Sheltered By The Cowboy

Mandy loved this time of year, when the air smelled of evergreen wreaths and cinnamon sticks, and Christmas carols spilled out of every store doorway. Even though the holiday was still a little over two weeks away, Bitterroot was already in the spirit.

She smiled as she saw Butch Cooper approaching the booth. She had dated Butch for about a month and had only recently broken up with him. Thankfully, despite the breakup they had remained good friends.

“Buy a kiss for a dollar,” she said. “All proceeds go to the youth program.”

Butch pulled his wallet out of his pocket and withdrew a five-dollar bill. “I’ll just donate this to the cause,” he said and handed her the money.

“Thanks, Butch,” she replied. He was such a nice guy, but it hadn’t taken her long to realize he wasn’t the Prince Charming she was waiting for. Although she’d enjoyed his company, there just hadn’t been any real romantic spark with him. “How are you doing?”

“I’m getting by. What about you?”

“The same. I’m keeping busy between the café and this booth,” she replied.

“You’d better think about getting yourself home soon,” he said. “There’s freezing rain moving in and then it’s supposed to snow like the devil.”

“I’m planning on packing it up in just a little while. I’m hoping to make a little more money before I close down for the night.”

“Just don’t wait too long. You know Seth wouldn’t want you to put yourself at risk for a couple more dollars.”

“I know. Thanks, Butch.” She watched as the tall, nice-looking cowboy walked away. She released a deep sigh, her breath coming out in a big, frosty puff.

The old saying was that you had to kiss a lot of toads before finally finding a prince. She’d dated most of the single men in town but had yet to find that special toad.

When Seth Richardson had asked her to donate her spare time in a kissing booth for charity, she’d instantly agreed. She knew how important the youth program was in town. She only wished there had been some kind of a youth program when she’d been growing up.

For the past couple of days, when she wasn’t working as a waitress at the café, she’d been in this booth. There were two other young women who worked the booth, as well. At least the red-and-white-painted booth was located between the feed store and the mercantile, which meant it got a fair amount of foot traffic.

She stamped her feet once again and mentally cursed the cold. Yes, she loved this time of year and she especially loved to watch it snow, but at the moment, with her fingers and toes half-frozen, she wished it was seventy degrees.

Thoughts of the cold faded away as she saw another handsome cowboy approaching her. The Christmas lights on the buildings flickered and highlighted his strong, bold features in shades of green and red. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders, and wore his black cowboy hat pulled down as if to warn people away.

Brody Booth.

Just seeing him warmed her a little bit even though they’d scarcely ever exchanged more than a handful of words. He was definitely one sexy cowboy.

“Hey, Brody. How about a kiss for a dollar?” she called out to him. “It’s for charity.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “No, thanks, Mandy. I kind of like being the only man in town you haven’t kissed.” He turned and continued on his way.

She stared after him in stunned surprise. “You’re a jerk, Brody Booth,” she called.

His words stung with their implication. She knew her reputation in town was for being fast and loose, a reputation that had begun in high school and had haunted her ever since. Of course, she hadn’t helped matters by kissing so many toads.

Brody was one of the best-looking jerks she’d ever seen, but she told herself now that she didn’t give two hoots about what he thought of her.

What she’d better start thinking about was getting home. The ping of sleet against the wooden booth was a definite warning that it was time to get out of Dodge.

She closed the awning, stepped into the back space and turned off the heater and the battery-operated light that cast a dim glow. Her coat hung on a small hook next to the back door, and she quickly pulled it on. Then she shoved the small metal money box into her purse, locked up for the night and left the booth.

The sleet stung her face as she hurried to her car. The icy mixture was piling up fast. She probably should have left half an hour before.

The scent of snow whirled on the wind that had picked up, and she was suddenly aware that the streets were virtually deserted.

She hurried to her car and got inside, rubbing her hands together as she waited for the heater to blow hot air. Ice already glazed her windshield, making it impossible for her to see out and drive. Hopefully, between the wipers and the defrost, she could get it cleared off as soon as possible.

Still, by the time she finally crept out of her parking space, the sleet had turned to snow. It wasn’t a fluffy, pretty event. Rather, the snowflakes were small and icy and wind-driven.

Visibility was almost nonexistent and the back tires slid each time she tried to accelerate. She was going to be far later getting home than she’d told her father.

Although she lived in a small apartment above the detached garage on the property, when she could she cooked and cleaned for her father.

Of course, he had probably prepared for the snowstorm by buying plenty of liquor. If she was lucky he’d already be passed out by the time she got home. At least she’d thought ahead and had brought home a meatloaf dinner from the café. It sat on the passenger seat in a foam container inside a white bag. When she did get home, if her dad was waiting for her she could have his dinner ready in mere microwave magic minutes.

At the moment his meal wasn’t her concern. Just getting home in this mess was her main issue. The snowflakes were now bigger, but coming down at an alarming pace. Her muscles tensed as she hunched over the steering wheel and squinted to see the road ahead.

She hadn’t even made it out of town when she felt the disheartening slide of her tires against the pavement. The car was moving sideways. Frantically she turned the wheel first left and then right to straighten out. In horror she realized she was no longer in control.

She knew better than to apply the brakes, but she was sliding on pure ice and headed for a ditch. Her heart hitched in her chest and she braced.

She squealed as the car hit the ditch and came to a dead stop. She tried to move forward and the tires spun impotently. She threw it into Reverse with the same results.

“Darn, darn!” She hit the steering wheel with her palms. She was good and stuck.

She’d have to call for a tow. She unfastened her seat belt and pulled her purse onto her lap, rummaging around inside it until she grabbed her cell phone.

Before she could dial a number, she glanced in her rearview mirror and gasped in renewed horror. Twin headlights were careening toward the back of her car, and she couldn’t move out of the way. Objects in this mirror are closer than they appear. She read the words on her passenger mirror just before she squeezed her eyes tightly closed.

Bracing once again, she expected a crash, but it was more like a hard bump. The pickup truck hit her hard enough to throw the meatloaf dinner off the passenger seat and onto the floor, but thankfully not hard enough to injure her.

She looked in her rearview mirror once again and saw Brody getting out of the truck that had hit her. Great, just what she needed to make a bad situation even worse.

She rolled down her window and heard his muttered curses as he made his way to her driver side. “Sorry,” he said. “That patch of road is pure ice. Are you okay?”

“Tell me about it. I didn’t exactly drive into this ditch on purpose,” she replied drily. “And I’m fine, but frustrated.”

“It looks like I’m going to owe you a bumper.”

“Right now I’m not worried about a bumper. What I need is a tow out of this ditch.”

“That makes two of us. Mind if I get in?” He gestured to the passenger seat.

“Knock yourself out,” she replied. She rolled up her window as he left the driver side and walked around the front of the car to get into the passenger seat.

“What’s this?” he asked as he maneuvered his feet so he didn’t step on the bag on the floor. Once he was in, he moved the seat back to accommodate the length of his legs.

“Oh yeah, you owe me a bumper and a meatloaf special from the café,” she replied.

He filled the small interior of the car with the scent of the outdoors mingling with a woodsy cologne. Snow clung to his slightly shaggy dark hair and sinfully long dark eyelashes. He also wore the same frown she always saw on his face.