Heaven Sent

The lightning flashed across the sky illuminating exactly how deep Lena Murphy had buried her car in the mud. She furiously ran her elegant artists’ fingers through her soaking wet blonde hair. Her amber eyes quickly glanced into the backseat where her daughter Winnie slept soundly in her car seat. For that Lena was thankful. Having to deal with a car stuck in the mud late into the night in the middle of nowhere is one thing; having to do so with a cranky four-year-old is another. Lena sighed as she leaned against the trunk of her hand me down Honda. She pulled her cell phone out of the breast pocket of her tattered plaid flannel shirt and cursed when she saw she didn’t have service. 

Now what was she going to do?

She couldn’t exactly flag someone down; it wasn’t as if she got stuck on the side of a major highway. If she remembered correctly, she’d be lucky if a car came down this stretch of road in the next couple of days, let alone hours. It wasn’t as if her elderly father got many visitors. As a matter of fact, she was pretty sure most of the citizens of the sleepy little town had forgotten about the ornery old goat all together. The downpour began to lessen a little and for that Lena was grateful. Now all she had to do was pray that someone would come along and be willing to help her get her car unstuck. Or she could do something about it herself.

Never one to rely on someone else, Lena decided to go with the latter. She squatted near the rear tires and cursed under her breath when she realized it would take a tow truck to get her car out of the wet upturned earth easily. She stood again and took in her surroundings.

Lena was resourceful damn it. She could figure this out. She wasn’t born and bred on a Montana ranch only to grow up a ninny. Though she was on a dirt road she wasn’t on the prairie. She was able to find some trees nearby with low hanging branches. Checking on Winnie once more, Lena made quick time in gathering branches. Arms full she trekked back to her car and began haphazardly shoving them under the rear tires. Once she was satisfied with their placement she climbed behind the wheel and crossed herself before turning the ignition. Lena slowly eased the pedal to the floor and mumbled to herself as she heard and felt the wheels attempt to turn.

And that was all they did; attempt to turn. Sighing Lena gripped the steering wheel with both hands and rested her forehead on them. This was the last thing she needed in her life right now. Her master plan was being ruined thanks to mother nature. She was going to surprise her father by showing up on his doorstep with his favorite pie and the granddaughter he hadn’t seen since her birth. Eyes brimming with tears Lena looked at the passenger seat with the strawberry rhubarb pie resting peacefully; patiently waiting to be devoured.

Why was it when things went wrong, they always happened to go wrong one on top of the other? First, she caught her husband cheating with her former best friend. Then the gallery that had been showing her paintings burned down. The icing on the cake was being evicted from her apartment due to a bounced check because her husband had cleared out the bank account so he could take his new bedmate to Tahiti. Stuff like this was supposed to happen in threes. If she had her math right Lena was counting this as another number in her bad luck equation.

She always hated math.

Trying to remain optimistic she glanced in her rear-view mirror and smiled as she took in her sleeping daughter’s form. The strawberry blonde curls brushed her brow, and her small lips were in pout with a scowl. Sighing Lena closed her eyes and counted to ten. She had to figure a way out of this. The last thing she wanted to do was wake Winnie and venture to her childhood home on foot, the torrential downpour prevented that from happening anytime soon. Before climbing out of the car once more she made sure that her hazard lights were flashing so on the off chance that someone drove by, they’d see her car. She quietly closed the door behind her and made to gather more branches. She moved further from the road this time in the hopes that bigger branches would give her tires more traction.

As she was bending down to finish loading her arms, the glow of headlights lit up the ground around her. Standing quickly, she made a mad dash for her car, slipping in some mud and dropping her pile of branches in the process. She cursed before standing; not bothering to wipe the front of her shirt. She reached the edge of the road and sighed in relief when she saw a heavy-duty Dodge pickup parked behind her car, windshield wipers going full speed.

Thank heavens she was saved.

Now if there was some guarantee that a perverted serial killer wasn’t her savior, she’d be all set.

Tentatively Lena made her way towards the pair of vehicles just as her savior opened his door and stepped down into the rain. As soon as his boots hit the gravel road, she stopped dead in her tracks. That was one tall drink of water. Even in the dark with the rain beating down she could tell he was gorgeous. He radiated pure sex. She nervously bit her lower lip as she took in his form. He was well over six feet and though he was wearing a suit vest and tie she could tell that he was perfectly toned and muscular underneath the blue tie that matched his eyes. The cowboy boots let her know that he was pure country, for that she was thankful, he would surely know how to get her out of this mess.

Someone this handsome couldn’t be an axe murderer, right? Lena looked down at her small five-foot five frame and flinched. Now not only was her flannel shirt covered in paint but mud as well. Her frayed blue jeans were wet from the bottom all the way up to the middle of her calf. She could hardly see her own cowboy boots as they were currently stuck in the mud. Great. This was the icing on the fucking cake. Lena rolled her eyes.

She sighed before clearing her throat, “Can I get a little help here please?” Lena had a feeling he didn’t hear her as he made his way to look in the windows of her car. Her first instinct was to protect her daughter. She opened her mouth to speak when a clap of thunder and lightning lit up the sky. She waved her arms over her head and yelled, “Hey buddy! Help a girl out!”

Finally seeing her on the side of the road the tall handsome stranger moved towards her, and she got a better look at him. Her heart nearly stopped. He had the perfect amount of stubble on his chin and his rain drenched sandy brown hair made him look as if he was made purely for the pleasure of giving every woman in a fifty-mile radius wet dreams.

He stopped at the side of the road and stood before her, scratching his chin he smiled, “Well you sure do have yourself in a pickle.”

