Heartbreak's Reward (Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight Book 2) Read online

  Too dark to read the map outside, she got in, locked the doors, and turned on the interior light. She took another look and programmed her GPS from this school to the hotel, but it didn’t work. This shouldn’t be so hard. After a long day of traveling, all she wanted to do was get a shower and hit the bed.

  Starting her car to leave didn’t happen. She laid her head against the headrest. Now what? Taking a big breath, she lowered her gaze to the dashboard. “How did this happen? No gasoline. Empty!” She had a full tank when she shipped the car. She clenched the steering wheel and attempted to shake an immovable object like it was the cars fault.

  What a freaking bad way it had been to start off in this godforsaken town. Godforsaken or not, she’d taken the job by choice. It’d be a great place for her and her little sister to start over. Brenna hated leaving her sister to come here, but Chloe remained back home in Iowa City with her best friend’s family, while she found a place for them to live in Canyon Junction. Not that Chloe was happy about moving here. Brenna knew it was the only choice right now.

  A deep sigh slipped out at the same time her stomach grumbled. Hungry. She hadn’t eaten since… It was too long ago to remember. Pretzels on the plane? Coffee at the layover in Denver?

  Lights appeared behind her. Bright lights right in her mirror as a matter of fact. “Whoever you are, turn the lights off!” She flipped her rear-view mirror up. Brenna pounded the steering wheel again. Nothing went right. Now, she was almost blinded. When the driver turned off the headlights, only the parking lights remained and she could see again. “How rude.”

  She double checked the lock button. In her side mirror she watched a tall man jump down from the high truck. He stuck a cowboy hat on his head. “Oh, great, a good old boy.” When he came up beside her car, she lowered the window enough to hear what he had to say.

  He leaned down, his hands on his knees. “Hello there, ma’am. Do you need help or something?” He removed his hat, stuck it under his arm, and ran his fingers through his dark, long and tousled hair. He motioned for her to roll the window down.

  “Ah, I’m…out of gasoline.” That sounded so lame. “Don’t ask me how.”

  “Roll the window down. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

  Brenna rolled her eyes. She blinked a couple times after turning to really look at him. He’s to-die-for-handsome. Even in the dim twilight she made out his gorgeous blue eyes. A real cowboy? Then the lights in the parking lot began to flicker and came on at a slow rate. She perused the area.

  Houses sat across the street, traffic drove by, and he continued to tap on the window. She unlocked the door and he took a step back. Wow, he’s a tall one, she thought as she ran her gaze up the length of him. She stepped out and didn’t come close to his shoulder. She immediately moved to the open space in front of her car.

  “So, ma’am, you saying you need some gasoline? With a car like this, I’m surprised a little voice didn’t tell you your gas was low.”

  “Well, if it did, I was distracted and didn’t notice. I had my car shipped to Phoenix with a full tank of gas. I drove here from Phoenix. There’s a mountain in my view, the likes of what I’ve never seen so close.” She lifted her hands in front of her. “I don’t know where I am. GPS is a bunch of bull crap. The map don’t help me if I’m lost.”

  He stood there with his hands in his back pockets, listening to her rant. She leaned against her car. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to ramble, but I want to get to my hotel, eat, and go to bed.”

  “What hotel are you staying at? I can help you get gasoline and direct you there.”

  “Are you a real cowboy?” Good gawd, why did I ask the man a question like that? She diverted her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and must sound like an idiot.”

  “You’re not from around here and are lost, but, you don’t sound like an idiot, ma’am. Frustrated doesn’t mean idiot.” He removed his hat again and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jase Carlson from the Double Dutch Ranch—a horse ranch, here in Canyon Junction.” He still held his hand out.

  She reluctantly took his hand, and his tight grip shook both of theirs. “I’m Brenna. Thank you for stopping.”

  “Did you say you drove from Phoenix? That’s not much more than forty-five minutes away. How’d you get lost coming from Phoenix?”

  She pulled her hand out of his. “Obviously, I missed a turn… That’s how I got lost.” Calm down, girl.

  He put his hat back on and nodded. “For the record, I am a real cowboy. I’ll get you that gasoline, but you have to ride with me. I won’t leave you here alone.”

