Merry Me

by Amanda Siegrist

  She lifted her cup, smiling above the rim. "Friends sounds nice. As your friend, I insist you take that fifty back."

  He laughed as he shook his head. "I haven't reached that point yet where I want to take it back. I might need some food to mull it over some more."

  Oh, Elliot. His hints weren't that subtle. He was totally flirting with her. She couldn't help but fall under his charm.

  "Chief, there you are."

  Lynn turned around to see a man dressed in a police uniform gesture to Elliot. She glanced toward Elliot as he stood up from the booth. With his gorgeous smile, he said, "I'll be right back. Food then?"

  She flashed him a smile.

  ***

  Walking away from Lynn was a lot harder than he imagined. It wasn't like he wouldn't be joining her back in the booth. Or would he? Please don't let this take me away from her. That already happened once today, upsetting him more than he realized. He couldn't be sure how much longer he could throw tidbits out to her that he wanted her company and not just ask for her number. This wasn't high school. He shouldn't be acting like a geeky teenager afraid to ask out his crush.

  "What's up, Officer Crowl?"

  "Roads are starting to get bad. My shift's over in an hour, but if you need me to stay on…." He hesitated as he shifted his feet. "I know the overtime doesn't always get approved."

  "How about on-call? If I need you, you'll be the first person I contact."

  "Thanks, Chief. Appreciate it."

  "No problem."

  The door swished closed as Officer Crowl walked out. Elliot's heart dipped that he couldn't help him out. He knew exactly why he wanted to work. Sometimes working drowned out the pain. Losing his fiancé four months ago, he knew how much pain Officer Crowl had inside.

  Elliot walked back to the table, offering Lynn a small smile. What were the odds she wouldn't bring up the money again? Pretty low. She seemed very determined.

  So was he. That blasted gift of hers was still in his car with a twenty-dollar bill just wasting away. Not one to be judgmental, but he didn't think money grew on trees for Lynn. She needed that money, especially the fifty she insisted he take back. Now, he just had to convince her to keep it.

  "Sorry about that. My job can get crazy sometimes."

  "I understand. That snow really looks like it's coming down. I should go. It was nice talking to you, Elliot." She smiled brightly at him as she stood up from the booth.

  He just sat down and she was running from him. There was no mistaking that. How did he scare her? Probably the damn food suggestion. He should've toned it down a bit.

  Then he glanced out the window. Nothing but a winter wonderland stared back. The snow was coming down heavily. Perhaps that made her forget about the money. And he wasn't going to mention it.

  "Please drive safe, Lynn. Maybe you should ca—"

  "Have a good night. Drive safe as well." She cut him off and rushed out of the café before he could utter one protest.

  He almost accomplished his goal. Getting her number. And she shut him down. Very well, actually. Lynn had a six sense of things, apparently. She had to have known he was about to say, "Call me when you get home."

  Damn!

  Two dollars near her coffee cup drew his attention.

  She didn't even let him pay for her coffee. Shaking his head, he grabbed his cup for another sip of the dreadful coffee that he'd gotten quite used to. Perhaps he supported Theresa's habit a little too much. His taste buds were losing their senses.

  The cup nearly slipped from his grasp as more green hit his eyes.

  A fifty-dollar bill.

  She tucked the fifty under his cup so neatly there wasn't a chance he would see until he picked it up. Sneaky, sneaky woman.

  Very impressive. A smile grew.

  Elliot paid for his coffee and walked outside to the sharp, cold snow blowing around. It didn't seem to be settling down at all.

  Lynn's beautiful face flashed before him. How would he know if she made it home? He didn't even know where her home was. He knew where she worked. Would one of her co-workers give him her number? Not likely. But perhaps they would call her for him to make sure she got home safely.

  She only drove to Mulberry in this weather to return his money that he wanted her to have. He still did.

  He slammed his truck door closed and blasted the heat as soon as the engine roared to life. What the hell was he doing? Driving in this weather on a mission that would likely not end in his favor was just pure craziness.

  Regardless, he turned toward Mason and a diner that would hopefully guide him back to Lynn. Another hammer to that lock around his heart. The lock would fall away pretty soon if he didn't stop these crazy impulses.

  Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Not with Lynn as the one chipping away at it.

  Chapter 4

  Lynn leaned forward, gripped the steering wheel hard, and sat so close to the wheel that her chin nearly rested on top of it. Making out anything with the snow pouring down like a gushing waterfall was almost impossible. The roads were blanketed in white, the snow packed hard to the road. It appeared the plows had already come through this area, but they needed to come through again. The little they plowed hadn't made a difference.

  Why did her stubborn mind insist on returning that fifty today? The snow started falling before she even left the diner. She knew better than to make this drive while it snowed. Now look at the predicament she put herself in.

  She made fifty dollars today. Fifty! She never made that much from one person. Maybe that's why she couldn't find it in herself to keep it. Keeping it had felt wrong.

  What did he say when he found it tucked under his cup? Such a chicken not staying to find out. Most likely, he would've tried putting it back in her hands. More touching.

