Page 115 of Bad For Me (Rock Canyon, Idaho 5)

At least he knew his dad was safe.

Now, with snow covering his head and shoulders, he stared at the gaping hole that used to be his window. Some idiot had probably thought he’d left some valuables inside and stopped to take a look.

But what kind of idiot would be out in this, besides him?

Everett had searched his truck when they first arrived but hadn’t found his phone and couldn’t call Justin for a ride. The asshole who’d broken in had probably taken it.

The icy wind swirled the snow around them, sending chills up Everett’s spine as Carlos started pulling his truck out of the ditch. The high-pitched whine as the cables cranked the heavy load made him grit his teeth.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something big and black flopping against a fence just beyond the lights of Larry’s SUV.

What the hell was that?

Everett started toward the shape, but Larry’s voice stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

“Going to see what that is,” Everett said, pointing.

Everett didn’t hear anything else Larry said as he climbed down, his boots and legs sinking into the snow. When he was just a foot away, he reached out and grabbed the cloth.

No, not cloth. It was a wool coat. Dragging it off the fence, he tucked it under his arm and climbed back up onto the road.

“So what was it?” Larry asked.

“Looks like a woman’s coat.”

Larry looked at him like he was crazy, which was probably true. As Carlos finished up and handed him the paper to sign, he shifted the jacket up over his shoulders and could have sworn he smelled the sweet scent of Callie on the wind.

CALLIE CURSED THE large snowflakes covering the windshield. They were falling faster than her wipers could clear them, but she only had half a mile more to go. She had taken Highway 84 back home since the plows were out and working on the main roads first.

She still hadn’t been able to get a

hold of Everett, but Justin had agreed to stay with Fred so she could see if he was home yet. Valerie had been watching for him, but with the whiteout so thick, she couldn’t see very well across the farm.

As she pulled up in front of his house, she threw the Jeep into park and climbed out. She could just barely see Everett’s porch light through the blizzard and ran up the steps to begin pounding on the door. When he didn’t answer right away, she tried the knob, but it was locked.

“Everett!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, banging on the door with all her strength.

Please be here. Please be okay.

Suddenly, a light came on inside, and she thought she heard someone running. The front door swung open to reveal Everett in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, looking rumpled and so beautiful that she didn’t hesitate to throw herself at him, causing him to stumble back into the house.

“Callie! Jesus Christ, you’re freezing.” He wrapped an arm around her and shut the door behind her.

Callie was so relieved to see him that she didn’t care that she was probably strangling him. “Oh my God, I thought you were dead! I went to pick up your dad and I saw your truck, and I thought you were trapped, so I broke the window to get you out—”

Everett took her shoulders. “Wait—you broke my window?”

“Yes, but I put the jacket up so your truck wouldn’t get ruined, but then your dad was vomiting blood—”

“What?” Everett’s eyes bugged out of his head, and he started to head for the door, but she grabbed his arm.

“But he’s okay; it was just his pancreatitis flaring up.” Unable to control herself, she started giggling as she said, “The doctor said he should really stop drinking. What an idiot, right?”

When she finally sobered, she continued. “Then I couldn’t get hold of you, and I tried to call, and I heard your voicemail—”

Everett actually flushed. “I dropped my phone during the accident, but I couldn’t find it when we went back to tow the truck.”

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