2. Spencer

Chapter 2

Spencer

L ucy Darlington.

Damn, she was gorgeous. She always had been. Soft, wavy hair the color of butterscotch and big brown eyes. We were the same age and often sat next to each other in school. I’d always had a thing for her, but we were total opposites. She was all about good grades, lots of activities, and going to college. She was an artist; I remember watching her draw in art class, mesmerized by the beauty she filled our assignments with. All I had cared about was fixing cars to race with my brothers. I never gave a shit about school, except for seeing her there.

I’ve toyed with the idea of asking her out on and off throughout the years, but I never found the right time. One of us was usually unavailable whenever the thought crossed my mind. Plus, what would someone like her do with a man like me? She was a children’s book author and illustrator, and I rebuilt cars and drove a tow truck. We were still opposites.

I made quick work of hooking up her car, frowning when the snow started falling again in earnest. The road was iced over and slippery beneath my boots. I hurried back to the truck and climbed inside with a shiver. The temperature was dropping at an alarming rate.

“It’s coming down hard again. Do you still live at the Honeybrook?” Her grandparents owned The Honeybrook Inn. Word was that she lived in the forest behind the main building in one of the cabins they rented out.

“Yeah. Will we be able to make it there?” Her gorgeous eyes drifted away from mine toward the snowfall outside the windshield. “It’s getting bad.”

“Bad? It’s gone well beyond bad now. It’s downright disrespectful out here. But we haven’t failed yet.” I patted the dashboard, questioning whom I was trying to reassure—her or myself, or maybe the truck. The road was slick; I almost slipped on the pavement as I walked back to the cab.

“Are you hungry?” She asked, gesturing to the bag of tacos.

I peered through the windshield at the mass of white flurries swirling in the glare of my headlights. We were losing visibility fast. With the icy road conditions, I wondered if we should spend the night right here in the truck.

“Not anymore,” I admitted, suddenly too on edge to even think about food.

“Oh damn. I knew it. We’re in trouble, aren’t we? I should have stayed at home. I’m so sorry. You would be way closer to town if you hadn’t stopped to help me.” The tremor in her voice chased my trepidations away. I was determined to get her home safe.

“No. Please don’t apologize to me, Lucy. Would you rather be alone out here? No way, your car would have been buried by morning with you inside of it. Then what? Anything could happen to you out here.”

“Okay, what’s done is done, right? No more apologies. At least we know we won’t get buried in this truck. It’s too tall for that.”

“Right. We’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.” I pulled away from the side of the road, trying not to let my doubts show. It was dumping snow like crazy, and even my truck had limitations.

So far, so good. We were driving steady, and I let out a relieved breath as we slowly but surely headed up the road. Silence descended between us as I shifted my focus to keeping us on the road.

The quiet was unnerving during a storm like this. The chill in the air and the heavy snowfall muffled the usual ambient sounds. It was a phenomenon unlike any other. It felt strange, like wearing earmuffs or being trapped in an echo chamber, and I hated it. But the combination of silence and darkness was what truly unsettled me. This is why I was headed home instead of cruising around all night looking for people to help, like my brothers and father were doing right now.

“It’s not snowing anymore,” she whispered, then pointed wildly out the front window. “Look out, Spencer, I think there’s ice and sleet up ahead.”

With white knuckles, I held on to the steering wheel, trying to keep us steady. I could hardly see the road in front of us anymore, the flurries were so thick. The truck skid, sliding back and forth in a chaotic zig-zag as I gripped the wheel tight, fighting to keep control.

My heart flew into my throat as the light from the headlights bounced dangerously close to the metal guardrail. I knew this part of the road well; if we went over the side, there would be nothing but a vertical drop into darkness and death.

Lucy squealed, grabbing onto the handle above the door and bracing her other small hand on the dashboard.

My muscles burned as I turned the truck away from the rail, scraping the side as I straightened it out and got us back on the road. I drove a few feet until we were away from the edge and slowed to a stop, throwing it into park as I tried to get myself under control.

“Shit.” I huffed out the breath I was involuntarily holding. “That was—I don’t know what that was, but I don’t want to do it again.”

“We almost went over the side, Spencer.” Her voice was small and frightened. Her hand drifted to the console between us and I took it, interlocking our fingers. I had no words of comfort to give.

