nd Ashe. The two had barely let me out of bed enough to get a snack let alone consider relocating across the country. We were tight. The bond we shared was really, really good and well, I’d fallen for them. Hard. If I admitted it to myself, I fell for them from the first time I saw them, just as they’d said it had been for them. Love at first sight.
It was just this…thing that loomed, but was being ignored. Especially by me.
“That’s right,” Kady added. “Then we can all be together. A big family.”
The idea was appealing. It felt…good to have each other, to see Cecily and Locke and know they’d be more than just cousins. With all of the Barlow men being so dang virile, I had to assume the two babies wouldn’t be my only niece and nephew.
It made me think of having a baby with Ashe and Sam. It was crazy, but possible. Not right this second since I was on the pill, but I had no doubt when I went off them I’d be pregnant just by them looking at me. I squirmed, thinking of the guys, and the fact that my ass was still sore. All of this, even the numb butt showed me what it could be like living here. What my life could be—
Bam!
The sound of a tire blowing was loud. A pop or a deep boom, but the SUV shook violently and I was glad I’d been gripping the steering wheel because it jerked. Hard.
Sarah’s palm slapped the dashboard and gasps came from the back and I couldn’t even think about that. Instinctively, I put my foot on the brake and we swerved. My boring-as-hell winter driving lessons with Peter kicked in and I pulled my foot off the brake a bit, knowing we’d skid and I’d overcorrect. How I thought all that, I had no idea. It was as if time had sped up and slowed down all at once. Instinct took over.
Tires skidded, screeched and I was thankful there wasn’t a passing car.
“Oh shit.” We were headed for the guardrail, the only thing that separated us from the steep rocky edge. It wasn’t a cliff, but if we went through it, it was going to be bad.
So I intentionally overcorrected, turning my wheel sharply to the left. The front turned into the mountain, but the back of the SUV slammed into the guardrail, bouncing us off and across the road.
I slammed on the brakes, the anti-lock kicking in with a grind and we skidded about fifty feet to a shaky stop. Sarah’s head whipped forward and our seatbelts caught us. We were diagonally in the road, but on the wrong side. It was obvious now the front left tire had blown, since the SUV dipped down in that direction.
My heart was in my throat and I was sweating.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked, glancing at Sarah, then turning to look in back. Penny, Kady and Cricket all nodded, but they looked scared as shit. Kady and Penny were leaning over the car seats, soothing the babies, although neither made a noise. I had a feeling they were just relieved they were fine.
A vehicle pulled up and a man climbed out. I unclicked my seat belt, hopped out. Other than my soreness from the morning ride, I was fine. Shaky, but fine. The man was in his fifties, his pickup truck a dually. He was dressed for ranch life and had a rifle resting in a gun rack in the back window. He had salt and pepper hair, a full beard. I assured the guy we were all unhurt, but we took in the damage to the SUV.
A late model truck slowed to a crawl, a car-crash looky-loo. I barely gave the driver a glance since the man who’d stopped to help was talking to me, but I did a double take. Had that been—
“Let’s call the state patrol,” he said, snapping me out of my thoughts. The truck was gone and we were still with a flat in the middle of the road. The back end smashed. “You’ll also need a tow truck.”
“There are five of us in the car,” I told him. “We all have cell phones, so we can make the calls.”
Sarah climbed out and I heard one of the babies crying, then was silenced when she shut the door, most likely to keep the heat in.
“Did you hit an icy patch?” he asked, walking over to the flat tire.
It was cold, the snow falling. It wasn’t hard enough to stick, but the road was wet.
“No. Or, I don’t think so. It wasn’t like I slid and caught the tire on something. It just blew.”
He leaned down, studied the tire, then stood.
“It’s shredded. Strange, because the tread is good.”
“I called 9-1-1,” Sarah said. She’d put on a coat and handed one to me. I hadn’t even realized I was chilled until then. “I also called Archer. Cricket said he was working today.”
Archer would know who to call, what to do. I didn’t know about jurisdiction between agencies, but I did know our men. They’d be here in full force soon enough.
“Did someone—”
“Cricket called Sam. They’ll be here soon.”
I let out a breath, felt the adrenaline rush still. God, I was used to dealing with things like this on my own. I hadn’t had a tire blow before, or nearly gotten five women and two babies killed by driving off a cliff, but I’d been alone for a while. Knowing Sam and Ashe were coming made me realize in that moment that I always wanted them to come. To be there for me.
10