After taking a good long look at his badge, she handed it back to him. “Okay.” She sounded hesitant, and really, who could blame her? He was a total stranger to her, despite his fancy badge. At least she’d stopped crying.
“Release your seat belt and open your window and the baby’s. I’ll help you out, and then we’ll get your little one.”
She followed his instructions and climbed out of the driver’s side window into his arms. The first thing he noticed was that she was tinier than he’d expected her to be and curvy, not that he was noticing the supple flesh that pressed against him. He reached back into the car for her coat and purse and handed both to her before going to retrieve the baby from the car seat. Judging by the pink snowsuit, he assumed the baby was a girl.
He gave her a cursory check, determined that in addition to her limbs moving normally, her pupils were responsive to his flashlight. Once he’d ensured the baby was okay, he released the straps and lifted her out, handing her over to her mother. Then he lowered the handle and lifted the detachable seat out of the car through the window.
The baby let out a happy squeal at the sight of her mother.
“Thank God she’s all right,” Danielle said on a long sigh of relief.
“What else do you ladies need from the car?”
“Our bags in the trunk. The flowered two on top.”
Leaning inside the driver’s side window, he removed the keys from the ignition and pressed the button on the key fob to open the trunk. He grabbed the bags she’d asked for from a trunk full of stuff, shouldered them both and clicked the lock button, which also closed the windows before the lock chime sounded.
“Everything we own is in that car. Is it safe to leave it?”
“I’ll call for a tow as soon as we get to a phone. They’ll take it somewhere safe for the night.” He wished they were in Butler so he could call Nolan to take care of the car.
He offered Danielle his arm. “Hold on to me and take it slow.”
When she hooked her hand around his arm, he could feel her trembling, probably from the shock of the accident as much as the biting cold. Snow continued to fall steadily and was accumulating on the road at an alarming rate.
Lucas powered the three of them up the small hill to the road and guided them to his truck. “We can belt the baby’s seat into the backseat.”
While Danielle took care of that, he put their bags on the other side of the backseat, next to the work bag that contained the personal protective equipment he kept with him at all times. As a member of a volunteer fire department, he could be called out at any time and had to be ready for anything. He got into the driver’s side and blasted the heat.
With the baby settled, Danielle got into the passenger seat and closed the door. “Thank you for helping us.”
“It’s no problem. Where were you headed?”
“I… I’m not sure. I was hoping to find somewhere to stay when I got to Stowe, but the snow was coming down so hard that I didn’t know if I would make it there.”
“You don’t have reservations?”
She shook her head. “Do you think that’s a problem?”
“Normally, I’d say no, but this is the end of ski season. Hotels and inns in these parts are sold out months in advance through March.”
“Oh God,” she said, sighing deeply.
“I’m heading to my friend’s house outside of Stowe. He’s away, but the place is huge and has plenty of extra bedrooms. You’re welcome to one of them for the night if that would help.”
“I… I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”
“I understand. You don’t know me at all, and why should you trust me, right?”
She gave him a side-eyed glance full of trepidation. “Something like that.”
“I have several ways to prove I’m an actual firefighter, including the lights on my truck, the license plate that identifies me as a member of the fire service as does the gear and emergency equipment in the backseat.”
Despite his assurances, Danielle displayed concern that he certainly understood. He could be a predator, for all she knew, and she was right to protect herself and her child.
“How about we do this? We’ll go somewhere public like a gas station or convenience store. I’ll give you a phone number to call, and you can fully vet me.”
“Who would I be calling?”
“My mom,” he said with a grin. “I could also give you the number of the fire department I work for, and they can vouch for me as well.”
She thought that over for a second, giving him a chance to take a closer look at a pretty face framed by a knitted hat. Strands of reddish-blonde hair escaped the confines of the hat, and her eyes might’ve been blue or green. He couldn’t tell for certain in the murky light inside the truck. “That sounds okay to me.”
“All right, then.” He put the truck into Drive and headed slowly toward town. “What’s the baby’s name?”
“Savannah.” Hearing her name, the baby let out a little chirp.
“She’s adorable. How old is she?”
“Thank you. I think so, too. She’s four months.”
“What’re you girls doing out in the middle of a storm?”
“I had the Bluetooth connected to my phone, so I didn’t hear that the storm was coming. I realize now how stupid that was.”
He noted that she didn’t say why she was out in the first place and chose not to press her. What did it matter? He would help her out tonight and probably never see her again.
“Are you new to Vermont?” He’d seen Kentucky plates on the car, but it could be a rental.
“No, I used to come up here to see my grandparents when I was a kid, but I haven’t been here in years. Heck of a welcome back.”
Lucas chuckled. “Vermont tends to behave this way from about November to April, when everything starts to melt and we enter mud season.”
“Charming.”
“Mud season is an acquired taste. You get used to it after a while.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Are you planning to stay awhile?” he asked, thinking of all the stuff she had in the car.
“That’s the plan. I’ve applied for jobs in Stowe and Butler. I’m hoping one of them will come through and that I can find childcare.”
“What kind of jobs are you looking for?”
“Retail management. That’s what my degree is in.”
He immediately thought of the family business.
“My grandparents had a home in Stowe when I was younger. We spent a lot of time there every summer, and some of my best memories were made in that house. I’ve never forgotten it and always hoped to come back sometime.”
“It’s a great town with so much to do and see. You may find it a little more built up than it was then, but the overall feel of the place hasn’t changed much.”
“That’s good to know.” She looked over at him again. “Are you really the eighth of ten kids?”
“Yep.”
“What was that like?”
“Loud.”
She laughed.
“Still is, especially now that most of my siblings are either married or about to be married. Two of them have kids, with more on the way. It gets louder all the time.”