Page 11 of Serious Cowboy

She should seriously learn to keep up with the weather forecast because she hadn’t had a clue that a massive winter storm front was barreling toward her until it was too late to avoid it. Then, when she’d skidded right off the road, briefly losing control, she’d actually screamed from behind the wheel.

Sure, no one had been there to hear her, but it’d been scary.

It almost felt like karma, even though she didn’t even believe in karma. She shouldn’t be willing to go to such lengths for any man, no matter who he was or how intriguing she considered him to be. Yes, he’d been standoffish with her. And yes, it hadbugged her. So very much. But Callie knew she’d taken things too far.

One, because her accident could’ve become even more of a nightmare than it already was. What if the Miata had flipped? Or what if she’d smashed headlong into a tree or boulder? Two, because only after she’d made the mistake did it occur to her that she could be in legitimate trouble. What if someone hadn’t seen her and squashed her Mazda like a bug?

What if the blizzard had buried her overnight?

The cell signal out there hadn’t been reliable, and her car had been DOA. So, even if she’d been able to walk through that blustery gale, she could’ve become totally lost. Callie had only been in the area for a few months, and never on that specific road. And while Vancouver could get frigid and snowy, the weather didn’t turn on a dime like this. Not usually.

It proved to Callie just how ill prepared she’d been.

She knew she couldn’t have kept her heater running for hours on end, either. Not only because she’d run out of gas, but also because the exhaust could’ve suffocated her from the accumulating inches of wintry precipitation blocking her tailpipe. What she’d done had ultimately been dangerous. Dangerous and dumb.

She’d been incredibly lucky that it had indeed been Zeke who’d discovered her there.

It’d been even more fortuitous that he’d agreed to go out to lunch with her. It was almost a miracle, in fact. Callie didn’t plan to let such good fortune go by the wayside. For whatever random reason, she’d received a gift, and she would be certain to appreciate that gift to its fullest.

It was the least she could do.

With the opportunity she’d been blessed with, she decided to consider it a goal to make him smile. She’d never seen him do so. Not once. It was odd. Even the most taciturn and ornery people in the world smiled on occasion. But even at an event like his best friend’s wedding—or wedding renewal—he’d been not just stone-faced but wretched looking.

What in his life could possibly be so horrible? And if thingswerethat horrible, she wanted to find some way to relieve his burdens. To lighten his load. There had to be something she could do to help him.

She felt emboldened when he upheld his offer to give her a tour. Or really, herinsistencethat he give her a tour. But she knew she could talk anyone into nearly anything. It was her superpower. She’d promised herself to only use that power for good, anyway, and pulling Zeke out of his shell seemed an admirable goal.

Their luncheon at the Bookish Bistro opened up an aspect of Zeke that she’d never glimpsed before, and it only served to make her more fascinated by him. There was still so much about him that she didn’t know. One thing she did know was how compassionate and generous he could be. Mostly due to his call offering to go get her car that morning.

Zeke hadn’t had to do that. Callie wasn’t his responsibility. Yet, he’d gone out of his way to do it. It warmed the depths of her heart to be the beneficiary of his kindness.

It just went to prove that a man being a loner didn’t preclude him from being wonderful.

The week meandered by as if it had all the time on Earth, and it made Callie half crazy. She felt so anxious to reach Saturday,to spend more time with Zeke on this tour of Rocky Ridge, that she had to distract herself every single day. When there was downtime at the pediatric office—rare as that might be—she doodled all over her calendar blotter.

Once Friday afternoon had finally approached, every blank space had been occupied by swirling patterns of ink.

Yet all that anticipation backfired a little, so that when Zeke showed up at her doorstep, butterflies fluttered in her belly.

“Zeke, hi,” she welcomed him inside, but he hesitated.

“You’re not ready?”

“No, I’m ready. I just thought you might like some coffee or something.”

“None for me, thanks,” he said, grimacing. She didn’t even know why. But she figured maybe leaving would alleviate it.

Climbing inside his vintage International pickup cured any rough moments, though.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a truck this old.”

Zeke pursed his lips. “I don’t like to think of finely tuned machines like this as old. They’re more like well-kept antiques. Or at least retro. Classics, if you will.”

She could tell by the tone of his voice that this was meaningful to him. “Well, I’ve never been in a finely tuned retro vehicle like this. Itisvery nice.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am surprised. I don’t even know the year model.”