Rationally, I knew we were safe for the moment but still, I glanced out the window to confirm we were on the road and not falling to our death.

“Maybe we should just stay right here,” she suggested.

“We can’t stay here. It’s still too dangerous. We can go to my family’s cabin and wait the storm out there. We’re close.”

“I don’t know?—”

I turned to her with earnest eyes. “Listen, you’ve known me since kindergarten, Lucy. My hands will be kept to myself the entire time. I swear it on the memory of my mother. You’ll be safe with me.”

“Oh no, Spencer. That’s not what I was saying. I didn’t mean to imply?—”

I had to get hold of myself. She was already frightened. She didn’t need me to add to it. I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, hoping to release some of my fear along with it so I could be reassuring.

“I wasn’t trying to imply you were implying anything,” I teased, trying desperately to lighten the mood. I didn’t like that she was scared—possibly of me. “Remember Charlotte? My little sister?”

She nodded. “She’s nice. I love her books.” Charlotte was a famous murder mystery author. She’d moved back to the area not that long ago.

“Yeah, well, women have to think about shit like this no matter who they’re with, and I want you to know you’ll be safe with me. I promise.”

“I trust you. I’ve known you forever, and you’ve already saved my life tonight.”

“Yeah, that was too close. We should get off the road until the storm clears. We’re going to be fine. Try not to worry; I drive out here, in weather like this, all the time, okay?”

“Okay, let’s go. And, hey, I do trust you, I meant it when I said it.” She grabbed my hand, holding it as her eyes pleaded with me to believe her. “I sat behind or beside you in almost every class since kindergarten, okay? Please don’t think I was trying to besmirch your character.”

She trusted me. Her saying those words in that sweet voice of hers hit me straight in the heart. I refused to let her down; we’d be okay no matter what I had to do to make us that way.

“I would never accuse you of besmirching anything, Lucy.”

“Well, good.” She blurted right before her nervous laughter filled the truck’s cab. “Thank you.

“We’ll have to drive about a quarter mile up the road.”

“Shit,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I’ll go slow. We can make it.” I don’t know who I was trying to reassure more, her or myself.

“You got this, Spencer.” She let go of the door handle with a sheepish smile. “Let’s go. The sooner we get off this road, the better. Right?”

“Right,” I muttered, turning the wheel to ease back onto the road.

She let out a low scream when we hydroplaned again. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m such a wimp. You don’t need to listen to me carrying on like this.”

“It’s okay. If I didn’t have to focus, I’d be screaming too.”

“You’re so nice.”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t want to freak her out, especially since screaming seemed like a good idea. Panic was setting in again. This entire night was my worst nightmare coming to life. I stuck to the day shift for a reason. The dark was not my friend.

We headed up the road, what felt like inch by inch. It was slow-going, but I finally reached the turn-off leading to my family’s cabin. The only trouble was that this was an old mountain road, unpaved and rugged. I doubted we would make it all the way.

I drove about a mile or so, then had to stop. A tree had fallen, blocking the road.

I dragged a hand over my face, then rested my forehead against the steering wheel to catch my breath and bring my heart rate down to normal. It was about to beat straight out of my chest. My worry for her and my unease about our situation had taken hold of me again for a moment, but I brushed it aside and sat up.

“We have to walk the rest of the way, Lucy,” I whispered, my stomach pitching as I took in what she was wearing. Yeah, she had my jacket on, but beyond that, she was in Converse sneakers and jeans. I knew this was not the time or the place, but I couldn’t help but notice how they clung to each of her gorgeous curves. She had gotten wet when I picked her up earlier. She was shivering despite the heat blasting from the vents, and it would only get worse once we got outside. How would she make it the rest of the way to the cabin?

But on the plus side, she was tiny. I could carry her over my shoulder if I had to, and then we could build a fire and warm up once we reached the cabin.

“Crap.” Fear filled her eyes as she shook her head from side to side. “I’m not dressed for this. Tonight will go down as the stupidest decision I’ve made in my entire life. Even worse than when I tried out for the cheer squad and broke my arm. Or the tragic bangs I had all through eighth grade.”

“I remember that. You whacked me in the head with that cast every time you had to grab something out of your backpack. It stuck straight out to the side at first, right?”

