Chapter 12
Crap.
Blythe turned the key in the ignition another time and the engine sputtered—just like it did every time she tried to start it. She went into town after dinner to grab some essentials for the house. Chris offered to go, but she hadn’t been out in a while and wanted to drive. She got to the store just before closing. It was dark by the time she snagged what she needed and headed the thirty minutes back home. She was about five miles from the ranch when she heard a noise coming from inside the vintage vehicle. She pulled over, praying it was nothing. She’d been driving her Olds since high school. It was a gift from her parents for her sixteenth birthday. It was also her dream car. She had a love for the classics, and she felt like a badass driving the muscle car wherever she went.
Think, Blythe… Who do we call?
Chris had the girls in bed, no doubt, and she couldn’t ask him to leave them home alone or drag them out to come get her. She opened her phone, clicked her call log, and took a deep breath as she heard the first ring.
“Sugar?” he answered quickly.
She was used to Max’s phone going all the way to voicemail and him calling her back later.
“Hey…” She let out a light chuckle, embarrassed she was even doing this. “Um, I’m stuck.”
“Stuck where?” His voice elevated.
“On the side of the highway, about five miles outside the ranch. It got dark, and the engine sounded funny, so I pulled over to check, but now it won’t start.”
“Send me your location. I’m jumping in my truck right now. Don’t move.” He said it like she had the guts to start walking. What if there was a bear or a moose or a wolf or…only god knows what wandering around out there in Yellowstone County.
“I’ll wait. I promise.” She tapped the red button and ended the call, then sent a text with her phone’s location. She waited only fifteen minutes before she saw headlights coming up in front of her. Justin lived a bit further than Silo Springs, but even still, that was fast.
She opened her door and started to climb out, but as she did, she heard a loud bass coming from the truck slowly rolling toward her. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from his headlights, and suddenly the music became audible as he rolled down his window. It was one she knew, and she giggled when she saw him crank his ball cap backwards and start mouthing the words to the song “Urgent” with the 80’s band Foreigner.
She watched as Justin let go of the steering wheel and started playing his air saxophone.
“You know this song is about sex, right?” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“So?” He waggled his eyebrows at her and turned down the volume. “How do I know that’s not the reason you called? I bet if you give me those keys, I can get that car to start on the first try. This could all be a ruse to get me out here so you can seduce me…”
“Oh, good hell…” She threw her head back and let out a single laugh. “I’ve never seduced a man in my life, cowboy. And if I decided to, it wouldn’t be out here on the side of the road—where we could get caught like a couple of teenagers.” She folded her arms across her chest and lifted one brow, her lips making a flat line.
“Wait, you were engaged and you never…?” His question trailed, and she felt her cheeks go hot.
“No, I was saving that part.” She paused, feeling embarrassed to tell him why. “I wanted to do it right, you know? Maybe that’s not a good enough reason, and maybe it sounds stupid now, but it is what it is. Max didn’t like it, and it was always a sore spot for him.” Her head turned and her eyes looked over her shoulder at the broken down coup. “Can you just come look under my hood?”
She was done talking about it.
“Is that a proposition?” He winked at her and stepped out of his Chevy.
Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He was a shameless tease, and now he knew she had never shared a bed with a man in her entire life. She was only twenty years old, for heaven’s sake. She hadn’t been ready, and clearly the guy she’d chosen turned out to be a slime ball. So, Justin could take his teasing and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
She watched as he strode out in front of the Cutlass, his headlights shining bright so he could see. She listened when he told her to reach inside and pop the hood, then his head disappeared underneath. Her dad had replaced the engine and everything necessary when he bought it all those years ago. She hadn’t put that many miles on it, but cars that old—even good ones—could have faults.
“It could be a rotor issue or something else entirely,” Justin called from under the hood. He closed it and dusted off his hands. He’d been touching all kinds of things under there, and she had no idea what was what.
Justin walked over to the bed of his truck and began opening the built-in tool box. She watched as he dug around for a few minutes, then closed the lid and walked back to her. He hadn’t said what he was looking for.
“Shit, sugar, I wish I was a mechanic. I don’t have any answers for you, but what I do have…is a tow strap.” He held it up and flashed his gorgeous smile. She still didn’t understand how he was single. Yeah, he’d never fallen in love, whatever. He would’ve been eaten alive by women where she came from.
“If you throw this baby in neutral and just steer the wheel, I can haul it back right now.” His arm was leaning on the door as he looked down at her.
“Just keep your foot ready to step on the brake. Okay, sweetheart?”
Blythe felt her stomach drop, and her defenses reared in front of Justin for a second time.
“Don’t ever call me sweetheart again.” She was angry. “There’s been two men in my life to call me that, and every time it was derogatory.”
Her dad was one; her ex fiancé was the other.
She was glaring at him now, tears welling in her eyes. He let go of the door and reached inside the car, pulling her out of the seat and into his arms.
“Hey…” he sang softly, “I’m sorry. I promise to never call you that again. I didn’t know.” His strong arms held her tightly before loosening his hold and bringing his palms to her jaw—tilting her face up toward his.
“Will you let me pull you home?” She could see the regret in his eyes, the same feeling she was drowning in after snapping so quickly.
Justin was a good man. He was a man who cared about other people and how his words affected them… What a concept? She rested into his chest and whispered an apology.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Now I know—you’re sugar, and only sugar to me, from now on.”
She smiled and let out a breath. She loved it when he called her that.
He let her go, and she sat back in the driver’s seat of her car. She stepped on the brake and put it in neutral. Justin took care of hooking the strap to the vehicle and making sure all the correct settings were in place for towing.
Blythe steered her car and made sure to stay in line with Justin’s tail lights. She still felt the pain of regret for snapping at him. Especially after he dropped everything and came to her the minute she called. She was beginning to realize she had certain triggers when it came to men, now that she recognized how easily she’d been controlled by the last one. She reminded herself that Justin wasn’t him, and she needed to be more aware of her reactions to things.
After they arrived back at the ranch and he’d unhooked everything, she hugged him goodbye.
“Thanks for rescuing me tonight. I don’t know what you were doing before, but I am grateful.”
She felt his arms tighten around her and his chin rest on the top of her head.
“You called, I came—simple as that. Wherever you are, no matter what, you call me. I’ll be there every time.”