only thing that could surpass my incident.
The ding of low gas pinged again in my car, and although I had enough to make it home, I also knew that I didn't need to worry about what might happen at the gas station. 'It's just gas' I mentally confirmed and pulled into the last gas stall and took a deep breath. Five minutes later, diet pop, large bag of peanut M&M candies and a full tank of gas, I decided that no harm or trouble was going to find me today.
I climbed into my bright yellow Mini Cooper and started back the way I came. The beautiful spring day had me optimistic that my plan was going to work. All the reminiscent talk from my three best friends and Sheriff Cleat was a cleansing ritual that had to be done. Sometimes you just have to walk back through history and retrace your steps in order to walk forward and start anew. At least in my mind it sounded good.
Not but two miles away from the gas station, something up ahead caught my attention. It was a vision of utter perfect bodily proportions. It was a Greek God or close enough. IT, was a man jogging towards me with his shirt off, perfect pectoral muscles, golden tan skin, large broad shoulders in unison with his thick muscular leg's jogging towards me. If I didn't know better I would have thought it was an optical illusion because Dreilling county did not produce these kinds of males in these here parts. Most were old, retired and potbelly men with fishing poles in one hand and a bucket of Mabel's best friend chicken in the other. So, I did the next best logical thing I could think of as I drove past the handsome stranger. I turned my head to check out his backside while my foot showed my excitement of the sexy man by pressing hard on the gas, and the front of my car went the same direction as my head, which found out quickly that my bright yellow Mini Cooper was not meant for four-wheel drive.
As fate would have it, I was just fine, not a mark on my body. My airbag deployed, my OnStar that my father insisted on buying me after wrecking my first three cars came on, and my car was at a ninety-degree angle wedged between two large boulders. My diet pop was still in my left hand; my quickly melting chocolate peanut M&M's in the palm of my hand that was holding my pop. My heart was pounding faster than a Nascar race car and the first thought that came to mind was "Maple county would be a nice place to live." That would be if they have never heard of me.
What I didn't realize was, that man who my mind and eyes were checking out as I drove past, was now talking to me from my open car window. I looked at him with a silly grin, catching a glimpse of his steel blue eyes and short authoritative dark hair cut, and then I closed my eyes. Because what I heard next was none other than him talking into his cell phone while competing with questions from OnStar. I didn't answer either but focused on the sound of the man's voice. It had a deep authoritative voice that talked like he knew what to say. Then I heard it. "This is the new Sheriff Cal Taylor. I've got a roadside emergency at mile marker 212. Send an ambulance, fire truck with Jaws of Life and a tow truck. Make that two. My truck broke down at 211. License plates for yellow Mini Cooper read LUCK4KIA. What? I see. No, she seems fine but her car is wedged between two boulders, and the doors won't open. Yup. I see."
He hung up his cell phone and put it back into his tan cargo shorts, grabbed his tee shirt that was in his hand and put it back on. I sneaked one last peek out of the corner of my eye and held onto that glorious pectoral image for a moment, before I put my hand out the window. I squinted my eyes at the glare of the sun as I looked up at the man who was going to be my new everyday rescue hero, at least until I can find a new job, new car and move to Maple county, where hopefully nobody ever heard of me