“Not quite straight out. But yeah, it was bad enough. Anyway, I’m a walking disaster.” She let out a huge sigh and sank into her seat. “It’s been a life-long affliction.”

I turned, grinning at her sideways. “You are no such thing.”

“Thanks for saying that.” Her shoulders shrugged as she grinned back and tilted her head to meet my eyes. “And thanks again for carrying my backpack and books around for me. What a pain in the ass, right?”

Wrong. I loved being able to help her out.

She’d always been a little bit quirky, and I enjoyed her silly sense of humor in class. However, she was so shy around me that it was hard to get her to talk back then. I used to wonder why, but I gradually chalked it up to our different personalities. We had never been part of the same crowd. She was too good for a guy like me.

But she had the most stunning eyes I’d ever seen, big and brown with gold flecks. And more than that, I could tell she was unequivocally herself.

Nowadays, I loved running into her around town, and more and more, I find myself noticing when she isn’t around. I would have a soft spot for her forever.

“No. I was happy to do it. And for the record, you were cute with those bangs.” Too bad she’d been too shy to talk to me back then, I would have asked her out and maybe we would be together in an entirely different scenario right now.

We both flinched as a burst of hail pelted the windshield.

I held my breath, then let it out in a relieved sigh when it passed.

“What the heck is going on tonight?” She shook her fist at the widow. “Damn you, Skip McFadden!”

“When has that idiot ever been right about a forecast? He better not show his face in town ever again; that’s all I have to say. We should get moving before it starts dumping snow again.”

“Okay.” She inhaled sharply. “I’m ready.”

I wrapped my scarf around my neck and tucked it into my hoodie before I thought better of it and took it off to offer it to her. “Here, I want you to take this too.”

She shook her head. “No way. I’m already wearing your coat. I’m the ill-prepared one tonight. You shouldn’t be the one to suffer for it.”

“You’re also a lot smaller than me. I can take the cold better.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“Hey, I’m just glad I found you.” I wrapped the scarf around her neck, tucking the ends into the coat and zipping it up all the way before brushing her tears away with my thumbs. “We’ll be okay. I promise you, Lucy.”

Her big eyes met mine as I gathered her hair in my hand, freeing it from the scarf to flow over her shoulders in a silken river of honey-colored waves.

She looked good in my clothes, even though they swamped her. For some reason, taking care of her this way felt right. A small smirk played at the corner of my mouth when she unconsciously buried her nose in the scarf and inhaled.

“Ready?”

“Almost.” She put the taco bag in her backpack purse and slipped it on. “We’re eating these fucking tacos when we get there, Spencer.”

My lips shifted up in a grin. “Hell yes, we are. Come on. Get out on my side so I can help you. I don’t want you to fall.” I opened my door, stepped down, and held my arms up to help her hop down. I steadied her when her feet slipped on icy ground, freezing in place when I realized I had inadvertently grabbed two handfuls of her rounded hips.

“Off to a good start already,” she muttered.

I quickly removed my hands, wrapping my palm around the back of my neck as I glanced away.

“I might end up having to carry you at some point. I don’t know how deep the snow will be when we get close.”

Her eyes widened as she peered up at me with a trusting smile.

“Are you okay with that?” I asked her.

“Yes.” Her cheeks pinkened as she gave me a jerky nod. “I mean, yeah, I’m fine with whatever gets us to safety. Of course it’s okay.”

“Good, alright. Let’s move out. We can do this, Lucy. One foot in front of the other, that’s it. Follow behind me, and I’ll clear a path for you. If it gets to be too much, please tell me.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you.” I was not convinced.

“I’m serious. Promise me. If you get home and lose your little toes to frostbite, I'll never live it down, and I’m not into being the town pariah.”

She laughed. “Well, now I’ll actually tell you. I was going to try to tough it out.”

“I had a feeling.” I grabbed my flashlight, pocketed my keys, and shut and locked the door.

I lifted her over the tree, then took her hand and the lead, stretching my arm behind myself for her to follow me. I didn’t want to risk us getting separated.

The cabin was close, but the road was treacherous even on a good day. It was a private road, and we kept it graveled, but bad weather made it hard to navigate. The ice and snow made it significantly worse, not to mention the darkness pressing in on every side. Lucy was counting on me getting us to the cabin in one piece. And I’d be damned if I let anything happen to her.