Chapter 3
‘Tis the season to be freezin’
Scarlett
A s soon as the door is shut, I lean against it. I can’t believe I saw Weston Milton for the first time since high school and I called him out for his behavior back then. He didn’t remember me at first, but he’ll definitely remember me from now on.
My knees shake and I slam my palms against the door to steady myself. I blow out a breath and remind myself I’m not Scar the nerdy bookworm anymore. I’m Scarlett Harris. The most wanted Japanese translator in the United States.
Metal crunches and a car horn blares. What in the world? I rush to the window to look outside. The snow has slowed enough to allow me to see Weston’s patrol car in the ditch beside the driveway.
I debate leaving him to suffer by himself – he never went out of his way to help me after all. Oh, who am I kidding? I’d never leave anyone to suffer if I could possibly help.
I shove my feet into boots and throw on a jacket and mittens before rushing outside.
“Do you need help?” I shout.
When Weston doesn’t answer, I make my way to his car. He’s sitting in the driver’s seat speaking into a radio. I wait until he finishes before knocking on his window. He opens the door and steps out.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But I need get my patrol vehicle out of the ditch.”
I study how the car is situated. The rear tires are in the ditch buried under a foot of snow. I don’t think it’s going to be easy to get the car moving without some help.
“What about a tow truck?”
“The island’s tow truck is currently on the mainland for repairs. It’ll be at least two days before it returns.”
“Bummer. How can I help?”
“Can you sit in the driver’s seat and steer while I push?”
I point to the rear of the car which is now buried under a foot of snow. “I think you need to shovel before you can get back there to push, though.”
He stares at where I’m pointing. “Fuck. Can I borrow your shovel?”
“Shucks. I forgot to bring my shovel with me from Florida.”
He chuckles. “There’s one in the coat closet in the rental.”
I don’t ask how he knows where the shovel is. This is Smuggler’s Hideaway. Everyone knows everything about everyone.
“I’ll get it.”
I trudge back to the cabin and, sure enough, there’s a shovel in the coat closet in the entryway of the cabin. When I return to the car, Weston’s already at the rear of the car moving snow with his hands.
I hold up the shovel. “This might work better.”
“Thanks, smartass.”
“Smartass is better than nerd.”
He frowns but doesn’t respond to my comment. He removes his jacket to start digging the rear of the car out of the snow pile. I watch as he works.
I’m mesmerized by the bunching of his muscles as he shovels. Weston Milton is even sexier now at thirty-five than he was when we were in high school. And he was pretty sexy back then.
Blond hair, blue eyes, and a height of over six feet. Any high schooler would have swooned over him. Too bad he was an asshole.
He may not have ever called me nasty names the way the rest of our class did, but he didn’t stop anyone either. Which is nearly as bad in my book.
“Okay,” Weston shouts and I shove those high school memories away. “Let’s try and get this car out of the ditch.”
I settle in the driver’s seat with the door open so I can hear Weston. I glance around at all of the equipment. I’ve never been in a police car before. Goody Two Shoes was another one of my nicknames in high school.
I have to stretch my legs to reach the pedals since I’m several inches shorter than Weston.
“Don’t hit the gas!” he shouts. “Try to ease on the pedal.”
Ease on the pedal. Sure. Not a problem when I can barely reach it. I touch the pedal and the tires squeal but there’s no forward movement at all.
“Stop!”
I angle out of the car. “What’s wrong?”
“The tires are pretty stuck. I can’t push hard enough.”
“Shall I help? We can put the car in neutral and push together.”
I put the car in neutral before jumping out and rushing toward the rear of the car. My left foot slips on the ice. I try to steady myself with a hand on the car but it’s no good. I fly in the air before landing on my ass.
“Ouch.”
Weston bursts out laughing.
“So much for being a good police officer,” I mumble as I try to stand.
“Sorry,” he apologizes between bouts of laughter. “But I’ve never heard anyone call ice ‘meanie frozen water’ before.”
Oops. I must have yelled that while I was falling.
“Are you denying the ice is mean?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t dare.” He holds out his hand. “Let me help you up.”
I want to ignore his hand but I’m self aware enough to know the chances of me standing up without falling again are pretty low. As in zero. I skipped the line the day they were handing out elegance and went straight to the front of the klutz line.
Weston helps me to my feet and makes sure I’m steady with a hand on my waist before releasing me. As soon as he does, I miss his touch.
Did I mention I had a crush on Weston all through high school? I used to dream about him telling everyone to shut up and leave me alone. Teenagers are such idiots. Or maybe I was the idiot.
“Where do you want me to push from?”
He scowls. “You’re not pushing.”
“Why?” I narrow my eyes on him. “Are you one of those men who think women are weak?”
He rears back. “I wouldn’t dare. My mom would skin me alive while giving me a lecture on equality. And then, to make certain I learned my lesson, she’d make me organize an equality march.”
“Your mom sounds wonderful.”
He grins. “She’s the best. She always supported my dreams even though I didn’t want to follow in her footsteps with the family business.”
Lucky him. I would have loved for my family to support me. I don’t think the word support is in their vocabulary, though. Hazel tries but she often buckles under pressure from Mom and Dad.
“Anyway.” He clears his throat and motions to the car. “There’s no way the two of us are getting this moving. No matter how strong we both are. I’ll call someone to pick me up.”
“But what about your work? Aren’t you on duty?”
“Not much work to be done on the island when all the stores are closed for the snowstorm, and everyone is hunkered down in their houses.” He points to the cabin. “Go on. Get inside before you catch cold.”
“If you’re sure…”
He nods. Good. My rear is feeling a bit chilly since my jeans are wet from my fall. “Do you want to come in while you wait?”
“I need to make my call first.”
“Come in whenever you’re ready,” I say before retreating to the house.
I leave the door unlocked before making my way to the bedroom to change out of my wet jeans. Since I won’t be going anywhere today, I put on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.
When I return to the living room, I realize Weston is still outside. How long does he need to make a phone call?
I scan the driveway for him but he’s not in his patrol car or standing on the porch. Where is he? He better not try walking to town in this weather.
I shove my feet into my boots yet again. When I step out onto the porch, I still don’t see him.
Whack!
I follow the sound to the side of the house where Weston’s chopping wood.
Oh my. I thought he was sexy shoveling snow. I was wrong. Nothing can compare to the sight of him chopping wood.
I grew up on a farm. I know how much strength chopping wood takes. But Weston chops away without breaking a sweat.
I watch for a while before I realize I’m staring. And probably drooling. I retreat to the house and return with a glass of water.
“Weston,” I holler as I approach. Never startle someone who’s holding an axe.
He stills before glancing over at me. I hold up the glass.
“I thought you might be thirsty.”
“Thanks.” He reaches for the glass.
“You don’t need to chop all of this wood for me.”
“You need wood to stay warm with the power out.” He nods to the plastic box on the porch. “I also have candles and a flashlight for you in there.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Shall I bring this wood inside and get a fire started for you?”
I don’t argue with him this time. “That would be nice. The temperature’s dropping in the house.”
He picks up a few pieces of wood. “I’ll follow you.”
I pick up the plastic box as I lead him inside. While I set candles around the room, he works on the fire.
I didn’t expect Weston to go above and beyond for me but he did. Maybe he is the nice guy I always dreamed he was after all.