Page 5

So yeah, when we enter a room, people look. Most with fear. Some with admiration.
The other reason people side-eye us is because we live up in the mountains, with its rough terrain and even rougher people. Cedar Falls is our closest town. It's where we do our shopping, and it's also where we end up on a Friday night when we want a drink. Unfortunately, the good people of Cedar Falls don't like to mix it with the mountain folks for several reasons—some of them fair if I'm brutally honest. I don't give a damn though, because it's not like I want anything from those stuck-up snobs anyway. But Lennon does care, because his daughter goes to pre-school there twice a week, and soon she'll be heading to full time elementary school there.
"Enough," Dean says, his voice taking on that tone he always uses when he's tired of us squabbling. Dean's only four years older than Lennon and six years older than me, but he likes to act like our dad. I guess it makes sense in a way. Back in our military days, he was our platoon leader—the man whose planskept us alive when we were deep in enemy territory. That's why we still give him the respect we do.
There's also the fact that we technically live and work on his farm. After Georgia's death, Lennon was too depressed to do anything for himself, and I was... lost. I'd gambled most of my money away—yeah, stupid, I know. But then again, Iwasstupid. I guess I was hit on the head too many times by my pa, bless him. I never knew love or kindness until I joined the Navy and made it through the hellish selection process to become a SEAL. But even then, I didn't have it all figured out. Hell, I still don't.
Meeting Dean and Lennon and becoming part of their brotherhood gave me something I could trust. A reason to keep going.
Thanks to Dean, Lennon and I aren't homeless and starving. Without him, we'd still be fumbling around, trying to get by. Dean taught us everything we know about running a farm. Hell, when I first got here, I didn't even know how to use a shovel. Now, I can raise cattle, breed horses, grow grain, and build you a barn from scratch. And I owe all of it to Dean. He'd given us a place in this world when we had nothing. He'd even told us he'd give us equity in the farm if we stick around to help him out.
Since then, all three of us have put blood, sweat, and tears into this place. Dean had been as good as his word, and Lennon and I are now junior co-owners, and after all our hard work, the place is beginning to show a profit, and the future looks rosy.
So yeah, I owe a lot to Dean, and in return, I let him boss me around even though he has absolutely no right to. But like in the SEALs, he's the CO, and when the CO gives an order, you obey. So, I stay silent now, even though I'm winning this argument, as usual.
The silence grows stifling as we drive, so I go back to humming the song, "California girls, we're undeniable..." watching the passing wilderness and the long stretch of road.
Something happens to break the monotony. The shape of a car by the side of the road. A wreck? But no, upon closer inspection, it's only stuck in a ditch.
It's a rental sedan, silver, with the company logo emblazoned on the side. As we drive by, I catch a glimpse of a long-haired someone in the driver's seat.
Was that a woman?
"Stop the truck!" I order, and there's enough urgency in my voice to bring us to a screeching stop.
"What is it?" Dean asks, but instead of answering, I open the door and hop out, slamming the door behind me and striding back to the rental car in the ditch.
Yes, as I thought, itisa woman... and what a stunner! Long blonde hair tumbling to her shoulders, a tight sweater that whilst modest in terms of coverage does absolutely nothing to hide a figure that would make any red-blooded man start to salivate. I've not seen her before, of that I am sure. I would definitely remember a figure like that! What in Hell's she doing here, in the middle of nowhere?
I tap on the window, and she finally looks up at me, though she must have heard me approaching.
Through the glass, I'm impaled by two bright green eyes that sear into my soul. Holy shit. She is beautiful. Not the sort of beauty that comes out of bottles and lotions, requiring a skilled artist to paint on each day. Her beauty is much more than skin deep—it's in her bones. The soft curve of her cheek bones, the gentle swoop of her neck, the dimples in her shoulders as she nervously adjusts her sweater for maximum coverage. And those eyes! A man could get lost for days staring into eyes like those. Two limpid, glowing pools of emerald, that are filled right now with equal parts fear and relief. Understandable. No woman wants to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere all night. But on the other hand, she doesn't know me and doesn't realizehow lucky it is for her that I'm the one who's found her. But she will know, of that I am determined because… well… who is this woman, and where has she been all my life?
Is Lennon right after all? Is there such a thing as love at first sight? Because… wow!
As her wide-eyed gaze continues to stare up at me, I come to my senses, realizing what I must look like—a large and intimidating stranger ogling her through the window. I put my hands up, palms open wide to indicate how harmless I am, while widening my smile.
"Hey," I call out in a cheery voice, loud enough for her to hear me through the window. "You need help?"
She hesitates, then nods. She winds the window partway down, and gestures with the phone in her hand, telling me, "I'm trying to call Triple A, but there's no service."
"Yeah, it's hard getting service this side of the mountain. You'll have to go all the way up to get decent reception."
"Oh," she says, and her face shows her conflict. She's not sure whether or not to trust me yet. I get it—she's a woman traveling solo, and I'm a huge, scary man.
And to make it worse, I can hear my equally huge and scary friends getting out of the truck too.
I need to put her at ease, so I walk around and analyze her tire. With luck, we can pull her out and have her on her way without her needing to even get out of her car.
But once I see the damage, I realize it's impossible. The tire is punctured, the wheel is bent, and the ditch is too deep. The car needs to be towed.
I take my own phone out of my pocket. It has one bar, so she may be able to get Triple-A after all, though it still means waiting here for a couple of hours, which I do not advise at all.
I gesture to my friends, who are waiting by the truck, signaling for them to stay put a little longer. She needs to comewith us, but it won't be any easier convincing her with them standing behind me.
"Tell you what," I say, walking back to the window. "How about I give you a ride back to town, and you can make the call from there? This sucker isn't going anywhere."
She sighs and finally rolls the window fully down. "That's what I was afraid of."