Page 4 of Your Carriage Awaits in Crumbleton
CHAPTER 2
MICHELLE
It felt like an eternity before the truck pulled up alongside her car, but when it did at long last, Michelle wished it had taken even longer. She let out a long, low groan.
Why?
Did the universe hate her or something?
Sure, a tow truck turning up as if by magic in the middle of nowhere when she was stranded in a storm would usually count as a miracle. But… not this time.
Michelle was suddenly face-to-face with a whole heap of trouble.
For starters—this was the Dalton Garage tow truck, and she was a Singer. Going by her father’s near-daily rants, the decades-deep feud between the two families was still raging.
A sharp tap on her passenger window made Michelle jump. Her potential saviour had wound down his window and was leaning across to get her attention.
As if he didn’t already have it!
Michelle could just about make out a pair of dark eyes and the quirk of an unforgettable smile. Even though rivers of raindrops were cascading down the glass separating them,turning the outside world into a dark and moody watercolour, she had a nasty feeling thatmightbe Danny Dalton in the driver’s seat…
Whoever it was, they were busy making frantic gestures for her to wind down her window. Unfortunately, Michelle was too busy behaving like a stranded guppy, so it took her several long moments before she cottoned on. Thanking her lucky stars that her car was old enough to have winders instead of buttons, she eventually leaned over to face the music.
Even with just a couple of inches of the storm exposed, Michelle got a faceful of sideways raindrops. She let out a squeal as the cold water splashed a little bit of sense into her. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Michelle blinked stupidly up at the tow truck.
Urgh. Worst fears confirmed!
That definitelywasn’tKeith Dalton, head of the family and the only person her lovely dad called a sworn enemy.
It was his son. Danny Dalton.
Two years her senior at school. Wearer of leather jackets, hints of engine oil, and a decided air of danger. He also had the dubious honour of being the most frequent guest star in Michelle’s teenage fantasies.
Even so, Michelle had never really dared talk to Danny. She hadn’t been allowed to. Her dad would have had her guts for garters. She didn’t know why he’d fallen out with the Daltons, but he’d always made it clear that, like Keith, Danny was trouble.
As far as Michelle had always been concerned, that was a huge part of the appeal.
‘Are you hurt?’
Michelle shook her head—both in answer and in an attempt to clear her head. She was stranded in a broken-down rust bucket on the side of one of the remotest lanes in the area. Yet, here she was, letting herself drift back into her favourite teenagefantasy. Though… when the fantasy in question was staring right back at her, who could blame her?
‘Are you alright?’ His voice was softer this time.
Michelle shook her head again, doing her best to summon up the nerve to actually say something.
‘No. I’m not. Duh!’ she growled as she found her voice. ‘I mean… what doyouthink?’
Nice. Years of wishing she had the guts to speak to Crumbleton’s bad boy, and now the moment had finally arrived, she’d gone all gremlin on the poor guy.
Danny, however, didn’t look like he’d taken any offence at her less-than-friendly response. He simply grinned, and Michelle was suddenly grateful that she was already sitting down. She wasn’tquiteso grateful when a quick glance in the rear-view mirror revealed that she looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. Clearly, humping boxes around all afternoon, followed by the stress of navigating the sodden marshes, wasn’t a very effective beauty treatment.
‘I’m sorry,’ she sighed, surreptitiously trying to flatten down the fright-wig that had taken up residence on her head. ‘I’m just a bit wiped. The last thing I needed tonight was to break down!’
‘What happened?’ said Danny.
‘See that lake pretending to be a puddle?’
‘Ah.’ He nodded slowly, looking very much like he was doing his best not to smirk. ‘Well, there’s no point trying to get you started in this weather.’
