“Shit.” I’m already shoving my feet into my boots and stuffing my arms back into my coat. “Alright. Let me see what’s going on. I’ll call you back.”
“I’m really sorry to bother you, but the roads are a wreck and since it’s so close to you…”
“You did the right thing, Shane. I’ll keep you posted.” I hang up and grab a flashlight and my truck keys.
When I open the front door, cold air nearly knocks the breath out of my chest. The temperature has dropped and the snow accumulation looks like it’s easily doubled in the very short time since I got home.
I climb into my personal truck, thankful when it fires right up and I’m able to turn around without a problem. With an emergency kit and tow wench, it’s better than trekking through the snow by foot.
It doesn’t take long at all for me to reach the scene, my headlights catching a dark SUV half buried in snow exactly where Shane said it would be.
The driver’s door is open, and a woman is standing in the road rubbing her arms over her coat, trying to keep warm.
Even before she turns, I know exactly who it is.
Tessa Pope.
Hair pulled back in a messy bun and wearing a parka with some fancy production company logo on it. I’m willing to bet she’s coming straight from Winterberry Farm, where I overheard she was trying to interview the Prices for her documentary.
Determined as ever. Reckless as always.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter as I jump down out of my truck.
She looks up, grinning when she spots me. “Chief Hale! Fancy seeing you here. What are the chances?”
“Pretty damn high, apparently,” I say, trudging closer. “What are you doing out right now?”
“Heading home,” she says, like it’s obvious. “I was at Winterberry Farm when some goats got loose.”
My brows shoot up. This story feels oddly familiar. “Tessa, you didn’t…”
She throws her head back and laughs. Something low in my gut does a stupid summersaut. “No, I didn’t. I was actually trying to help Jeremy Price and his next door neighbor Harrison Prescott corral the goats back where they belong—after I caught my breath from laughing. Not going to lie, watching those two bicker while chasing three very pissed off animalswasentertaining.”
I bet it was, I think, though I still don’t trust that she’s not behind the goats being loose in the first place. “So, if I search your car, I won’t find a goat in the trunk?”
Tessa blushes and shakes her head. “No. That was a one-time thing. I learned my lesson.”
“I doubt that.” I shake my head. “And when you realized how bad the snow had gotten, you still thought it’d be smart to drive back through it?”
“I can handle a little snow, Nathan,” she pouts, sticking out her lip.
And for some stupid reason, Ialmostwant to taste that lip. But I’m too frustrated by her carelessness to be blinded by whatever it is that seems to be trying to possess me when it comes to her.
“Not when the roads are iced over and visibility’s shot.” I lecture, nodding toward her SUV. “You’re lucky you didn’t slide into the bay.”
She smirks. “I was doing fine until the turn.”
“That’s what they all say before I’m pulling them out of a ditch.”
Her eyes flash with something between challenge and amusement. “Are you going to write me a ticket?”
“No,” I say, meeting her gaze. “I’m going to make sure you don’t freeze to death. Lock up your car and get in the truck. There’s no getting it out of that ditch tonight. It’ll be sitting there until the snow stops and the roads are clear.”
She hesitates, crossing her arms. “You’re ordering me around now?”
“I’m saving you from your own stubbornness. There’s a difference.”
Tessa sighs dramatically, then grins. “Fine. But only because you asked nicely. I just need to get my camera bag. I can’t let this stuff freeze.” She leans back into her SUV and retrieves a bag and her purse.
