Page 3 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man
Charlie answered, “It means we don’t have a battery that will fit your car. Next!”
“No battery? But… this is an auto parts store. This is where they keep the batteries!”
I looked beyond Charlie as though a perfect battery to fit my rental car would miraculously appear. Maybe hauled in by my fairy godmother. But I wasn’t in a Cinderella story, and no battery showed up on the counter.
Charlie looked like he was losing patience with me. “Look, we closed ten minutes ago. You’re holding up my line. We. Don’t. Have. A Battery. That. Fits. Your Car. Get it?Next!”
Hudson muttered, “Asshole,” gripped my elbow and steered me out of the line.
What was I going to do? I’d just driven two days across the country to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, and now I was going to miss the damn wedding.
Quietly I said, “Ican’tmiss the wedding. Shelby would be so sad.”
Hudson leaned in and rumbled, “I can take you there if you don’t mind sharing the front seat with a mutt and a half-civilized barbarian. I just have to make one stop.”
I stared into his eyes, trying to determine if it was a good decision. I’d been taught not to wander off with strangers at a young age. And even though I was an adult now, it seemed foolish to run off into the wilderness with a man I didn’t know.
He must have sensed my indecision, because he added. “Either that or I can call you a tow truck and a cab to take you to a hotel. There aren’t any Ubers that go that far out. I think I might be your only option if you want to make it to Deer Springs tonight.”
One thing didn’t make sense. As a lawyer, I always spotted the discrepancies in people’s stories. It was a built-in automatic function these days. “Don’t you need something? You were in line and you never bought anything.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not important. I can come by when I’m in town again next week.”
“What were you going to get?” I wanted to see if he had a quick answer.
He did. “I was looking to pick up a set of shocks and struts. My truck’s gotten pretty bouncy lately.”
Hudson had the air of someone telling the truth. It made me trust him a little bit more. But it was still a foolish decision to go off with him somewhere. Unfortunately for me, he was right. Hudson was probably my only chance of making it to the wedding tonight.
Furrowing my brow, I asked, “What did you mean by a mutt?”
“My dog Frankie is a bit of a drooler. I can’t promise your dress will look this good when you arrive at the wedding.”
I looked around the auto parts store, trying to figure out what to do. I felt like my life was at a crossroads. Miss the wedding and doom Shelby and I’s friendship, or take a risk on this stranger?
It was time to do something drastic. Something bold. I hadn’t driven two days to fail now.
So I quietly said, “Okay.”
Chapter 2
Hudson
The gorgeous and very fragile woman followed me outside.
What were the chances that I’d run into her in line at the auto parts store? I knew a lot more about her than she knew about me. But something held my tongue back, and I didn’t share that detail with her. It would come out soon enough.
After retrieving her luggage, I led her to my pickup truck and gave her a hand up into the passenger seat.
Then, I circled around to the driver’s side and hopped in.
“Frankie, meet Elizabeth. Elizabeth this is Frankie.”
My dog had already decided that she could stay. He was currently staring up at her with lovestruck eyes, a tiny drip of drool hanging out of one end of his mouth.
There are two kinds of dogs in the world.
The kind that like other dogs.
