Chapter Four
Jude
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day came and went, and I spent most of them binging shows right here in my nest but, by the day after, I was more than ready to move my body and get some chores done.
Unlike other people, I loved chores. Chores meant loving on my house. Caring for it. I’d had a heavy hand in designing this place, and so I intended to take care of it as best I could.
I aired out the quilts on the bed and washed the sheets. I closed up my couch. My kitchen was always clean, since cooking for others required a spotless and pristine baking area, so that needed no tending to. The floors were swept while a tune came from my lips.
Hands on hips, I stood near the door, admiring my own handiwork. Not too shabby if I did say so myself. The best part of cleaning was patting myself on the back.
With the fire stoked and nothing else to do, I curled up with a book near the front window and before long, found myself immersed in a holiday story.
I pushed my blanket aside. I stood up and watched as an older-model truck slowed to a stop sideways in my driveway.
Another bang and smoke billowed from the engine.
What a day to break down.
I threw on my coat, hat, and boots and went outside, gasping at the chill in the air. The snow was coming down harder than it had been only minutes before.
Whoever this person was, they needed to get out of the cold.
“Hello?” I called out, fast-walking toward the truck. Smoke continued to rise, mixing with the falling snow, the two of them competing for airspace. “Hello!” I called louder.
“Hello,” a voice said, though the driver hadn’t emerged from the cab yet. “I’m okay. It’s just the engine.”
Well, that answered one question.
I rounded the front of the vehicle and saw a man in the driver’s seat. His forehead rested on the steering wheel, and I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or frustrated. Either or maybe both. I assessed the truck. He hadn’t run into anything. This was simple car trouble.
He got out, and I stepped back, in awe. He had wide shoulders and, though we were outside, he seemed to fill the space around us.
A red-and-black patterned flannel covered a beefy figure.
He looked like someone who could try out for a strong man competition, but someone who didn’t turn down a cookie or a dozen either.
“I’m Jude,” I said. “I live here.” Yep. Social battery on empty.
“Ripley. I was driving home from my brother’s house. Is there a tow company in…what was the town I just passed through?”
“Oliver Creek. And no. The towing company and the mechanic are one and the same. It’s Taggert’s Towing, and they are closed until the new year.”
He put his fists on his hips and reached into the cab to pop the hood. “Maybe there’s a way I can rig it.”
I let out a snort, garnering a squint from him. “I thought you were joking. Because your name is Ripley and rip and rig it up. Sorry, I’ve had a lot of sugar lately.”
Ripley cocked his head to the side as though I were a new species but went to work cursing the engine and pressing on things. “Maybe there’s a towing company in the next town? The next city?”
“In this snowstorm? Not likely.” The wind kicked up, bringing Ripley’s scent to me, an overdue and surprise Christmas gift.
My wolf picked up the notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and molasses.
I was staring at the embodiment of a gingerbread man.
The Goddess must like cookies because I would bet she made him with her best ingredients.
Ripley grabbed a wrench from the back of his truck and banged on something in the engine.
The smoke stopped for a second but, after a few more hits, it started again, this time worse than before.
He cursed under his breath, rested his palms against the edge of the open hood, and leaned his head down.
Puffs of warm air made clouds against the chill of the winter air.
“What am I supposed to do until then?” he asked, not looking at me.
“There’s no motel or hotel with a free room in town but I have a guest bedroom. The snow is really coming down and there’s supposed to be a snowpocalypse starting tonight.”
Fate must’ve heard me because the snow thickened, clinging to everything.
Ripley turned his gaze on me, and I stepped back from the force of it.
He was an alpha, sure, that part was easy to read, but something about the way his deep-chocolate eyes saw through me made my breath catch and my wolf howl inside me.
“That’s nice of you but I think there may be a way I can fix it up. At least to get somewhere I can stay.”
I almost walked away. Almost. But my wolf nails me in place.
He can’t fix his engine and there’s a warm cabin only a few feet away.
He’s a stubborn one.
I wrapped my arms around my torso and watched him. Well, if he was going to be mulish, then I would help him.
“Hey, I have a toolbox in my shed. Let me get it.”