Ainsley

We ate in the kitchen at the bar.

The pizza was some of the best.

Or maybe it was the company.

“We’ll leave shortly,” he said. “Head in to the general store for some dog food.”

“What about some clothes?” I asked. I shuddered at an image of plaid shirts and overalls. I wasn’t a fashionista like my sister Brianna, but I did have standards.

He smiled. “You’ll be taken care of.”

Nodding, I ate the last bit of my pizza crust.

It made sense that a man like Wyatt who owned an airplane would have some pull with the local merchants.

Wyatt took two coats from the hall closet and held one while I slipped my arms in. It was a dark gray parka and fit me perfectly. So he just happened to have a jacket that was my size. Obviously he’d had women here before.

I hadn’t seen any signs that he might have a wife. He didn’t wear a ring and there were no family pictures around that I’d seen.

I had a lot of questions, but I kept them to myself. It wasn’t my business.

“Do we leave Beau here?” I asked. Wyatt had walked him earlier and given him some water, but I was getting concerned that the dog might starve.

Wyatt looked at the dog who was watching him with big dark eyes. “We might as well bring him,” he said.

“Come on,” I said, patting my leg.

Beau jumped and followed us outside. I wasn’t supposed to get attached to the dog.

We went out the back door and walked a little ways to what I could only call a shed.

The snow was still coming down and the air was so cold it burned my lungs.

There was an old green Chevrolet truck. Old. Like 1970s.

I stopped and looked from the truck to Wyatt.

He was smiling at me.

“You,” I said. “are an enigma.”

“What?” he asked. “This is a vintage 1969 Chevrolet.”

I put a hand over my mouth and nodded slowly.

Wyatt was such a typical guy.

It was funny that he owned a brand-new Phenom airplane and a 1969 Chevrolet truck.

And he seemed to be just as proud of his truck as his airplane.

I looked around, but this was the only vehicle I saw.

I guess he had to cut corners somewhere.

He opened the door. “You ready?”

Beau jumped inside first. Then I shrugged and climbed inside the cab.

The inside had been modernized. New gray leather seats. And it even had seatbelts.

He came around and climbed into the driver’s side. We both buckled up, Beau sitting between us.

“Here we go,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re back before they close the roads.”

“They actually close them?”

He put the truck in reverse and backed out.

“They have to close them,” he said. “Or people…” he glanced at me. “will find all kinds of excuses to get out and put themselves at risk.”

I just shrugged. And looked out the window at the snow coming down like rain.

However dangerous this might be, for me, it was absolutely beautiful.

And any girl who flew airplanes almost every day couldn’t possibly be afraid of a little snow.

Wyatt

I knew better than to drive to town with a storm on the way.

First of all, I was from Denver. And second, I’d lived out here long enough to learn the rules.

A pilot who didn’t obey the rules ended up in trouble.

But Ainsley had looked at me with those big green eyes and I couldn’t say no to her.

She was the mermaid on the rock, calling out to me.

And I was the hapless sailor who risked everything to get to her.

The town would be closing soon to give everyone time to get ready for the storm.

But I’d talked to my buddy Johnny who ran the General Store in town. He was staying open for a while yet so people could pick up supplies and things that they needed.

The general store had everything, even a little café.

If I’d known we were going into town, we would have eaten there at the café instead of me making pizza, but that was just how it went sometimes.

“How far is it?” she asked, warming her hands on the heat blowing out of the vents.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said.

I was honestly worried about the roads.

I’d heard of people who hadn’t heeded the warnings. Things would freeze up and black ice was deadly.

But right now, while it was still daylight, the snow was still melting on the roads.

And it was almost worth it to see Ainsley’s flushed cheeks as we traveled through the snow.

As we neared the downtown area, we passed a lot of houses, mostly new construction. And most of them had smoke coming from their chimneys.

I was a little bit jealous. I didn’t have a wood burning fireplace. It was something I hadn’t thought I’d needed. But now I was thinking how nice it would be to sit with Ainsley in front of warm fire.

I parked on the edge of the street and turned off the motor.

“This is it?” she asked, trying to see the building through the falling snow.

“Yep,” I said. “Not too bad, huh?”

“Not bad at all.”

“Come on Beau,” I said, opening my door.

“We’re taking him inside,” she asked when I came around and opened her door.

“They don’t mind,” I said. “Besides, the owner is a buddy of mine.”

She pulled the hood up over her head as we made our way toward the door. We passed half a dozen people heading out, their arms loaded with paper bags.

“I hope there’s something left,” she said.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Johnny stays prepared for bad weather like this.”

She nodded. “Kinda like a hurricane in Houston.”

“Kind of, I guess.” I held the door open for her, Beau at her heels.

If that dog didn’t belong to her, he sure gave a good impression of being her dog.

“So whose dog did you say this is?” I asked.

“I don’t know. My job was just to pick him up.”

I didn’t say anything.

Johnny waved to me from behind the counter. “Never expected to see you out in weather like this,” he said. Then he looked at Ainsley and grinned. “But then again…”

“Shut up, Johnny,” I said.

Johnny said something to the young lady running the counter and came over to give me slap on the shoulder and a quick hand shake.

“Looking for anything in particular?” he asked, looking at Ainsley.

I shot down the surge of jealousy. After all, I’d told him that I was bringing in a friend to pick up some essentials. I hadn’t said girlfriend.

“I need some clothes,” she said.

He nodded, a curious look on his face.

“I got stranded,” she said. “in the weather.”

Johnny looked at me as though he didn’t believe a word of what she was saying.

“We have a section over there,” he pointed across the store. “T-shirts. Sweatpants. That sort of thing. Lots of casual clothes.”

“Perfect,” she said and took off in that direction.

“A girl with a dog?” Johnny said. I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

“Like she said, she got stranded.”

“I believe you,” he said. “It’s just… she doesn’t look like your sister.”

“Never said she was.”

Johnny held up a hand. “Just saying. I’ve never known you to bring a girl home with you.”

“There’s always a first time,” I said. “Besides, it isn’t like I brought her home. She got stranded. I was being a good Samaritan.”

Johnny burst out laughing. “Keep telling yourself that. Any red-blooded American male would do the same.”

I just glared at my friend.

“Maybe you’ll start a new trend,” he said.

Before I could answer, his cashier called out to him and he left with a quick “see you later.”

Johnny was wrong. I wasn’t starting a new trend. I wasn’t going to just start bringing girls home.

Home was my private place. A place where I could work uninterrupted.

When I needed people around, I went into Aspen or even Denver, though I preferred Aspen better.

The office there was more peaceful and I could walk wherever I needed to go.

A lot of people complained about all the tourists, but I didn’t mind. To me they brought life to the little town.