The car sputtered, jerked and sputtered again just before the engine died. Callie steered the car to the side of the road and coasted to a stop. Damn. This was a fine mess. Thanks to the broken fuel gage, she had not realized she was so close to being out of gas.
Now what?
She cut a look over her shoulder to her daughter, Lily, sleeping in the back seat. Her hair was plastered to her head and her little cheeks were rosy from the heat. Callie got out and circled the car to open the back passenger side ¬door and roll down the window. There was a bit of a breeze but the air was hot. She checked the water in Lily’s sippy cup. It was half full, but even the plastic felt warm.
Tears threatened. She needed to get somewhere Lily could cool off, have something to drink and a meal. However, with no cell phone service and seemingly in the middle of Nowhere, Texas, she didn’t have a clue how far it was to the next town. She should have stopped in Rock Ridge when she’d seen the sign , but had thought she could get a few more miles down the road. Her goal was to reach San Angelo where a friend had moved last year.
Her friend, Debbie, had agreed to give her and Lily a place to stay until she could find work. Had she been smart, she would have tried to line up work before she left Nashville, but hindsight was always clearer and she was too far down the road to turn back now.
Callie got back into the car and consulted the map. She wasn’t sure how far out of Rock Ridge she was. It had been around two when she’d passed the sign on the two-lane highway, indicating the turn to Rock Ridge, and it was now half past two. She tried to do the calculations based on the scale provided on the map. Maybe she wasn’t that far from the next town. But how far was not far? Close enough to walk, carrying Lily?
With panic starting to swell, she folded the map and leaned forward to rest her head on the steering wheel. If ever there was a time she needed a guardian angel, it was now.
She snorted at the idea. Even if something like that existed, it was not intended for her.
At the sound of a vehicle, she looked up. A pickup truck was headed toward her. The driver crossed the lane and pulled onto the side of the road, facing her. A middle-aged, heavy-set man with a cane climbed out.
“Afternoon, ma’am. Having car trouble?”
Callie got out of the car and met the man at the front of her car. The man had a kind face and didn’t appear to be threatening, but with Lily asleep in the car, Callie couldn’t be too careful. “I – we’ll be fine, but thank you.”
The man gave her a look that reminded her of her dad when he didn’t believe a word coming out of her mouth.
“I ran out of gas,” she said, and then, embarrassed to have admitted it, quickly added, “Stupid, I know. The gas gage is broken and I thought I could make it to the next town.”
“Well you came purty close. Cotton Creek is five miles.” He looked past Callie and into the car. “Little one looks like she could use a break from the heat.”
The man reached behind him and pulled a billfold from the back pocket of his pants. He opened it and showed her, then put it back in his pocket and extended his hand to Callie. “Billy Sweet, ma’am. Me and the family live in Cotton Creek. How ’bout I give you a ride to get some gas?”
“You would do that?” Callie was stunned at his kindness and his astuteness. He’d realized her discomfort and mistrust. “And I’m Callie Williams. That’s my daughter, Lily.”
Ask Me to Stay Description:
Jayce Weathers has a reputation as a man who can give a woman a night of loving she’ll never forget. One night. He’s not the type to settle down.
Then Callie Weathers shows up in town and suddenly he’s thinking that one night wouldn’t be enough. Not by a long shot.
The problem is, Callie’s got demons riding her back and old business to settle before she can think about happily-ever-after. And that old business just might get someone killed.
