lot of those lately.”
“We should talk…” Jeremy began, but she cut him off.
“I’m not in the mood to talk. I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you call me when your days are not so long?” she snapped and hung up.
Jeremy groaned.
His cell chimed again. “What now?”
It was his mother and Jeremy cringed at his tone. Thankfully she didn’t seem to notice. “Honey don’t forget to pick up your aunt Rita tomorrow at the airport,” his mother exclaimed way too loudly, which signaled she had him on speakerphone. “Her flight arrives at four.”
“Hey son,” his father screamed out. “Watching the game?”
“Not yet.”
“Jeremy? Did you hear me?” his mother called out again.
“Yes Ma’am. Pick up Aunt Rita at four.”
“I haven’t told her about the broken china. Don’t tell her what the dogs did when I went over to check on her house. I’ll tell her.”
“You know she’ll notice as soon as we walk in?”
“Yes, I know that could happen. I thought it would be best to tell her in person. You know how she gets.” His mother’s tone became excited. “Oh, let’s go to that wonderful Mexican place for dinner tomorrow. Bring your Aunt Rita directly there. Your father and I will meet you. I’ll break the news to her after she’s had one of those top shelf margaritas.”
“What Mexican place?” It was too late. His mother was saying love you and hung up.
Jeremy stared at the phone, not sure if he should call back or figure it out himself. His parents had raved about a Mexican restaurant a few miles from their ranch, which was just outside Missoula. That narrowed it down.
Since his father had a fender bender a few months earlier, his mother had refused to allow him to drive. She also refused to drive farther than the few miles it took to get to the grocery store. His father took it in stride since he rarely left the ranch anyway.
Jeremy chuckled at his parent’s antics and turned on the television.
It would be a nice relaxing night and he had the next day off. His lips curved until he realized his dog was at his parent’s. He’d forgotten to pick it up. Just as well, he’d go stay at his parents after dropping off his aunt.
Chapter Three
“Deep breath,” Gabriela mumbled to herself as the airplane flew in for the landing at the Missoula International airport. Flying was not her favorite thing, especially with her penchant for being accident-prone.
Of course, flying was not as bad as what she’d been through lately. The last few months had been filled with a series of events that had not been on her “to-do” list.
Outside the window, the view was far different than flying over San Diego. Snow covered mountains, snow covered buildings and well, snow covered everything. Just two weeks before Christmas and this town was definitely a winter-wonderland. She frowned as the plane landed with barely a bump and rolled down the runway smoothly.
“You can release my hand now,” the older man on her right said, his expression tight.
“Oh sorry.” At the man flexing his hand, Gabriela felt bad. “I didn’t mean to squeeze so tight.” Actually, she’d not been aware of taking the stranger’s hand at all.
Thankfully the airport was small, so it was easy to find her way to the baggage claim.
Just as she approached where people waited for passengers, she spotted him. The man who checked off every single box on her “Want To Do” list.
The tall, wide-shouldered guy had dark brown hair, bright hazel eyes and his jawline was darkened by a sexy five o’clock shadow. His gaze met hers for a moment, and then moved on to the other passengers.
Gabriela purposely slowed down pretending to have problems with her rolling tote. Unfortunately, she didn’t take into account the people behind her. The same man who’d sat next to her tripped on her suitcase and stumbled forward. If not for someone reaching for his elbow, he would have fallen flat on his face.
The poor man slid her a narrow-eyed look, his face reddened by the almost fall, and he hurried away. She didn’t blame him for wanting to put distance between them.
When she turned to look at the sexy guy, he had his back turned. Hopefully he’d turn up at the baggage claim. It would be fun to have a little fling while in Montana. Gabriela tried to come up with a subtle way to give him her number.
People jockeyed for position at the baggage carousel. Gabriela stood back