“Always talk a lot,” he replied, glancing in her direction.
Marnie bit down on her lower lip. He really was a grumpy jerk. But since he was a Culhane and her landlord, she figured she needed to show restraint. Getting angry wasn’t the answer. Instead, she stayed cheerful. “I guess I do,” she replied.
He laughed and the sound rumbled through her like slow and distant thunder. She wondered if he knew he had the power to do that and then figured he looked so at ease in his own skin he could probably make her lady parts rumble, too!
Marnie pushed aside her foolish thoughts and looked directly ahead, into the blowing snow. She noticed he’d slowed the truck’s speed down considerably. It was dark and there was no other traffic on the road as they headed toward town.
“This is Main Street,” he said, speaking for the first time in minutes when they reached town and he slowed down again, slipping through the solitary set of traffic lights. “The hotel is just down the road.”
“Thanks for doing this,” she said. “I’m sure there are plenty of other things you’d prefer to be doing on a Friday night.”
“It’s okay,” he replied, not so much as a flinch in his stoic reply. “Here’s the hotel,” he said as he eased the truck into the driveway and pulled up outside.
Marnie looked toward the large building. The parking lot was full, and when she peered through the front doors, she noticed the foyer was busy. “So...can I get my bags?”
“You should probably call them first, or go in and check that you can get a room. I’ll wait for you,” he said flatly.
Marnie hesitated for a moment, then nodded and got out of the vehicle, trudging slowly toward the entrance of the hotel. Five minutes later she was trudging back out. As Joss had tried to warn her, the hotel was fully booked, with nothing available until after the weekend, when the convention would be over. The clerk behind the counter had given her the numbers of two other bed-and-breakfasts in town and she’d called them both from the foyer—but they, too, were fully booked through the weekend. She’d booked a room for Tuesday night and then headed back outside to Joss Culhane and his truck.
She opened the truck door and spoke. “You were right...the place is booked out until Tuesday.” She quickly explained about the two bed-and-breakfasts. “Are there any other places in town you can think of?”
He didn’t look happy and jerked his thumb backward. “There’s a smaller motel on the way into town. You could try there.”
“Do you know the number?”
He sighed and grabbed his cell and made a call. “It’s busy,” he said, disconnecting. “Sometimes the land lines get affected by bad weather. We can drive by if you want.”
She nodded. “Well, if that’s okay with you?”
He shrugged. “Come on, get out of the cold.”
Marnie was back in the truck in seconds and they were pulling out from the parking lot. “It’s a beautiful hotel,” she remarked, clutching her tote to avoid shivering. “No wonder it’s so popular.”
“Yeah. It’s quite the tourist attraction.”
He didn’t seem pleased by the fact and she wondered if he was grouchy about everything. They didn’t speak again until they pulled up outside a small motel on the edge of town. It looked neat and tidy, but there was a distinctive neon No Vacancy sign flickering out the front.
“Right,” she said with a sigh. “Unless you know of another motel in the area, it looks like I’m sleeping in my car or—”
Her words were cut off by the loud peal of his cell phone and he quickly took the call. “Okay, honey, slow down,” he said after a voice spoke quickly on the other end of the call. “How about you go next door and see if Lucy is there?” He stopped and listened. “Okay, no worries, I’ll be there soon. Just stay calm and wait for me,” he added and then ended the call.
“Is everything okay?” Marnie asked.
“I have to get home,” he replied. “The babysitter fell.”
Her expression narrowed with concern. “That was your wife?”
“Daughter,” he said. “Your search for a room will have to wait.”
“Of course,” she said quickly. “If you want to drop me off in town I’m sure I can—”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not going to drop you off on the side of the road,” he said tersely. “Mustang Street isn’t far from here.”
Mustang Street? “I thought you said the house wasn’t ready?”
“I live on Mustang Street, one house down from the rental property you leased.”
So close? “Okay.”
About four minutes later they were turning off from the main road and heading down a few smaller streets. She noticed the sign for Mustang Street, and when he wordlessly hitched a thumb in the direction of a one-story brick home, she figured that was the house she had leased. A few seconds later he pulled the truck alongside the sidewalk and switched off the engine. Marnie looked at the house. It was a large, neat one-story home with a blue SUV parked in the driveway.
“No point in sitting out here in the cold, so you may as well come inside,” he said evenly as he opened the truck door.
Marnie shivered, nodding as she quickly followed him along the sidewalk and then through the gate and toward the house. The outside light flicked on immediately, and seconds later the door opened and a fraught-looking young girl stood on the porch.
“Dad!” The girl breathed out the word as though it was saving her life. “It wasn’t my fault, honest. I didn’t think that anyone would trip over the—”
“Don’t worry, honey,” he said, his voice so gentle Marnie’s insides crunched up. So he wasn’t 100 percent grouchy. Good to know.
The girl, who looked about twelve or thirteen, peered around him. “Who’s this?”
Marnie took a couple of steps forward and managed a smile. “Hi, I’m—”
“Tell me what happened,” he said, ignoring the question as he headed for the door, leaving it open long enough for Marnie to slip through behind him.
“I left my laptop bag on the floor and Mrs. Floyd tripped over it. Then I went next door like you said, but Lucy wasn’t home, so I called you.”
“You did the right thing,” he said reassuringly. “I’m here now and everything will be fine.”
The hallway was long and had a polished timber floor. There were photographs on the wall and a long coatrack and umbrella stand. Marnie hesitated for a moment and then followed behind the duo. Once she reached the living room she stalled in the doorway, noticing a sixtysomething woman sitting on a leather sofa, one leg propped up on a coffee table.
“It’s not broken,” the woman said the moment they appeared. “At least, I don’t think so.”
“How about we get you to the hospital,” he replied as he moved around the sofa.
“Daddy?”
Another girl appeared, younger than the one who’d greeted them by the door. The two girls were now both looking at her, as was the older woman who sat on the couch.
“Hello,” Marnie said and shrugged, figuring she must look like a mess in the shapeless coat, beanie, fingerless gloves and high heels.
He turned and she noticed he was still scowling. He seemed to do that a lot. “This is Miss Jackson. She’s going to be renting the house down the street. And,” he added as he gestured to the younger of the two girls, “apparently she’s your new teacher.”
Copyright © 2021 by Helen Lacey
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ISBN-13: 9780369710215
Last-Chance Marriage Rescue
Copyright © 2021 by Catherine Mann
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Last-Chance Marriage Rescue Page 20