“I try to see the positive,” Collin continued. “Like my beautiful fiancée, this charming little town and snow. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it.” He looked out the window. “You have to admit, it’s picturesque.” She grunted in answer. “Come on, you said you’d never seen it. Now you have.”
“Now I have.” Had she really told him that? Possibly. His memory was better than hers, apparently. He often brought up things he said she’d told him that she didn’t remember.
“This kind of weather can be deadly, though, if you don’t dress right.” Reaching down, he lifted a large bag she hadn’t noticed him bring into the café because she’d been so busy watching the locals outside. “For you.”
She couldn’t help her surprise and delight. “Where did you...”
“There’s a store in town,” he said, waiting for her to open the bag. “Actually, it’s a clothing store, grocery, hardware store, post office and convenience store all rolled into one.”
Kate withdrew what appeared to be a long down-quilted coat in dusty rose—her favorite color. She looked up at him and felt tears burn her eyes. He was so good to her. She felt awful for complaining while he was making the best of things.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“And warm,” he said, smiling at her. “There are gloves and a scarf in the bag, too. They kind of match. I did the best I could.”
“You always do,” she said, studying him. She regretted all the wasted time making up her mind about him.
“I try to make you happy.”
“You do make me happy. Thank you.” She hugged the coat to her as he went back to his menu. She looked out the front window, half hoping the snow had stopped. It hadn’t. She had walked down here the half block from the motel. Last night she hadn’t seen much of the town.
This morning she realized that there wasn’t much town to see. So far she’d been to the motel and café—both within easy walking distance even in a blizzard. But now, through the whirling snow, she could see other structures. Most were boarded up for the winter, making the place look like a ghost town. But there were a few signs of life, she was glad to see.
“If you give me that flimsy Texas jacket you’re wearing, I’ll take it back to the motel when I go. I need to make a few business phone calls.”
“Maybe I’ll walk around town when we finish breakfast.” She wanted to avoid the motel room as much as possible. It made her think of her honeymoon with Danny.
“You should do that,” Collin said without looking at her. He was still studying the menu. “What are you going to have? I think I could eat a whole cow. Or maybe just this Rancher’s Special.”
She checked the menu and shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t eat all of that.”
Collin dropped his menu, his grin widening as he lifted an eyebrow in challenge. “Wanna bet?”
* * *
COLLIN MADE THE call as soon as he got back to the room. He figured he didn’t have much time since even a walk around the town wasn’t going to take Kate long. This might be the only chance he had to be alone in the motel room. He’d tried making the call earlier outside the service station, but it was too hard to hear with the gale-force wind, not to mention the icy snow pelting him.
Gerald answered on the fourth ring. “Where are you?”
“Buckhorn.”
“Where the hell is that?”
Collin had checked a map on his phone earlier. “We aren’t that far from the border. Got caught in this storm.”
“So, you talked her into coming with you. How long before you’ll make the crossing into Canada?”
He hated to tell him as he looked around the dark motel room. He couldn’t wait to get out of here. Between the snow and this cramped room, he felt he couldn’t breathe. “Had a little car trouble but will be there in plenty of time to take care of business.”
“The storm has held things up at the other end as well. But if you miss—”
“I’m not going to miss anything. I told you. I have it covered.”
“That’s what you told me last time, and we all know how that turned out.”
“Gerald, I’m on top of this. My fiancée and I will cross the border in plenty of time to meet up with you.”
He disconnected before the man could tell him what was at stake. As if he didn’t know. Everything was riding on this deal. His very life. And that of his fiancée as well if he screwed this up.
* * *
ALL BUNDLED UP in her new warm clothing, Kate left the café to walk through the town of Buckhorn. The coat, hat and mittens were wonderful. Collin had thought of everything—except snow boots. She found the general store with its eclectic mix of items for sale all packed from floor to ceiling with everything imaginable. At the back was a tiny post office. She could see a woman moving around back there, filling a small wall of mailboxes.
The snow boots felt like heaven. She had the man behind the counter put her leather ankle boots into a bag. As she left there, she saw the gas station and garage at the edge of town and nothing beyond it on that side of the street. On her side, there appeared to be a bar some distance way. At least, she’d caught glimpses of a neon bar sign through the falling snow. It surprised her that even these few places stayed open this time of year with so little business.
Crossing the highway through the falling snow, she headed down the other side of town. Most of the buildings on this side were closed for the winter. She caught glimpses of houses behind the buildings along the main drag, but she didn’t see anyone. Buckhorn, Montana, was a world apart, she thought. She’d looked on her phone earlier to see where they were in this huge state and had been shocked at how far it was even to the next small town.
Now, dodging snowdrifts taller than she was, she worked her way back toward the motel. The new snow crunched beneath her boot treads as the wind blew gusts of falling snow around her. She couldn’t imagine living here, especially in the winter. Spending all of her life in the Houston area, she’d become used to certain benefits of big-city living—like health care. Earlier in the store, she’d seen a number posted for anyone who needed medical attention. Apparently there was a doctor about a hundred miles away who drove over a couple times a week. For emergencies this time of year, a person was to call 9-1-1 and wait for the ambulance that also had to make that same trip.
The wind had picked up. A gust whipped stinging ice crystals into her face. She stepped into the recessed doorway of a closed business and ducked her head until the gust settled. As she started to step out again, she heard the high-pitched whine of a table saw. The sound appeared to be coming from down the alley between the buildings.