The cab of the truck suddenly seemed small. “Oh? Where?”
“There’s one that’s at least twelve feet and not too wide to our left.” Rayne’s expression was innocent—perhaps too much so.
Emilio was glad he hadn’t asked whether Rayne was trying to imply he was interested inhim. After Rayne had pointed out that everything wasn’t about Emilio, it would seem arrogant to ask if Rayne was flirting with him. Which probably said something about Emilio’s ego, if he was thinking that way about Rayne. After all, Rayne had made it obvious Emilio hadn’t been enough for him years ago, and Emilio wasn’t sure he could take the risk of finding out he still wasn’t enough after all this time.
“Okay. Shall we mark it?”
“Let’s do it.” Rayne was already opening the passenger side door as he spoke.
They marked the tree Rayne had spotted and then noticed others in the same cluster that were similar. After discussing the pros and cons of each, with a lot of good-natured banter that had Emilio feeling nostalgic, they settled on two suitable trees. They both had experience with the proper way to fell and transport a Christmas tree, but chopping down and loading the two trees took longer than Emilio expected. By the time the trees were secured in his pickup the sun had already set, and it was full dark when they finally obtained the garlands Rayne wanted and Emilio paid for everything.
“Sorry that took so long,” Emilio apologized once they were on the road back toward Holiday Pines. “But we did get nice trees.”
“They’re perfect,” Rayne said, a pleased smile curving his lips. “The foyer tree is the right height to fill the space without being so wide that it takes up too much walking room. The family tree has the perfect shape and a wide base that we can trim a little so the presents will slide right under it. Norman Rockwell would be jealous.”
“I think I’ll settle for making Mrs. Greer jealous,” Emilio said. “Just the thought of her not being able to find any fault with the decorations would give me a lot of satisfaction.”
“I’m going to make her feel like she walked into a Currier and Ives print, and she’s going to hate it.” The smug tone in Rayne’s voice matched perfectly with the wicked smirk on his face.
“Excellent!” Emilio laughed. “I’m sure Mama would love to hold it over the old biddy’s head, too. Mrs. Greer always sniffed over Mama ‘choosing’ to work for a living.”
Rayne shook his head, frowning. “I’m going to make damned sure the Rives house blows the Greer house out of the water this year.”
As Emilio contemplated Mrs. Greer’s dismay at competing with decorations done by a professional designer, it began to snow. He grinned at Rayne. “Oh, look! Now you’re officially welcomed back by the mountains. First snow of the year!”
Rayne’s sharp features softened as he peered out the window, seeming entranced by the falling flakes visible thanks to the headlights. “I hope it sticks.”
“Check the weather on your phone,” Emilio suggested. “I haven’t bothered to do it in a couple of days, so I have no idea.”
Rayne pulled out his phone and unlocked it, but then he grimaced and tucked it back into his pocket. “I’ll have to do it when we’re closer to town. I’m not getting any signal out here.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty spotty.” Emilio shook his head. “In fact, I…”
The pickup’s engine suddenly gave an alarming cough, followed by a sputter, and then it died completely. “Oh, shit,” he muttered, using the last of the momentum to guide the truck off onto the shoulder. “What now?”
Rayne leaned forward, his eyes widening with alarm. “What’s going on?”
“The engine cut out.” Emilio set the emergency brake and then reached into the back for a flashlight. “Let me see if I can figure out what’s wrong. I just had it tuned up for the winter, so it shouldn’t be anything too complicated.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Want to hold the light for me?” Emilio asked. “That would help.”
Rayne held out his hand for the flashlight, and when Emilio passed it to him, he unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the truck. He met Emilio at the front and clicked on the flashlight. “Just let me know where you want it.”
Emilio opened the hood and then pointed toward the battery. “I’ll check the terminals to see if anything looks amiss.” He smiled somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t know nearly as much about trucks as I dorond de jambeortour en l’air.”
“My knowledge is limited to changing tires and jump-starting dead batteries,” Rayne said as he positioned the flashlight. “Are you sure it’s the engine? Or could you have run out of gas?”
“Nope, I filled up this morning on my way to the matinee,” Emilio assured him. He frowned down at the battery, which looked fine. He had Rayne shine the flashlight on various parts of the engine, but everything looked fine—nothing broken, nothing was smoking or steaming, and the only sound was the ticking of the engine as it cooled. “Stand there, I’ll try starting it again, maybe you’ll notice something. Okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” Rayne said as he took Emilio’s place in front of the engine block.
But the engine refused to turn over, no matter what they tried, and after half an hour, they were both shivering in the cold. “Let’s get back in the truck, and I’ll see if I have any reception,” Emilio said, resigning himself to a long wait for the auto club.
Once they were back inside, Emilio reached into the console for his cell phone. But to his dismay, it wasn’t there. “Oh, shit. I think… I think I might have left my phone in the kitchen.”
“We don’t need to be wandering around in the dark, especially since it’s snowing,” Rayne said, a little worry line appearing between his eyebrows. “I don’t think we have much of a choice but to stay in the truck. Maybe someone will come along and we can flag them down. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait until it gets light before we can think about walking to get help.”
