TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) (27 page)

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Logan answered. “Just as soon as I go pick up the meds you’re calling in for me.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Tanner said, stuffing his cell phone back into its holder on his belt. “I’ll go get them. You don’t need to be out on the highway with your hands all messed up like that. I need to head over that direction anyway. You take it easy like Doc said. You want anything before we go?”

Logan shook his head and leaned back on the sofa, feet up. Tanner had hovered over him like some old woman ever since Logan had first called him about the accident. He hated being treated like an invalid. Especially by someone like Tanner. His partner was about as far from a coddler as anyone could be, so to have him acting like this was something serious only made Logan feel guiltier.

The entire afternoon had been a disaster of his own making. He should have been smarter than to pull an open jar down on his head in the first place.

Then there was the problem with Allie. She hadn’t checked in. Not once since she’d headed out for Grand Junction this morning. No calls for a whole day wasn’t at all like Allie. At least, it wasn’t like her now that they had this relationship.

Funny that the word
relationship
had sprung to mind so readily. But that was what it was, this thing that had grown between them. A fully realized relationship. And, after all the years he’d spent avoiding entanglements and the idea of a relationship, he couldn’t quite imagine life without this particular one.

Where was she?

He closed his eyes, struggling to recall every word of their early telephone conversation. She had planned to make the trip to pick up ingredients for Dulcie and a prescription for her mom. Then she’d be back here to join him for dinner.

Only she wasn’t here. And, in spite of her promise, there’d been no calls. Even if she’d stopped for lunch, she should have returned by now.

He’d tried to reach her multiple times but couldn’t get through to her and now worry ate at his gut.

His phone lay on the table next to him and he reached for it to call her once more. Still no answer, so he left another message. What was that? Number five or six? Granted, she might not be comfortable answering while she was driving, and there were dead spots through parts of the canyon. But she’d promised to call him before she left the city for home and there hadn’t been a call all day.

Unless…

A memory of one particular moment from this afternoon flashed into his mind, carrying with it a trickle of sick dread. There had been that one call. The one that had come through while he was washing off the chemicals. The call that Shayla had answered because he hadn’t heard his phone ringing. The call she’d said had no one on the other end of the line when she’d answered.

In the flurry of activity that followed his accident, he’d dismissed the incident from his mind, chalking it up to nothing more than a wrong number.

But now? Now, with a thousand fears gnawing at his brain, that call took on an ominous feel.

Could it have been Allie?

He scanned through the options on his phone, hunting for the list of calls. Sure enough, there it was, Allie’s number recorded as incoming right after his accident this afternoon.

The call Shayla answered. The one where no one had responded and she’d yelled at him to get his pants on and come get the phone.

Christ! He could only imagine what Allie must have thought was going on when she heard that. She’d told him all about what had happened with that guy back in Texas. And the whole town knew what her father had done. With her history of bad experiences, there was no way she wouldn’t have jumped to the worst possible conclusion. He certainly would have.

Logan pushed up off the sofa, hunting for his keys. He had to find her. He had to explain. Before it was too late. Before he lost her for good. If that happened, the afternoon wouldn’t be just a disaster. It would be a complete and total disaster of epic proportions.

* * *

How long she’d sat in the parking lot, Allie had no idea. She knew only that her head hurt and her tears were all used up. She wiped her hands over her cheeks and tried to decide what to do next.

She had to get her mother’s prescription home to her tonight, even if that meant calling someone to come get her. The realization that two hours ago that
someone
would have been Logan started a fresh trickle of tears in spite of her thinking there could be no more.

No! She wouldn’t let herself dwell on this anymore. Not right now, anyway. Her heart might be broken, but it would mend, even though she suspected it would never be the same again. She would sort all of that out later, after she got home.

There were more immediate concerns for her to deal with first. Her grandmother would be the logical one to call for help. Or Dulcie. Except one glance at her cell phone reminded her that the battery was completely dead, so she’d have to find a phone to use to make that call.

The sudden
plink,
plink
of raindrops peppering down only added to her frustration.

“Perfect,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “Just perfect. Any other crap you want to dump my way today?”

According to Mama Odie, tempting fate was never a smart thing to do, but Allie briefly wondered how many days like this her grandmother might have faced. Few, she’d guess, considering the woman’s always optimistic outlook.

Just for the heck of it, she tried the ignition once more and the car purred to life as if it had never had a problem. Maybe fate needed a little tempting every now and then to shake things up.

She pulled onto the road and turned toward home, feeling every bit as gloomy as the skies above her. The gentle peppering of raindrops continued until she was on the highway, at which point the skies opened up and the rain poured down in great, heaving sheets.

The rain persisted and Allie slowed her speed, hands clasped tightly around the steering wheel. Navigating the winding canyon on rain-slicked roads required her full attention and frayed her nerves like little else could. Eight years away from the mountains had made her doubt her ability to drive in them.

“Bull pucky,” she whispered, and then louder: “I call bull pucky!”

This was her home. She’d learned to drive on these roads. She’d be damned if she’d be intimidated by them now. Not the road and not any of the other roadblocks thrown in her path today.

“You better have more than that if you think you’re going to knock me out of the game,” she said aloud, leaning forward to look up at the gray sky. “I might be down, but I’m a long way from out.”

She pressed her foot down on the accelerator, surprised when the car didn’t speed up as she’d expected. For the first time, she realized that the car was quieter than usual. Remarkably quiet in fact. Quiet like a car whose engine had been turned off.

