Twins For The Bull Rider. April Arrington
Читать онлайн книгу.
She wasn’t the talkative type.” Sheila pressed against his side and asked, “Anything else I can get you?”
Forced to pull his attention from the window, he drudged up a polite smile. “No, thanks.” He withdrew a hefty tip from his pocket and dropped it on the table before rising. “It was good running into you.”
“Anytime, cowboy,” she mocked with humor. “Give me a call if you get bored later.”
Dominic ducked his heated face in acknowledgment before leaving. Stepping outside, he watched the battered Toyota groan its way up the graveled drive and take a right.
Travel light. He slapped his hat against his leg then settled it back on his head with the firm reminder. He already had his hands full with returning home. He should get in his truck and go straight to the ranch. No stops. Straight there. Put in an appearance, shake his brother off his back then get on the road as planned.
Cissy’s plight wasn’t any of his business. And it was clear she didn’t want him to have any part of it. She couldn’t have made it any plainer when she’d looked right through him as though he wasn’t there.
As though he was nothing.
But that was to be expected. Out here, he was no one’s hero. Dominic grimaced. Except maybe Sheila’s.
He strolled to his truck and gripped the hard metal of the door handle only to find his gaze straying back to the highway and the fast-dwindling taillights of Cissy’s car.
Damn. It would’ve been worth one more regretful night to wake up with that sexy spitfire draped over him. To look down at those beautiful blues of hers in the bright light of day.
Dominic sighed and jerked the door open. Travel light. After a quick visit home, he’d return to the circuit where he measured up. And the sooner, all the damn better.
The steering wheel pulled hard to the right, jerking Cissy’s hands with it. Tugging on the wheel, she straightened the car and coaxed it forward again. Twelve minutes after bailing the greasy diner and her ragged car was dying on the highway.
A loud hum from her cell phone sounded over the clanking of the engine. Persistent joker! That was one thing she had to give Jason Reed, the twins’ father, credit for. Once he got his mind set on something, he was like a pit bull. He’d sink his teeth in and never let go.
The vibrating stopped. Cissy bit her lip and hunched against the steering wheel. Her heart lurched. Sweat streamed from her brow, burning the corner of her eye.
Real stupid, Cissy. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What had she done? What was she thinking packing the boys up and dragging them all over the state of Georgia?
The cell phone, though silent, seared through the pocket of her shorts, scorching its presence into her thigh. She relinquished her clutch on the steering wheel and readjusted it with trembling fingers.
Okay. She’d screwed up again. Big-time. Lost her temper. Her home. Her direction in life.
Wrapping her hands tighter around the wheel, she willed the car on. It didn’t have to be as bad as it seemed. All she needed to do was buy some time and find a bit of work to tide them over until she found something permanent.
And she would. She always managed to pull through.
Her chest tightened. Only, it had always been just her. It wasn’t just her anymore. She had two children to consider now. And the damage was already done. What was she going to do?
Cissy swallowed hard and renewed her grip on the steering wheel. A motel was probably right over the next hill. Just a few more miles.
“Come on, ol’ girl,” she cajoled, patting the dash.
A loud pop and a sharp jerk of the steering wheel had her gasping as the car veered off the road and jerked to a stop.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Cissy?” Jayden mumbled.
Squaring her shoulders, she mentally directed herself to calm down and glanced in the backseat. Jayden was struggling to keep his eyes open. Kayden had long since been out for the count and sprawled with snoring abandon in his booster seat.
“Nothing, baby,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep.”
Nothing? She yanked the keys out of the ignition. That was the understatement of the year. Or, at least, the biggest lie she’d ever told. It was pitch-black outside. They’d just blown a tire. She was sure of it. And, now they were stranded on the edge of a ditch, in the middle of nowhere, without a soul in sight.
Cissy dug out a flashlight from the glove compartment and went to survey the damage. The low beam glowed over a deflated heap of rubber pooling on the grass. It was a lost cause.
She rotated to take in her surroundings, the flashlight bouncing in her shaky grip. There were no houses or driveways. The dim light flickered over wire fences and the edges of empty fields. Only menacing darkness lay beyond.
Cissy dropped her head and kicked the ground. How irresponsible could she be? She’d panicked and taken a chance without weighing it first. She’d jumped without a net, and instead of landing on her feet she was plummeting facedown toward the dirt.
What should she do now? What would Crystal do?
Her mouth twisted. Crystal would never have gotten the boys into a mess like this to begin with. Her sister may have been weak in the head where Jason was concerned but she would never have taken such a gamble on their security. She would’ve sweet-talked any sleazy landlord if it meant keeping a roof over the boys’ heads.
Cissy slapped the flashlight against her palm. Heck if she’d do that. She’d never beg a slimeball like him for charity.
Keep our boys together, Cissy. Crystal’s plea whispered in her mind and wrapped around her on the humid summer air. Give them what we never had. Promise me...
And she had promised.
A salty tang hit Cissy’s mouth, tears settling in the corners. Licking them away, she blinked hard and dragged the back of her hand over her cheeks.
Fat lot of good it would do to stand here and cry by the side of the road all night. She had to think. She had to focus.
She shoved the flashlight into her back pocket, then flipped on the hazard lights, and then leaned against the trunk. Moments later, the rumble of an engine rattled the dinky car at her back. Bright lights emerged over the hill and flooded her face.
She threw an arm up to shield her eyes as the loud truck drew to a halt. A large male frame emerged from the truck’s cab and positioned itself in front of the headlights. Uneasiness seeped into her gut.
“Hey!” Cissy shouted over the growling vehicle.
The silhouette placed its hands on its hips and the outline of a Stetson dipped in response.
“You want to shut that thing off? It’ll just about make a person deaf, you know?”
No response.
Crap. She squinted against the lights and dropped her arm to adopt a more defensive stance. “Look, I have a flat. Is there a tow-truck service around here?”
The figure took a few steps toward her but didn’t answer.
Great. Just great. Now some psycho redneck was going to butcher her and toss her body parts in the ditch. She reached around her back and gripped the end of the flashlight.
“Hey, I asked you a question.” Her heart pounded as he drew closer. She snatched the flashlight out of her back pocket and threw out a hand. “Stop.”
He didn’t. He just kept on coming. Adrenaline shot through her veins. She cast a quick look over her shoulder to the backseat, glancing at the boys’ blond heads illuminated by the headlights.
“I