Despite everything, I almost smiled. What had started out as a weekend to be with my mother had ended with a crying session on her shoulder. “I will.”
The drive started fine. Clear roads. Light traffic. I made it an hour before the snow started.
At first, it was just flurries. Pretty. Manageable.
Then it got heavier.
I slowed down and gripped the wheel tighter as visibility started to drop. But I made it to Lone Mountain. Now, to make it to the ranch. To finish the job and figure out what the hell I was going to do about Dalton King.
The thought distracted me for just a second.
Just long enough.
The car hit a patch of ice.
I felt the wheels lose traction and the vehicle start to slide sideways. Panic shot through me as I tried to remember what Dad had taught me—turn into the slide, don’t brake, stay calm.
I tried.
It wasn’t enough.
The car slid off the road and into the ditch with a jolt that threw me hard against the seatbelt. My head snapped forward and the world tilted.
Then silence.
It was quiet with just the hum of the engine and the thick snow blanketing the outside world. I sat there, hands still gripping the wheel, trying to process what had just happened.
I’d crashed. I was in a ditch. In a snowstorm.
Shit.
Dalton’s words came back to me. The damn man had jinxed me.
I moved carefully, taking inventory. I wiggled my fingers and toes and turned my head sideways. Everything worked. Nothing hurt beyond the ache where the seatbelt had caught me.
The airbag hadn’t deployed, but the car was tilted at an angle, passenger side down. It could be worse.
Taking a deep breath, I put the car in reverse. If my guardian angel was up for another save, I’d be able to drive out of the ditch. No such luck. The wheels spun uselessly, whining against snow and mud.
I was stuck.
I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and stared at Dalton’s name in my contacts.
Don’t call me when it goes wrong.
The words echoed in my head. If I’d had Cade’s number I would have called him. But I didn’t. Only Dalton’s.
My pride was telling me to search for the nearest tow truck service. Show the damn rancher what I thought of him. But I didn’t want to sit and wait for a tow truck as I watched the snow fall harder and the cold seep inside my little car.
I blew out my breath, knowing what I had to do.
I called.
He answered on the first ring as if he’d had it right by his side.
“Amber? What’s wrong?” Was that a hint of desperation I heard? When I didn’t answer fast enough, he said, “Tell me where you are now.”
“Why, so you can tell me I told you so?”