Fighting the panic rising in her throat, Allie struggled to turn the unresponsive steering wheel. It felt as if she were trying to drive her grandpa’s ancient tractor. At the same time, she pulsed her brake in an attempt to bring the car to a stop without running off the road. Considering the sheer drop into the canyon, off the road would be bad. Very bad.

After several long minutes of braking, the car rolled to a stop, but slid at least another foot on the slick pavement before coming to a complete halt in the gravel at the road’s edge.

Allie sat where she was, hands frozen on the steering wheel, breathing deeply. When she could finally make herself let go, she removed her seat belt, opened her door and stepped out into the rain to survey the damage.

Another couple of inches and her worries would have been all over. Permanently. As it was, anyone getting out the passenger side would need a parachute to survive that first step.

It would appear her grandmother had been right about tempting fate, after all.

“You win,” Allie whispered, staring over the edge of the cliff.

In one afternoon she’d lost the only man she’d ever wanted and very nearly lost her life in an accident all to similar to the one that had claimed her father. She couldn’t hope to stand up to such a formidable power.

She trembled, teeth chattering, as she backed away from the road’s edge. She had to figure out what to do next. Had to figure out what she could do. There was maybe an hour left before it started getting dark, and dark out here, with no houses or people around, was a whole different dark than in town.

Vaca Vista Inn was only a few miles down the road. She could walk that far, even in this rain. Once there, she’d call Mama Odie and this nightmare would be over.

Her eyes stung with tears as she reached inside the car to retrieve her purse and the little white prescription bag. The boxes of dried fruit would just have to wait to be rescued by someone else.

The storm began to slack off as she walked, turning into a slow, steady drizzle. A few cars passed, but none stopped or even slowed. A part of her was grateful they didn’t. She could only pretend her face was wet from the rain for so long.

She heard another vehicle in the distance, coming toward her, and, once again, she scooted to the far edge of the road. Only this one didn’t zoom past. This one slowed and came to a stop in the middle of the road.

“Allie?” Tanner Grayson swung open the door and climbed out of his truck, walking toward her. “What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Are you okay?”

“No,” she whimpered, humiliated that she couldn’t fake it for even one minute.

“Come on,” he encouraged, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and all but lifting her up into the passenger side of his truck. “Jesus, you’re soaked to the skin. What happened?”

“Car died,” she answered, unable to say more without completely breaking down in the face of his kindness.

“Okay then,” he said as he climbed into his seat. He spoke in that all-business way of his that seemed to indicate he was already marking items off a checklist. “Did you talk to Logan? He’s been trying to call you for the last couple of hours.”

She shook her head, not trusting herself to say anything. Fortunately, Tanner’s phone rang, giving her a reprieve.

He glanced at the little screen before answering, and a frown creased his brow. “Goddammit, Kat, I already told you he’s fine so—” Tanner stopped speaking abruptly and a mottled red color crept up from his neck to his face. “Sorry, Mrs. O’Connor. I saw the number and assumed it was Katie calling. Again.” Another pause. “Yes, ma’am, I know what assuming does. And, yes, you’ll be my first call if there’s any problem. Good night.” He clipped his phone back into the holder on the dashboard and shook his head before turning toward Allie. “Well? Have you spoken to him?”

“No. My battery died.”

“Okay then,” he said again. “Logan had a little accident this afternoon. A minor chemical spill, but there’s no need to worry. He’s okay. I’m heading into Junction to grab some stuff the doctor prescribed for him and then I’ll get you home. How’s that sound?”

Her heart missed a full beat at hearing Logan had been hurt, but she pushed the feelings away. He didn’t need her. He had his sister and his mother to worry after him. And Shayla. Let her nurse him back to health. Apparently that was what he wanted.

She just wanted to get home.

“Would you mind dropping me at the Vaca Vista Inn first?” When he looked as if he were going to refuse, she tried again. “I had two really big glasses of tea at lunch, Tanner, and I’ve been walking forever. If I don’t get to a bathroom soon, I’m going to embarrass myself. Please, can we go to the inn?”

“Fair enough,” he answered, turning the truck around to return in the direction he’d come from. “You want to use my cell to call Logan and let him know what’s going on?”

“No.”

She didn’t want to speak to Logan. Not on a cell, not in person, not at all. Not now. Not ever.

“You want me to call him for you?”

“No.”

Tanner didn’t ask any more questions and she didn’t offer any more information, choosing instead to stare blindly out the window until they reached their destination.

After another ten minutes, they pulled into the inn’s parking lot, and Tanner came around to her side of the big truck to open the door and help her down.

Rather than stepping away, he blocked her path with his body and placed both hands on her shoulders. “You want to tell me what’s wrong? I might be able to help, you know. I can be a pretty helpful guy sometimes.”

“Not this time, I’m afraid,” she answered. Rising up on her tiptoes, she kissed her rescuer on the cheek. “Thanks for saving me back there. I owe you one.”

“Hey, that’s what I do,” he answered in his usual flippant tone. “You want me to come in with you?”

That was the last thing she wanted.

“No. You go on and get the stuff you need for Logan. I’m going to call my grandmother to come get me.”

“If you’re sure that’s what you want,” he said, his gaze focused on her like he was trying to read her mind. “You want me to have Logan call you at home?”

“No. But you can give him a message for me. Tell him not to bother calling me. I don’t want to talk to him or to see him again.”