Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“I’m not huffing.”
Josh laughed. “Dude, you were sighing big time.”
A loud crack of thunder hit, and we jumped.
“Shit,” we both said at the same time.
“Let’s make a run for it!” Josh said before he opened the truck door and stepped into the storm. I couldn’t even see him running because the rain was falling so hard.
So I did what any self-respecting male would do, I drew in a deep breath and ran for cover.
Once it was clear the storm was not letting up, I decided to head home. Blayze assured me that I wasn’t needed, and after spending much of yesterday in the saddle of my horse checking the fence line and hauling hay up to the loft, I was ready for a hot bath. My body ached. There were ranch hands who were responsible for the hay hauling, but I volunteered to help out. It was a good workout and kept me in shape, and I never minded a hard day’s work.
The road to my property was already flooding, so I left by the main gate. When I went to turn left onto the road, I noticed a car pulled over and someone bending down to look at their tire. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. I turned to the right and pulled up behind them. Grabbing an umbrella—not that it would do much good—I jumped out of my truck. I knew who it was the second they stood and turned to me.
“Haven.”
Rushing over to her, I held the umbrella above her. Not that I’d somehow make her drier, I mean, she was soaked.
“What’s wrong?” I called out over the rain and wind. It was so windy Haven had to grab onto the car to keep from being blown around.
“My tire is flat, and when I checked the spare, it was flat too.”
Frowning, I looked at the car and back to her. “We have to stop meeting this way!”
Haven rolled her eyes. The day before Halloween, I found her on the side of the road with a flat tire. I had offered to help her then, albeit with a lot less rain pouring down, and we ended up arguing. I walked away with a black eye from her elbow. She hadn’t done it on purpose, or so she said, but I’m still questioning that.
“Why are you standing out here in the rain?” I shouted.
“I was trying to decide after I looked at the flat if returning to Lily’s was worth the risk.”
I shook my head. “You’ll ruin your rim. Besides, the ranch roads are starting to flood. It’s like a tsunami out here, and the temperature is dropping quickly.”
She nodded. “I can’t get a hold of my mom.”
“Just leave the car and come back to my house with me.”
Her eyes widened, and I knew she was about to say no. Then I saw that her lips almost looked blue.
“Damn it, Haven, you’re freezing. Just come back to my place, get warm, and wait until the rain settles down, and then you can deal with the car.”
She looked at her car and then back at me. Worrying her lower lip, she looked like she was about to shake her head, but I held up my hand.
“Walking back to the ranch will take you hours, and have I mentioned that you’re turning blue? Just get your things, and let me take you to my place.”
With a sigh, she nodded. “Let me grab my stuff.”
Following her with the umbrella to the passenger side, she grabbed her purse and a large bag. Clutching them both to her chest, we quickly made it over to my truck. After helping her in, I ran around the other side of the truck. I threw the umbrella in the back seat and jumped in the front.
“I have never in my life seen so much rain come down so fast!” Haven said as she pushed wet hair from her face. Even soaked and looking like a drowned rat, she was beautiful.
I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. Haven was off limits. “Yeah, it’s coming down in sheets.” I reached over and turned the heater on and her seat warmer.
“Thank you for stopping. I can’t believe I didn’t have an umbrella in my car. I just cleaned it out a few weeks ago, and I took it out and forgot to put it back in.”
“I’m just glad I took that exit off the ranch, or who knows how long you’d be sitting there. It’s a long walk to any of the houses on the ranch, especially from where you were broken down.”
She laughed until it faded away. “The road is flooding, Nate. I’ve never seen these roads flood before.”
I could hear the fear in her voice. “My place isn’t that much farther up the road.”