  A horse rancher. Of course. A cowboy horse rancher to her rescue. At least he hadn’t ridden up on a horse. She sighed loudly. “I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine.” She nodded toward the building. “This is where I’ll be working. It must be safe around here.”

  “You’re a teacher?”

  “Yes, I am. First grade.” Brenna perused the area again. Darkness settled in and the parking lot lights weren’t that bright. Standing here with a strange man made her uncomfortable. Handsome, but…still strange, or she meant a stranger. Maybe he was strange, which put her on guard.

  “My daughter’s going into kindergarten, my son’s in second.”

  “Oh, maybe I’ll get to meet them.” Now small talk was getting her nowhere.

  “No, ma’am, you won’t, but that’s a story away.”

  Brenna tilted her head, full of questions, but this wasn’t the time, and he was a stranger. “You can get me gasoline? I don’t know how to thank you for your kindness. How do you propose to do that if you don’t think I should stay here alone?”

  “Hop in my truck.” He grinned and that smile almost knocked her from her feet. “Take a ride into town with me.”

  Yeah, okay. Bold cowboy with a nice smile. “Um, not a chance.”

  “I’ll make a phone call. Wait here.” He headed for his truck—turned back. He smiled and dimples on the side made her gulp. “I guess you have to wait here,” he said, chuckling. “Not to be sarcastic, but…you know…since you ran out of gas and all.” He turned again. “I’ll make that phone call.”

  Hallelujah. Hmm, I bet this town’s full of handsome cowboys looking like that one. Brenna turned toward his truck. He sat half on the seat, one long leg leaning on the step bar. His gaze traveled over her. Kind of creepy—not creepy like. He closed the door and came toward her, not minding the way he looked in those jeans and boots at all. Somebody slap me now.

  “You didn’t give me the name of that hotel you’re staying at. Want me to call them? Make sure everything’s good?”

  “I’ll give them a call. Let me get my phone.” She opened her door but turned back. “About gas? Was it successful?”

  “Hey, my mom’s bringing some up. We keep extra on the ranch.”

  “You live with your mom?” That shouldn’t have popped out. He’d live with his wife. “I mean…well…thanks.” Brenna took her phone and still didn’t have a signal. She waved it back and forth. “I’m not able to make a call yet.”

  “Give me the name.” He removed a phone from his pocket. “I’ll give them a call for you.”

  She stomped against the pavement. “I’m not giving you the name of where I’m staying.”

  He straightened his back and shoved a hand into his pocket. “Oh, of course not. That makes sense. I’m a badass criminal and robber who is nice enough to come to your rescue and get you gasoline.”

  Brenna didn’t think that was funny even if it was supposed to be. She narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, but look at it from my prospective.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. After all, my mom could be in it with me.” He lifted a nicely trimmed brow. “You never know, right?”

  Brenna got into her car. “I’ll sit here and wait, thank you. Maybe you can go back to your big old truck.” She watched in her mirror as he jumped on the hood of his truck, and sat there talking on the phone. Did he have
to look so good doing it?

  His mom pulled up fifteen minutes later.

  Jase took the gas can from the back of his mom’s 4x4. She and another man got out and came up to Brenna, introducing herself and the man.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Carlson.” She nodded to the older gentleman. “Mr. Banes. Thank you both so much for helping.”

  “We’re not the ones who did much. My son called and said you needed help. Nothing else we could do. We’ll get you on your way.”

  As Jase poured gasoline into the gas tank, he spoke to his mother. “Brenna is a teacher. She’ll be working at this school.”

  “Is that right? Well I do have a granddaughter coming here this year. Maybe you’ll meet her. We’re homeschooling her for kindergarten. What grade?”

  “I’ll be teaching first grade. Your son said his kids were in this school too.”

  “No, ma’am, I told you what grade my kids were in.” He peered at her with a furrowed brow.

  “Jase,” said his mom, turning toward him. “Mind your manners.”

  Brenna diverted her eyes. He was a touchy kind of man with an attitude. “I’m sorry. With my frustration, I guess I heard what I wanted to hear.” She glared back at Jase. “Forgive me.” Turning to Mrs. Carlson, she said it’d be nice to meet her granddaughter.

