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“Me?” Daphne balked, looking at the two of them. “I don’t know her – and she doesn’t know me. I’m not talking to anyone, so you two can distract me before you murder me.”
“Murder?” both men said in unison – looked at each other – and burst out laughing wildly, along with the female’s voice on the phone.
“Stop laughing,” Daphne snapped. “Are you all crazy up here? Is it the fresh air? It’s not funny.”
“Look lady…”
“Daphne…” she interjected, frowning. “I hate people saying ‘Lady’ like that.”
“Daphne,” the bearded guy began and held out the phone once more. “Think about it – not one car has driven past since we stopped. It’s getting cold out. There is nothing for forty miles in that direction,” he said, pointing and then turned. “And my farm is five miles that way… and another twenty to get into town.”
“He’s right,” Logan added quietly.
“Hush,” she snapped and glared at each of them, snatching the phone and holding it up to her head, knowing the man was right. She’d just come from that direction and had seen the gravel pull-off to someone’s property not far from a billboard that said, ‘The next McDonald’s is forty miles ahead’.
Holding the phone up to her ear, she hesitated – and the woman spoke first, surprising her.
“Hon, you may not know any of us – but we have an empty cabin you can use for the night, and I made a big cast-iron Dutch oven full of beef stew from scratch. You can eat, sleep, and then, if you want to get your truck towed into a shop, you’ll have a roof over your head for a few days.”
“Why?” Daphne whispered. “Why are you offering this?”
“Because sometimes everyone needs a guardian angel in their life – and we are blessed to be at a point in our lives where we can give back to those who have helped us along the way. Logan saved my husband’s life years ago in Afghanistan. He’s my own angel and can be yours, too.”
Daphne swallowed, still not saying a word.
“I don’t have any children, so come home and let me mother you for a bit. We can pretend to be friends if nothing else. I’ll give you a coat and some goodies before you head on your way, and if you need to use the phone to call home – you can. My husband said you had Texas plates on your truck. I’m guessing you are either running away or passing through. Either way, my home and hearth are open to a friend. So I hope to meet you soon and will be warming up your dinner.”
Daphne didn’t say a thing as she handed the phone back to the man. She was hungry. She did have to go to the bathroom and could use a place to stay for a few days to get whatever was wrong with her truck repaired. It had been a very cold night sleeping last night, and she knew the weather was going to be much colder than it was back home. So the promise of a hot meal combined with a free room and winter clothing was awfully tempting.
“Shall I call a tow truck?” the man said simply, shoving his phone back into his pocket… before extending his hand toward her. “I’m Houghton, in case you didn’t catch it – and this knucklehead is about to catch a flight back home to D.C. before flying back overseas.”
She shook it gingerly, unsure what to think right now.
“Logan,” the other guy smiled simply, extending his hand. “And you are making the right decision. Jill’s cooking is amazing, and she has a heart of gold. Let her smother you for a bit, and who knows – you might enjoy the stay.”
“Let’s get your things and take you to the house so you can get settled before I run Logan out to the airstrip. You look like you could use a good meal, and she’ll be excited to meet you.”
That was the longest five minutes in Daphne’s life.
She had been so scared that she was making a mistake accepting a ride from two strange men – and this was something she would have never have done in her life until now.
Everything in her was fully prepared to dive for the door of the van if he didn’t stop within a few miles. She listened to the duo speak back and forth, almost as if they were leaving out certain words.
“Gideon’s coming once he’s stable.”
“HowisBeck doing?”
“You mean Calder, right?”
“Beck, Calder,whatever… that’s my girl, and is she okay?”
“Let’s see, your oldest brother jumps from a plane, and the parachute doesn’t open – would you be okay?”
“That bad, huh?”
“Her husband went straight to Harley on her behalf to get time off to tend to him – and I happened to be on the phone discussing this project.”
“Jeez, Logan –a project?You know that’s not what this is.”
