
“I have the right to be here,” he insists. “We all do. This is a free country.”
“ This ,” Chase emphasizes, “is a private business, and you’ve been asked to leave. Don’t make me arrest you for trespassing.”
“You little bitch,” he snarls at Millie. “You’ve done nothing but cause me trouble on this trip, and you’re going to pay for it, you hear me?”
“Oh, my God,” one of the others says with exasperation. “Why can’t you keep your mouth shut?”
“On second thought, I believe I will arrest you for trespassing, disturbing the peace, and verbal assault. Do you want to press charges, ladies?”
“Yes,” we reply in unison just as Asshole takes a swing at Chase, who easily ducks out of the way and twists Asshole’s arm behind his back as Chase reaches for his handcuffs.
“Let’s add on assault on an officer,” Chase says with a wink for Millie and me. “We’ll take your friends with us, so they can either post bail for you or leave without you. Either way, I don’t care as long as you get the fuck out of my town. Come on, guys.”
“You’re such a fucker,” the quiet guy says to the asshole friend as all of them walk out the door.
“Well,” Polly, the owner of the cutest dress shop in town, says from the corner. “I almost came over there to punch that guy.”
Polly’s no taller than five feet, and can’t weigh more than ninety pounds, but I can see by the look on her face that she’s a force to be reckoned with.
“Chase must have been nearby,” Millie says after she swallows hard. I know that bully put her on edge, and I hate to see that. “I’m glad he came quickly.”
“You were handling yourself,” I assure her. “He’s nothing but a bully.”
“Yeah, I know. I hope they go home and get the hell out of my town.”
“Chase will run them off,” another customer calls out. I glance over and see that it’s Peter, the driver who helped me with my car yesterday. “But if you want someone to escort you home later, just let one of us know.”
“Thanks, Pete,” Millie says with a wink. “You’re the sweetest. Okay, everyone, I’m going back to business as usual.”
Taking her hint, everyone goes back to what they were doing before the incident, and Millie and I begin to clean up our mess from our earlier rush.
“Hey, I have a question,” I say as I wring out a rag in the sink. “Do you know of anywhere that’s hiring part time?”
Millie frowns over at me. “Why do you ask?”
“I need a second job.” I sigh and wipe down the countertop by the espresso machine. “My car has decided to be dramatic and needs a lot of attention, so I’ll need another source of income for a little while.”
“Is that so?” Millie leans on the counter and smiles over at me. “I might just know of something kind of perfect, but first I have to ask if you like kids.”
“Uh, sure? Why do I feel like this is a trick question?”
“It’s not. It’s an honest question.”
“I like kids. I have cousins younger than me, and we were always babysitting and stuff. Is the school hiring or something?”
“I wouldn’t know about that, but I do know that my oldest brother, Remington, is looking for a nanny to help him out at the ranch. Holly and Johnny are the kindest, most well-behaved, and amazing kids on the planet.”
“I’m sure they are.” I can’t help but grin at how proud Millie sounds.
“He’s a single dad, and with the kids getting older and having more activities and stuff, he just can’t manage it all by himself anymore. I finally talked him into hiring someone, and I know you. You’re totally trustworthy.”
“Do you know what the hours would be?”
“I’m not positive, but I’m sure you could work it out. I know he’d like to have help either in the mornings to get them off to school, or when they get out of school until dinner time.”
“That doesn’t seem too hard.”
“I don’t think it’s hard at all,” Millie assures me.
“I don’t want to have to quit this job. I like it here, and the whole point is to have both income streams.”
“Well, if he wants you to take afternoons, I’ll switch shifts with you so you’re off work before school lets out.”
I chew the inside of my lip, thinking it over. “It would be nice to have that flexibility.”
“Just go meet with him,” Millie suggests. “You can get a feel for it, and if you like him and the kids, take the job. If not, no harm, no foul.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“Awesome.” Millie bounces on her toes as she pulls her phone out of her pocket. “I’m texting him right now to see when he’s available for a chat.”
“Wait. I don’t have a car right now. I don’t have a way to drive back and forth to the ranch.”
“I have a loaner,” Pete says as he dumps his trash into the bin next to us. “You can borrow it until your car is ready.”
Stunned, I stare at Pete in surprise. “Really?”
“Sure. It’s just sitting there. Probably needs to be driven. I’ll park it out front here in about a half hour.”
“Holy shit, you’re all so nice to me.”
“You’re one of us now,” Pete says with a wink and turns to walk out the door.
“Pete’s hot and nice,” I say to Millie as I turn around.
“I know,” she replies with a sigh. “It’s really too bad that he’s married. Okay, Rem says he can meet with you tomorrow morning at around nine, but he’s hoping you can come to the ranch because he has something to do out there afterward. Of course, he does.”
Millie rolls her eyes, and I grin.
“Yeah, I can meet him at the ranch at nine, now that I have a loaner car.”
“Cool, I’ll tell him.” Millie types out her message and then tucks her phone away. “I’ll give you directions to the ranch. It’s not hard to find, but it’s out of town a ways. You’re going to be driving a lot; I should warn you of that.”
“Have you ever been to Seattle? It’s all sprawled out, and if you want to go anywhere, you have to drive a lot. No biggie.”
“Oh, my gosh, the kids are going to love you. I just know it.”
Okay, so the car Pete loaned me is a little old and makes a couple of funny sounds, but it runs, and the heater works, so I’m not complaining. The highway out of town to the ranch is icy in spots, so I’ve been taking it easy.
The last thing I need is to put a car I don’t even own into the ditch.
Finally, I see the sign for the Wild River Ranch that Millie described to me, and I turn into the driveway.
It’s pretty out here, with lots of snow-covered evergreen trees and bushes. There’s a family of three deer next to the driveway, watching me as I roll on past.
The storm has passed, and I’m hopeful for a warm day today to melt off the last of the ice and snow, but I have to admit, it’s just so pretty out here on the ranch, all glittery with ice.
Following Millie’s directions, I stay to the left when the driveway forks. She told me that if I went right, I’d run into her parents’ new house and the tiny cabin that her other brother, Brady, lives in.
Remington and his kids live in the farmhouse, now that he’s in charge of everything on the ranch and his dad has retired. Plus, their parents really wanted a smaller house to take care of.
Just like what my parents are thinking of doing.
I turn to the left and am met with a big farmhouse. It looks like something out of a Currier and Ives painting, so classic and… sturdy. The outside is brown with a big rock chimney. The shutters on the windows are red, and it looks like someone recently painted them over the summer.
There’s a Jeep in the driveway, next to a big SUV that looks like it would easily fit six kids. To the right is a big garage, and since the door is up, I see that there’s a truck tucked inside.
I can just picture this house at Christmastime, covered in lights and garland. The smaller evergreens along the driveway would be gorgeous with strings of lights on them.
And when I gaze out over the field and see black cattle, I grin.
It looks like we should be riding over the snow in a sleigh.
With a wide smile, I stride up the steps—steps that have been de-iced and shoveled very recently—and ring the doorbell.
Before I can even step back to wait patiently for an answer, the door swings open, and my heart stops.
“Grumpy.”