Page 68 of The Wayward Son

Sawyer opened his door, pushing away the snow that fell on them from the pine tree, then stepped into knee-deep snow. “Dammit.” He walked through the snow to the front of the truck. There was no damage, but there was also no way they were driving out of there. He had to try, though.

He got back inside. “Just for laughs, I’m going to give this a shot.” He put the truck into reverse and gave it some gas. The tires spun, and the truck didn’t budge. “Yeah. We’re not driving out of here.”

“So, what do we do?”

He turned in his seat to face her. “We can sit here and wait for a car to pass by and hope they’ll give us a ride.”

“Or?”

“Or, we start walking. We might still get picked up. But at least we’d be headed in the right direction.”

“How far is it?”

“I haven’t really been paying attention to where we’re at. But at least halfway.”

“I know it’s late. But couldn’t we call someone for a ride?”

“That would be a great idea. If I had my phone on me. I didn’t even think about bringing it. I wasn’t expecting some bastard to run us off the road. I was also expecting we’d only be driving to the end of the driveway.”

“So, do you want to walk?”

“I’d rather move than just sit here.”

She nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s do it.”

He smiled at her. “There’s the Skittles I remember.”

“Let’s go before I change my mind.”

He picked up a stocking cap Jake left in the truck and put it on her. Then he opened the glove box and took out a pair of gloves. “Here, wear these.”

“What about you?”

He took a wool knit hat from his pocket. “I’m good.”

He handed her a flashlight, and took one for himself, then they left the truck and moved to the plowed side of the road and started walking. Jade put her arm through his and huddled close to him.

“Did you recognize that truck?”

“Yeah.”

“You know who it is?”

He nodded. “Brendan Ford.”

“Seriously? He’s still around?”

“He’s running the Clover River Ranch with his dad. I know, hard to believe.”

“He wanted to get out of Castle Springs even more than you did.” She glanced at him. “Are you going to have a talk with him about this?”

“Oh, yeah. I think J.T. and I will have a conversation with Brendan.”

“Poor Brendan.”

“Poor Brendan?”

She shook her head. “No. Not poor Brendan. He deserves whatever he gets.”

---