Page 2 of Love, Lies and Sleigh Rides
She was about to turn off the radio when she heard: “Fallon!”
June was still on the phone.
Wherewasher phone?
Fallon unbuckled her belt and leaned across the console to feel the floor on the passenger side. Her fingers grazed the smooth texture of her phone case. June’s voice grew louder as Fallon brought it to her ear.
“Hello?HELLO?You there?”
She sank back against the seat. “I’m here.”
“I thought we got disconnected for a second,” June said. The honks and squeaky brakes from downtown traffic were in the background. Oh, how she wished for a good traffic jam at the moment instead of this.
“June, I just spun off the road.” Her voice wavered with adrenaline.
June gasped. “What?! Are you all right?”
“Yes, but I don’t think my car is.” She opened the door, but it only budged a few inches. “I’m in the ditch and almost up to the window in snow, I think. My door won’t open.”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”
“Luckily, I’m close to town. It shouldn’t be too much trouble for someone to come tow me out.” She reached across the passenger seat to try that door. It pushed open easily. “I’m going to go so I can call someone.”
“Good idea. Let me know you’re okay once you’re in Hendricks.”
“Will do, June.”
Fallon sat there a moment, letting her heart settle back into its normal rhythm. She leaned against the headrest, thinking.
Her stubbornness usually worked in her favor. Not this time.
Push through the storm,she'd told herself earlier that morning.It’ll have moved on by the time she’d make it to Hendricks. The weather report said otherwise, but she had to make this meeting with Agnes and the people at Loom and Lyre Farms. Time was running out. She’d already postponed once because of another project.
As soon as she tucked her phone into her bag, Fallon moved her seat back to the farthest position. She wasn’t tall, but all five foot six inches of her had to maneuver over the center console, which took some effort. Plus, the wool skirt she wore had no give. Fallon glanced out the front window, which had cleared once the snow slid off. She didn’t want to give a passing motorist a show by hiking the skirt up to her hips.
The door fell open easily since the car rested on a slight incline. She hopped out into calf-deep snow and surveyed the situation as she covered her legs again.
It was even worse than she imagined. She didn’t have to be a car expert to know.
Her front wheel tilted at an odd angle, hinting that it had hit something.
Fallon circled the Bronco, high-stepping through the snow pile created by her slide off the road. Sure enough, a rock outcrop poked ominously through a nearby drift.
Just then the crunch of snow underneath tires made her heart skip.Thank goodness, a good Samaritan.
Her snow boots were no match for the deep snow. It crept over the fur-lined tops as she plowed up the slight hill to meet the driver. She could feel it melting against her wool tights.
The truck pulling onto the shoulder and then turning to point its front end toward her car looked like a snow beast. Its massive grill with slush-covered headlights glowing yellow bore down on her, and she thought for a few seconds that it wouldn’t stop, that it would barrel down the embankment and push her little Bronco into the trees, pinning her between them. But then the truck did stop, brakes rubbing together like the guttural sound of a large forest animal. She shivered against the gust of wind and buried her nose farther into her coat as she waited for the driver to get out of the truck.
Fallon would have been struck by the guy’s size first if it hadn’t been for the red and green helium balloons trying to escape from the cab when he opened his door. For a man that large to move as quick as he did to harness the balloons against the blustery wind was a feat. And the festive colors against the backdrop of winter out in the middle of nowhere was a spontaneous and cheerful spectacle. She caught herself smiling.
“Hey there.” Fallon flashed a wave as he approached. “Thanks for stopping. I spun off when I got passed by a semi.”
“No one should be passing in this weather,” he said, trudging by her to examine the car. Fallon caught a glimpse of high rosy cheekbones and piercing dark eyes above the fleece muffler he wore around his neck.
Fallon hurried to keep up with his long, hurried strides. “Something’s wrong with the front wheel on the passenger side.”
It was visible from where they were on the shoulder too.