  “Where are you staying, dear? I see you have out of state plates on your car.”

  “I’ll get a hotel in Canyon Junction.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Jase tipped the gas can higher. “We don’t have a hotel in this town. Maybe it’s Gold Canyon?”

  Brenna opened her door and reached across the seat. “Um, no this says Canyon Junction. Canyon,” she said, reiterating and emphasizing the word, even holding up the print-out. Why did the three of them look back and forth at one another?

  “How long ago did you make these reservations?” asked Mrs. Carlson.

  “Well, I didn’t exactly make them.” Now, I sound like an idiot.

  “Didn’t make reservations?” asked Jase, standing, and setting the can on the ground. “Of course you didn’t. If you did you’d have known that hotel is no longer open.”

  “Oh, one more thing to go wrong on this trip.” Brenna raised her hands in frustration and peered at Jase. “So, am I gassed up now?”

  He nodded and shoved the hat back on his head. “Yes, ma’am. You can get in your car and go anytime.”

  “Okay! I need to get out of here and find a place to stay. Thank you all so much for your help.” She reached into the car for her purse, stood outside and rummaged through it, bringing out a wallet. She opened it and looked up when Jase wrapped his hand around hers. “If you’re aiming to pay, forget it.” She stared at his hand wrapped tight. Warm, a working mans’ hand, and strong.

  “Oh, no, I can’t forget it. This is a very kind thing to do and I’m appreciative of the help.” She pulled her hand away from Jase and looked over at his mother. “Honest, I am. Please, let me pay you something.”

  Mr. Banes went to the car and Mrs. Carlson came to stand closer beside her. She tossed a look over to her son and back to Brenna. “Dear, if you’ll be living in this town, teaching here, why not call me Judy? More than likely we’ll run into each other around town or,” she pointed to the building, “here at school.”

  “Thank you, Judy, I’d be pleased.” Brenna continued looking through her wallet. “What’d I do with that cash?” she mumbled.

  Jase laughed. “You lost your cash? Good luck with that.”

  She abruptly looked up at him. “I didn’t lose it. I misplaced it.” She dug into her front jeans pocket, ignoring the way Jase’s gaze did a survey from her waist to her feet and back to her face. Humph. Damn cowboy.

  “Listen,” said Judy, placing her hand on Brenna’s. “If you insist on paying for my son’s help, let him lead you into Gold Canyon, and while you’re at it, buy him a cup of coffee.”

  “What?” She turned her head faster than a spinning top. Buy him coffee? Why? She wanted to be rid of the smartass.

  Jase opened her car door. “Mom, I have this under control.” He nodded to Brenna. “Give me your map, I’ll point it out for ya. You best call a hotel.”

  She spoke low. “I didn’t think a small town like this would be filled up. That’s the reason I didn’t make reservations.” It had sounded logical to her.

  “Well, lesson learned. Where’s your map? Should I just program your GPS?” He gave a devious sounding laugh.

  “I know how to program it.” Okay, so she hadn’t used it until she left Phoenix. He didn’t have to know.

  “Well, good for you, ma’am. I can see why this mountain distracted you.”

  Judy laid her hand over her son’s arm. “Would you mind putting the gas can back in my car? Make sure it don’t drip cause me and Martyn don’t want to smell that all the way home.”

  “I’ll stick it in the back of my truck and drop it off at your house.”

  When he grabbed the can and left, Judy said to Brenna, “I must apologize for his behavior. He’s been in a bad way lately with lots on his mind. He isn’t usually like this.”

  She sighed. “Neither am I.” Brenna used the heel of her hand to dab at the sweat beading on her forehead. Glancing toward the mountain, it now took on a spookier tone standing in the dark like a Dracula statue. “Well, he didn’t have to stop. I appreciate the help.”

  “Yes, he did. All three of my boys were raised that way.”

  Brenna looked after him as he fiddled with something inside his truck. With his hat off and under the interior light, she saw more of his handsome face. Dark hair was long and looking kind of shaggy. She liked it, unfortunately. The scruff on his face fit him, too. Dammit.

