Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,11
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.
Looking in that direction, she saw what seemed to be an old carriage house. The double doors were cracked opened. A thin wedge of golden light shot out like a ray of sunshine. She caught the scent of shaved wood and breathed it in as if it was pure oxygen. Her father had owned his own carpentry business. The smell reminded her of all the times she’d held the end of a board as he ran it through the planer or filled nail holes with putty for him as a child.
At the sound of a sander starting up, she felt herself drawn down the alley. She followed the familiar scent, the sound of the sander growing louder as she approached, the wood scent growing even stronger.
The sander stopped suddenly, and she heard a man whistling. It brought back a flood of memories of her father’s hands as he worked and whistled. He loved making things with his hands and took pride in each piece. She had the rocker he’d made her when she was a little girl and the cradle he’d made for Mia before she was born.
Two large wooden doors opened into the old carriage house. She stepped to the one that was partially open. It left a wide crack for Kate to peer in. At first she saw nothing. Dust motes hung in the air, captured by the overhead light. Deeper in the large shop, she could make out a male figure bent over a workbench, a sander in his hands as he flipped a switch, the sound filling the space, and he went back to work.
The picture was a familiar one that formed a knot in her chest. She missed