  And touching from him was bad. Very, very bad. The way her body lit up with flaming heat of desire was more than she could handle. His note, she already read it at least a hundred times back at the diner before she left. Almost like a love note the way she kept pulling it out of her pocket and cherishing every word he wrote. In person, he still said the sweetest things.

  You have a beautiful laugh.

  Why did he have to be so sweet? It made it more difficult to walk away. Using the snow as an excuse, a very good one, still didn't make it any easier. Would he still come back to the diner and see her? Just thinking about a next possible encounter had her shivering with anticipation.

  Easing her foot from the gas, she slowed her pace even more when the car lurched slightly to the right. Damn slick roads. Why did it have to snow?

  Thank goodness for such wonderful friends. Debbie, who lived a street over, graciously said she would watch Laura while she ran some errands. Lynn never specified what those errands would be and Debbie didn't ask. Telling her, she was trying to locate a man to return fifty dollars, didn't seem like the brightest idea. She could already imagine Debbie's mischievous smile at her tracking down a man for any reason. Lynn rarely dated. Things like this were so unlike her.

  That made her pause. God, did she track him down to return the fifty or because she wanted to see him again so soon?

  Ridiculous! She didn’t need a man in her life. She would never do anything so silly. It was to return the money. End of story.

  The car suddenly jerked, slamming her violently in the seat. A ringing sensation rippled throughout her ears, blocking out any coherent thought. Her hands still clutched the wheel as a sharp pain radiated from her head, down her spine, and to the tips of her toes.

  Slowly, she removed her hands and lifted one toward her forehead. An icky substance smothered her fingers. Those gloves would've come in handy again. Feeling the blood didn't help soothe any nerves. But why should any part of the day go right? She had forgotten her winter gloves on the kitchen counter this morning. Now her stomach wanted to lurch from the blood on her hands.

  Blinking a few times, confusion still swirled around the car like the white snow billowing outside.
The ringing intensified.

  "Shit, Lynn, what did you do?" she muttered as a bit of her strength renewed. Grabbing her purse from the passenger seat, she started to rummage for a tissue.

  Great! A crumpled up wad of tissues. Who knew how long this had been sitting in the bottom of her purse? Beggars couldn't be choosers. Stifling a painful groan, she pressed it lightly to the cut on her forehead.

  Looking out each window, nothing but the dark night and winter wonderland reflected back. A very fitting end to a frustrating day. Running her car off the road into the ditch ended it just nicely. God, please be in the ditch. It wasn't exactly clear with everything looking like one big field of white snow. That's what happened when the mind wandered. Or blaming the snow would be good too. That actually made her pride feel a little better.

  With her car suddenly shutting off from the impact, the cold air seeped in rather quickly. Or was that shock? Either way, the car needed to start. Rubbing her hands together for luck, because she really needed her car to start, she twisted the key.

  Nothing but silence answered back.

  "No, no, no, you piece of shit, start, damn it." Lynn blew out a breath, squeezed her eyes shut tightly before opening them and rubbed her hands delicately over the wheel. "I'm so sorry, my beautiful car. I didn't mean those nasty words. Please, please, start for me. I need you to work. I can't afford to fix you. Even if it wasn't Christmas, and I didn’t need to finish shopping for Laura, I don't have the money to replace you. I also need to pay the rent. Start for me, beautiful."

  Another large breath released as she turned the key again.

  Nothing.

  She leaned her head against the steering wheel, cursing loudly as the pain from her cut increased with tiny pinpricks rushing down her body.

  Oh, that's right. An injury she couldn't afford to have. Completely unaware she had dropped the rumpled tissue, she picked it up from her lap, cringing at how blood-soaked it already became. Stitches were the last thing she needed. Her stomach lurched again.

  This couldn't be the only tissues she had. Digging through her purse again, her hands clenched fiercely when she couldn't find any other tissues lingering in the depths. Throwing her purse to the ground wouldn't solve anything. No need to panic yet.

  Reaching over to the glove box, the seatbelt jerked, impeding her new mission. Wincing with pain, she rubbed her chest and the probable bruise she received from the seatbelt when her car slammed into the ditch.

  She unbuckled her belt and reached again for the glove box. A happy sigh escaped when a small bag of tissues graced the small space. She grabbed the entire thing, pulled some out and pressed it gently to her forehead.

  Now what? Her car wouldn't start and the cold was already starting to weave its way down her spine and settle with permanency. It would only get worse if she couldn't get her car started. Outside definitely held the cold blowing snow that would freeze her without much effort. Screwed either way.

  What were the odds of another crazy person driving in this mess and finding her stuck on the side of the ride?

  Crap! Glancing frantically out the window, the churning wind made it impossible to tell where her car landed. How much worse could it get?

  ***

  Okay, as the chief of police, Elliot knew better. Heading out into the snow that looked more and more like a soon-to-be blizzard, maybe not such a good idea. But what did that tell him about Lynn? A cop for many years, he was accustomed to this kind of weather, venturing out to help stranded people or responding to traffic accidents where a simple push got the car unstuck. Or the really dreadful traffic accidents that no one could erase from their mind, even though they tried as hard as they could. Death was a way of life. It didn't mean he, or any of his officers, wanted to deal with it.