  When he got back out, he removed his outer shirt and tossed it in the back of his truck, walked over and stood beside his mom. “That’s taken care of, but I spilled gasoline on my shirt.”

  Brenna stood with her mouth gaping, jaw close to the ground. The muscles in his arms bulged in his cut-off sleeved shirt. They were so huge she wanted to reach out and touch them to see if they were real. When he cleared his throat, she became aware of her stare. So had he.

  “Hey, I could use a cup of coffee after all. Let me show you where that hotel is?” He directed his attention to his mom, but flashed back to Brenna. “How long will you be staying in a hotel? That might determine the best spot for you.”

  She relaxed her shoulders and let go of her on-guard attitude. He seemed to have mellowed out some. “Well, I’ll be moving into a townhouse or apartment as soon as I can find one.”

  “Wait. What?” asked Judy. She turned to Jase. “Hey, I have an idea. Nora needs to sublet her townhouse.”

  “Yeah, Ma, we’ll have to talk to her about that.”

  Brenna covered her mouth in a yawn. “I really need to get to a hotel.” Turning to Jase, she placed her hand on his forearm, her eyes following. Hallelujah, that’s a strong arm. “I can use a cup of coffee too. Whatever you think is best. You know the area. I need to get settled. Tomorrow I’ll visit a dealer and get this GPS checked out so I can find my way around.”

  “Heck, ma’am, it’s not so bad once you get to know it. Get on the 60, it about takes you where you need to go.”

  “Yes, that’s what I thought until I couldn’t find U.S 60. But, at least I found where I’ll work.” She shook her head with a subtle laugh, and shrugged. “Then again, I have no idea how I even got here.” She hoped that didn’t make her sound irresponsible.

  “We’ll get you taken care of.” Jase took his mom’s arm, guiding her to her 4x4. Judy pulled away and came back.

  “Nice to have met you, Brenna… Brenna? What’s your last name, dear?”

  “Um, Page. Brenna Page.”

  “Bet the kids have fun with that,” teased Jase. “A teacher named Page.” He snickered and his mom swatted his arm.

  “You know,” said Brenna, “I teach little kids and they haven’t thought of that yet.”

 
He chuckled again and nudged his mother’s arm. “You haven’t met my niece, Destiny. She’s a sharp one. If any first grader figures it out, it’ll be that one.”

  “Well, maybe if no one encourages her, she won’t pick up on it.” Brenna found a chuckle and it made Jase give a quick grin as he scoped out her face. Their gaze connected and held a moment. Brenna lowered her eyes in a quick glance to his lips. He had a kissable mouth. It wasn’t something she wanted to think about in her school parking lot. She turned toward his mother and with that subtle smile on her face, Judy must’ve seen her checking out her son.

  “Hmm, not reminding my niece that her teacher’s name is Page. That’s debatable,” he said, low but loud enough for her to hear.

  “Maybe I should plan a list of rebuts to toss back at my little darlings.” Dropping her shoulders, she asked again, “Can I get the directions to a hotel, so I can quit for the day?”

  “No coffee?” asked Jase.

  “Okay, yes, you direct me to a hotel, and hopefully we can find coffee somewhere…and food. I’m starved.”

  Jase lifted his chin, nodding toward her Mustang. “Sure. Go ahead and make sure your car starts.”

  Brenna got inside and turned the key. Jase came to the side and knelt. It was then, she got a whiff of gasoline, yet his cologne overpowered it, and she took in a big inhale as inconspicuously as she could. She loved the scent of whatever he wore. It smelled masculine and spicy. Mmm, it was the right cologne for a man who looked like him. Right now she needed to turn on her air conditioning to cool off. Coffee with him? Maybe she’d ignore his on-again-off-again attitude like he displayed earlier. She gave a rev to the engine.

  “Hey, nice. I always loved that Mustang sound.” He sniffed his hands “I smell like gasoline. Sorry.”

  “Well, Jase, I’m heading on home, son. I’ll have to be there for Des tonight.”

  “Okay, Mom, I’ll drop your gas can off later.” He stood when she got into her vehicle, nodded when they passed by. “Well, Brenna, are you ready? Think you can trust me now?” He gave a subtle wink.