Page 1 of For Him

Chapter 1

Cancer.

Aword that incited fear and disbelief in me when my mom had first spoken of it over the phone just a few months ago. But the prognosis then hadn’t been as bleak as it was now— not for a man that I had once believed to be invincible.

It was something I still struggled to wrap my head around. Stage four cancer in his lungs and spreading elsewhere. He’d never even been a smoker, and I couldn’t help but feel it was a cruel joke that this cold world was playing on him, on me and my siblings, and on my mother, who was only a few years into recovery from a stroke.

The chill that was swirling in the Montana air wasn’t just due to the icy clouds that were threatening to burst at the seams and unleash the first snowfall of the year. No, it was the devastation that oozed from my skin as the reality of the situation crashed through me. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, leaning forward in a silent scream.

Tears slid down my rosy cheeks, the wet streams catching the ends of my disheveled hair that had slipped from its messy bun, which now flopped sideways on top of my head. Slamming the heel of my palm into the steering wheel over and over again, I yelled curses at the top of my lungs. Why him?! Why me?! The darkening night sky seemed to join in my pain; the moon and stars were hidden by the gloomy clouds mirroring my own anguish.

The road seemed empty and lifeless as I passed by nothing but trees and pastures. The tears caused my vision to become milky, and I quickly wiped them on the back of my dark-blue sweater sleeve. I was overwhelmed already, and I hadn’t even made it to my parents’ home yet. I was burdened by the looming responsibility of taking care of both my mother and my dying father. I’d accepted the sacrifice willingly, knowing that my two siblings, who each had families of their own, were unable to take on the additional responsibility.

Suddenly, my car jumped, and a loud bang exploded from the rear right side. My dark gray Civic lurched. I corrected the fishtailing the best I could before guiding it off to the edge of the desolate road. There wasn’t a streetlight or car in sight. Just me, alone, with the only thing that illuminated the forest area surrounding me being my own vehicle.

Turning the engine off, I hopped out and hesitantly looped around my car. My white Converse crunched softly over the gravel as I found the culprit of the strange sensation: the tire on the back right side of my car had burst. I was left with practically only the rim.

“Great,” I muttered, my lips drifting into a frown as I ran my cold hands over my black leggings. They were all I had left unpacked to wear and were no longer sufficiently providing me the warmth I was craving.

Groaning, I popped open the trunk in desperation, trying to somehow locate the spare tire and jack amongst all of the junk I was hauling home. While my arms were buried between boxes, a flash of light quickly passed me on the road and disappeared. Once I’d found the tire iron, I tugged on the metal yet, it didn’t budge. Giving a few more tries with no progress, I finally yanked as hard as I could and flew backwards, crashing onto the pavement.

“Ow,” I whined, rubbing my backside with my free hand.

A low chuckle met my ears.

I whipped my head up, fear coursing through me. “Who’s there?” I cried out, waving the tire iron in front of my seated body, hoping that it made my small frame look more threatening than it typically would.

Footsteps paced closer, and I peered around the back of the car. Dim headlights from a truck facing away from me, was parked farther in front of my vehicle joining in the eerie glow from my own lights. It outlined the back of the looming figure standing by my front bumper. Someone tall, with broad shoulders and a wide brimmed cowboy hat that was pulled low over his head. Beneath the shadows, I could make out a strong jawline, and a thick, dark mustache, but the rest of his facial features were clouded in darkness. He shoved his hands into his pockets, drawing my gaze away from his face. A small amount of light reflected off of the buckle that peeked out beneath the vest-hoodie combo he was wearing.

“I’m not here to hurt you. It just looks like you could use some help,” he spoke, his voice low and rich.

I scooted back a couple of feet, still holding the tire iron high.

“I’m a woman alone on a road, in the middle of the night, with a flat tire. My first instinct towards a stranger doesn’t scream ‘safety’.” My voice cracked.

The figure chuckled once more.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” He walked closer, pulling his large hands from his pockets. The headlights caught his eyes, as the most piercing blue flashed in my direction and then disappeared beneath his black hat.

“My parents live here,” I answered, a little quieter.

“Visiting then?”

“No, moving in with them.” I pushed myself off the ground as he stopped at my back tire and kicked the rim with the tip of his square-toe boot. He wandered farther around toward the trunk and glanced in, chuckling.

“That’s apparent. Let me help you with the flat and then you can be on your way,” he said without looking at me, and immediately began pulling items out of my trunk.

“Excuse me? What do you think—” I started, but he cut me off as he pulled up the floor of the trunk, revealing the spare.

“You weren’t going to be able to reach the spare with all of your stuff piled on top of it.” He gripped the tire with one hand, and before I had any more time to protest, he faced me and extended his hand, fingers wiggling at the iron I was holding.

Trembling, I stood from the ground and walked his way, placing it in his palm as his calloused fingers wrapped around the piece of metal. My gaze wandered up towards his eyes. Blue. Very blue. Though the rest of his features still remained covered in shadows and dark stubble.

Standing beside him accentuated how tall he really was. At least six-foot-two. Silently, I watched him change my tire and replace everything to where it had been, wondering who this helpful stranger enveloped in a darkness really was.

“Thank you,” I said once he shut the trunk.

He barely glanced my way as he tipped his hat, walked back around my car, jumped into his nice diesel, and disappeared as quickly as he’d arrived.

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