“Good.”
I watched the back and forth, wondering what the hell was going on. Were they actually arguing over what side of the property line cookies would be?
“Uh, well, anyway,” I said, trying to break up whatever the hell this was. “Thank your mom again for the cookies.”
“I will,” Brody said, his eyes still trained on JR.
“Right.” I backed up a step, then another.
Geez, this was intense. And just when I thought they were about to pull out swords, Brody shook his head and waved before getting in his car and driving away.
And for some reason, this really pleased JR. It was written all over his face—like he had won some sort of imaginary battle.
With a satisfied smirk, he turned to me for just a second and actually looked happy to see me. Then his eyes dropped to the cookies and the scowl returned.
“Keep the food off my property.”
And then he stomped away.
11
JR
“You’d better getout of here,” Lizzy said as she rushed out of the back, carrying a leather bag with what looked like every paper to ever pass through this bar.
“I’ll head out in a minute. I’m just making sure everything’s shut down.”
“They say this storm is gonna be bad.” Rushing over to the register, she grabbed what was left and stuffed it in a bank bag. “I would keep the bar open, but getting stuck here in a snowstorm with a bunch of drunks is not my idea of a good time.”
“Not mine either.”
Spinning, she blew out a huff. “Okay, I think that’s everything.”
“Are you okay to get home?”
“Yeah,” she waved me off. “I’m used to driving in snow.”
“I’ll lock up behind you.”
I pulled on my coat as she headed for the door. Over the past couple of weeks, I had gotten a few things for the winter, but nothing that would rival a snowstorm. I was completely unprepared for snow in Montana.
After locking up, I waved to Lizzy and waited for her to pull out before heading home. The roads were already slick from the drop in temperature and the sleet blowing hard.
Hardly anyone was out right now. They must have seen a million of these storms and knew when to head home and hunker down.
I cranked the heat in the old truck even though I was only five minutes from home, but with the way the wind was cutting through the windshield, I doubted it would warm up at all before I made it home.
Once I got out of the downtown area, the roads turned even worse. With houses spread further apart, snow drifted over the blacktop, forming heaps on both sides of the road.
“I can’t believe I moved here,” I muttered, bringing one hand to my mouth and blowing hard to try to warm myself up. Fuck, it was freezing out here.
There was already a car in the ditch up ahead with its blinkers on, and this wasn’t even the worst of the storm. I almost kept driving, but when I saw it was Delilah, I pulled over.
“Dammit, now I’m even starting to think of the car by its damn name.”
Jumping out, I hustled over to the car and pounded on the window. Josie grinned in her usual cheery manner as if she wasn’t stuck in a ditch with snow piling up all around her.
“Hey, neighbor!”
