The Cottage on Juniper Ridge by Sheila Roberts Page B

on the wrong side of the road. Daylight was fading but not
so fast that he didn’t get a look at the other driver, seeing the expression of
terror on her face as she went past him. He also saw that it was his new tenant.
He got back in his lane and eased off the road, watching in his rearview as her
car skidded into the ditch.
    Even though he wasn’t going to get involved with her, he sure
couldn’t leave her there, stranded in the snow.
    He climbed out of the truck and trotted over to where her car
sat, nose in the ditch, its motor still running. He could hear her sobbing
before he got to her door. He tapped on the window and she let out a shriek.
Then she recognized him and her expression of panic morphed into one of
gratitude.
    She lowered the window. “I...I...”
    That seemed to be all she could get out. “Turn off your
engine,” he instructed.
    She nodded and cut the engine. She tried to talk again, this
time around tears. “I thought I could drive in the snow, but...I almost hit that
deer,” she finished on a wail.
    The deer was long gone. Garrett assessed the situation. There
was no point in trying to pull her car out of the ditch. She was still too
agitated to drive. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift.”
    “But my car,” she protested.
    “Is not going anywhere. I’ll call Swede and he can send someone
to tow it back to your place.”
    “Swede?”
    “He owns the garage in town.”
    She grabbed her purse and a bag from Mountain Escape Books.
“I’ve got groceries in the trunk.”
    He nodded and held out his hand for her keys. As she dropped
them in his palm he saw that her hand was shaking.
    “I could have hit someone.” Her eyes suddenly got wide. “I
could have hit you!”
    “Well, let’s be glad you didn’t.”
    “How am I going to live here if I can’t drive in the snow?” she
fretted.
    He figured that was probably a rhetorical question and kept his
mouth shut.
    He opened the trunk and saw that her grocery bag had tipped,
sending stuff every which way. A carton of eggnog lay on its side on top of the
eggs. He was willing to bet several of them had broken. A plastic produce bag
had spilled its contents and apples had rolled everywhere.
    “My apples are going to be bruised.”
    “Better your apples than your body,” he said.
    Her lower lip began to tremble.
    “It’s okay,” he said gently. “You’re okay.” He helped her
gather up the food, then they walked to the truck and he called Swede’s garage
while she dug in her purse, muttering, “I’ve got my Triple-A card here
somewhere.”
    “Don’t worry,” Garrett told her as she got inside the truck
cab. “We’ll sort it out later. Swede’s easy.”
    It only took a couple of minutes to make arrangements for her
car to be towed.
    “Thanks,” she said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you
hadn’t come along.”
    He shrugged, glad he hadn’t come along any sooner. If he had,
they would have collided for certain. “No problem,” he said.
    He swung the truck around and she clutched at the armrest.
    “Don’t worry, I won’t put us in a ditch,” he promised. “I’ve
driven in snow and ice all my life.”
    She still hung on until they’d straightened out. Then she
slowly let out her breath.
    “See? No worries,” he said, and she nodded.
    “I don’t think I’m ready to drive in snow yet,” she said in a
small voice.
    “You just have to be careful in these shady patches where the
road gets slick. You’ll get the hang of it.”
    “I guess you did. Did you grow up here?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “Idaho. We moved here when I was a senior in
high school.”
    “That must’ve been a hard adjustment.”
    Not if you played football. “I managed.”
    She rubbed her arms. “So you’ve lived here ever since?”
    “Pretty much,” he said, and turned on the heat full blast. “I
went away to school.”
    “But then you came back.”
    “After a few years.” And got caught by
Ashley.
    “I can see