“True.” His gaze moves over my shoulder before returning to me. “Well. I guess you’ll have to take my word for it.”
I shiver as my adrenaline fades and the cold seeps into me. “So are you going to help me catch the dog?”
He stares at me. Then he lifts his chin. “Yes. Sooner we get the damn dog, the sooner I can get back home.”
Not exactly a pleasant answer, but given thecircumstances, I get it. This guy probably has a nice house to get back to, with a giant fireplace stocked with piles of logs that, given the size of his arms, I can easily picture him chopping himself.
I turn to look at the dog, who’s eyeing both of us with suspicion. “Do you want to get out of the snow?” I ask him. “Want a treat? Some food? Come here, buddy. We can help you.”
“Do you have anything to use as a leash?” the man asks. “A scarf? Belt?”
“Crap.” I glance over at my car, now parked on the opposite road from his. “In my car I do. But if I leave…” Casting my mind around for ideas, I land on something.
Unclipping my strap from my purse, I shove the purse at him. “Hold this. I’ll use the strap as a leash.”
Is it stupid to hand over my purse to a complete stranger? Maybe. But then again, I’m broke. The best he’ll get is a cancelled credit card and a ten-dollar bill.
He blinks at me. Then he takes the strap instead of my purse. “I’ll put it on the dog,” he explains. “In case it tries to bite. You talk to him, keep him distracted. I’ll circle behind him to get the leash on.”
I’m tempted to insist on catching the dog myself. After all, I’m the one who stopped for him. I’m the one he seems to like better. But is it worth arguing when this man?—
“What’s your name?” I blurt.
“My name?” he asks, like it’s a complicated question.
“Yes. I’m Vienna,” I say as I hold out one mittened hand. “And you are?”
After a beat, his much larger hand encases mine. Despite the layers between us, a spark of heat warms my skin. “Caleb,” he replies. “Now. Let’s get this dog already.”
Just as Caleb suggested, I talk to the dog while Caleb works his way around him. I’m not sure how much the dog can understand, given that my teeth are audibly chattering and the wind is picking up speed. But something in my tone must reassure him.
As soon as Caleb slips the makeshift leash around the dog’s neck, I let out a tiny cheer of victory. Then I hurry over to meet them, feeling more accomplished than I have in months. “You did it,” I tell Caleb. “Now he’ll be safe.”
“You did most of it,” Caleb corrects. His black-gloved hand brushes the top of the dog’s head. “I only helped at the end.”
“Still.” I adjust my purse under my arm. “Thank you. I don’t?—-”
Once again, headlights brighten the road. But they’re much more intense than Caleb’s were.
“Shit,” Caleb curses. “Do you have—” He turns towards the headlights approaching us.
In profile, his face tightens with alarm.
A beat later, my gaze follows his.
It’s not a car that’s coming. Or a pickup truck, like Caleb’s. It’s a tractor-trailer. And it’s not slowing down.
“Come on.” Urgency roughens Caleb’s voice. He grabs my arm and starts dragging me towards the side of the road.
For a second, I can’t move. My muscles don’t want to work.
“Vienna,” he snaps. “Come on!”
And just like that, my body unfreezes.
A horn blares as I race across the snowy road, praying I don’t slip and get run over.
Caleb’s hand is a vise around my arm, dragging me forward.