“Yes, I realize that thanks so much for pointing it out,” Lena’s retort dripped with sarcasm, “Would you mind lending a hand and pulling me out of the mud before helping me with my car? I’d be eternally grateful.” She offered him her sweetest smile to try and make up for her previous smart-ass remark.

He moved towards her and knelt at her feet. His large strong hands grabbed her left boot and tugged gently. She nearly fell forward, and he chuckled. He looked up at her and his brilliant blue eyes pierced hers, “Relax sweetheart. Grab my shoulders for balance.”

Nodding slightly, she did just that. His shoulders tensed beneath her fingertips, and he stilled. He paused for just a moment before gently lifting her left and then right boots from the muddy earth. Slowly he stood and Lena’s fingers grazed his chest. As he came to his full height, she dropped her hands and cleared her throat. Lena looked up at him and offered a small smile as she tucked her hair behind her ears, “Thanks.”

Nervously she wiped her hands on her jeans as she made her way back to her car. Lena could feel his eyes on her and she’d be a fool if she didn’t admit to herself that she put a little more sway on her hips. Upon reaching her car she turned to see if he was following and jumped when it turned out he was right behind her. Lena put her hand to her heart and closed her eyes releasing a startled breath. When she opened them, she saw him silently chuckling at her. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms, “If you’re finished laughing at my expense, I would appreciate it if you could help me figure out a way to get my stupid car unstuck.”

He squatted down next to her tires and stood again almost immediately. Without a word he made his way back to his truck and opened the toolbox in the bed. Quickly he returned and knelt at her cars’ back tires. He fidgeted for a few minutes before he stood and moved to open her driver’s side door, “Go ahead and pull forward slowly. That should do the trick.”

She stole a quick glance at her tire and raised a manicured brow. A hammer tied tightly to her wheel with a bungee cord. How in the hell was that supposed to do what the branches couldn’t? Not moving she looked at him, before she could speak, he smiled at her and putting his hand on the small of her back led her towards the open door helping her into the car, “Slowly hit the gas sweetheart, I don’t feel like having a mud bath tonight.” Flashing her with his perfect smile again, he shut her door.

Thoroughly annoyed Lena turned on her car and did as he asked. And slowly but surely, she felt her tires released from the mud and moving forward. She let out a whoop as she was able to pull back onto the dirt road and put the car in park. She left it running and took a quick glance in the back seat, thankful to see that her exclamation of joy didn’t wake her slumbering child. For what felt like the millionth time that night she exited her car and softly closed the door behind her.

Lena glanced at her feet before looking up and offering a smile, “Thanks so much, you’re a lifesaver. I was quickly running out of options and thought I was going to have to walk. With the current weather it’s safe to say that’s something I would rather avoid.” She glanced back at her car as her mother’s intuition let her know that Winnie was slowly starting to wake up.

As she looked back in his direction, she once again caught him staring at her, “It’s no trouble at all sweetheart.”

“Do you always do that?” Lena asked sighing in irritation.

“Do what?”

“Call someone you just met ‘sweetheart’. How do you know I’m sweet at all?” She asked, crossing her arms, brow raised.

She almost regretted that statement as soon as it left her lips. Almost. But as she felt his eyes glide over her body in the most sensual, she became weak in the knees. He moved towards her and softly rubbed his rough knuckles along her cheek, “I don’t. But the simple fact is crazy sour women don’t frequently get their cars stuck in the mud.” He dropped his hand and flashed her a wicked grin, “Sweetheart.”

He laughed as she glared at him and smacked him on the shoulder. With her hands on her hips Lena turned toward her car. Stopping her from entering her car he grabbed the top of her door, “So are you?” He asked, a small smile gracing his lips.

Lena sighed in exasperation, “Am I what?” She turned to look at him with a raised brow.

He shrugged, still smiling, “Eternally grateful.”

She ran her fingers through her hair. This man was more frustrating than wrangling a sticky squirming toddler into a wet bathing suit. She glanced into the backseat of the car again, “I suppose I am seeing as Winnie has thankfully fallen back asleep.” She looked down at her clothes, “Even if I am covered in mud and I’m sure my father’s pie is spoiled.” She sighed. She really had hoped to give her father a happy reunion. That’s why she had left Portland as early as she did, but now it was well after midnight and her father was going to be about as happy as a bear awoken from a long winter’s nap when she arrived at her childhood home. And she was a mess to boot. Things just weren’t going her way.

“At this particular moment I can’t do much about the mud or the spoiled pie, but I would love to take you out for dinner as a welcome back to Kismet.”

Lena’s brow rose and a small smile began to flirt with her mouth, was he serious? This guy didn’t know her at all, hell he didn’t even know her name. And he was asking her out? There was no way he was that desperate for a date. She took in his strong shoulders and his worn cowboy boots, “I’ll go out with you on one condition.”

She noticed his Adam’s apple bob nervously at the base of his throat and it took all of her self-control to hold back a grin at his obvious signs of being nervous at her demand. She didn’t wait for him to respond before she spoke, “I will let you take me to dinner as long as you let me pay, it’s the least I can do after you help me out like this.” She may not officially have a job yet, but she did have some money left over after selling some of her paintings that weren’t in the gallery. It may not be much, but it was enough to take him out to dinner and tide her over until she could figure out exactly what the financial situation was on her family ranch.

He chuckled softly, “You can pay for the first dinner, but I’m taking care of the next one, sweetheart.”

Already talking about a second date? Lena laughed at the thought, someone sure is full of himself. She rambled off her cell number with a smile, “Give me a call when you want to take me on this date. We may need a few days to get settled, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.” With a quick wave over her shoulder, she hopped into her car and drove into the night.