  But Lynn. Not likely she would be used to this sort of weather.

  Did she make it home alright? Would the diner still be open? The diner where they enjoyed the coffee would already be closed. That’s what happened in small towns when the weather became like this. Regardless of the consequences to himself, he had to at least try and make sure Lynn made it home okay. The thought otherwise wouldn't be sensible to contemplate, especially now when he needed his full concentration.

  Why did she have to return the fifty anyway? It was nothing more than a kind gesture on his part, not to mention he had nothing less than a fifty in his wallet at the time. Plus, being Christmas and all, why not receive an extra large tip. She looked like she deserved it no matter what she thought about her service skills.

  The steering wheel jerked, almost veering off the road. Shit! Him, thinking of Christmas in such a nice way. He hadn't thought that way in a long time. Just look at what this woman was doing to him. Making him think about Christmas in a positive way.

  Of course, the sweet way her face lit up talking about the holidays, he couldn't help but smile right along with her. She made him want to like Christmas again. Strange, considering he couldn't even find the joy when his dad tried. But that lingering sadness still weighed down his heart. One day around a beautiful woman, who could make Christmas sound splendid, didn't erase all of the painful memories.

  Leaning forward some, he tried to focus on the road instead of his wandering thoughts. The weather appeared to be getting worse by the minute. Thank goodness, that Mason was only a twenty-minute drive from Mulberry. With the current conditions, imagining how much worse it would be with a longer drive wouldn't be wise.

  A quick glance to the dashboard showed he was only going twenty in a forty-five mile-a-hour zone. Nobody could say he was speeding, but with the snow impeding his view, it could be considered too fast. The plows didn't look like they reach this stretch of road yet. Or maybe they had and the snow was just beating down too fast for anything to make a difference. On this road, they needed to be constantly plowed back and forth. Nothing stretched on the sides of this road between Mason and Mulberry but green fields and wide-open spaces. That made everything worse. It all blended as one.

  He let his foot off the gas a little more, praying that Lynn made it home safely. Guilt was starting to weave its way in. If he would've never left such a large tip that she felt obligated to return, she never would've made the drive to Mulberry to find him.

  Gazing toward his right, a car nestled precariously on the side of the road. He couldn't tell if anyone was still inside, but the cop in him had him pulling over to make sure. Checking the rearview mirror before stepping outside, he jogged over to the car as he kept his head down from the pelting snow.

  A lone figure sat in the driver's seat. He knocked gently on the window and almost lost his balance when the last person he expected to see turned toward the noise.

  Lynn.

  It was his fault she had been on the road to begin with.

  His heart started pounding madly as she rolled her window halfway down.

  "Lynn! Are you alright? You're bleeding." Elliot pulled on the door handle, except it wouldn't budge. "Open the door so I can look at that gash."

  "Elliot?" Lynn gaped at him, the surprise clear as a sunny day to see him standing outside her car.

  "The door, Lynn. Unlock it for me."

  Resisting the urge to reach through the window and unlock it himself took more restraint than he could ever imagine. Worry pelted him like the cold snow slapped his face, creating a turbulent sea in the pit of his stomach. So many worst-case scenarios flashed before him. What would've happened if he never decided to follow her home? What if he hadn't seen the car perched on the side of the road? How much blood had she lost so far?

  God, seeing the ones he cared about in pain tore him up inside. He cared about Lynn, no doubt about that.

  Where did this sudden protective need to care for her come from? Perhaps from all those little hammers to the lock on his heart. She had managed to weasel her way in without much effort.

  Damn! He wanted a real merry Christmas for once—with her.

  "Lynn, you're scaring me. Open the door, please.
"

  Finally snapping out of her shock, she hit the unlock button. That beautiful sound was like music to his ears, not even a millisecond went by as he whipped open the door and crouched down in front of her. Without hesitation, he pulled her hand away and cradled her face.

  A nasty gash on her forehead was bleeding steadily.

  "Shit, that's pretty deep. You might need stitches. What happened?"

  She continued to stare at him with a glazed look, igniting his fear further into his bones.

  "Lynn, talk to me. Are you injured somewhere else I can't see?"

  "I'm sorry, Elliot. I'm…my head hurts. I don't know what happened. I was driving, then I was slamming into the steering wheel."

  "Come on. Let's get you in my truck and I'll drive you to the hospital in Mulberry. I don't think Mason has one."

  "No, they don't, but I don't need—"

  "We're not arguing about this. You need stitches," he said firmly, brushing a soft hand across her cheek. "Please, don't argue. Do you need to grab anything? Your car isn't going anywhere tonight with the way the snow's coming down."

  She shook her head, wincing as she did. "Just my purse."

  She pulled away from him, yanked her keys from the ignition and threw them into her purse. Elliot rolled her window back up and hit the lock switch. She slowly faced him again. He gave her the most reassuring smile he could manage. His concern was too massive to grace her with an honest-to-goodness smile she deserved.

  Backing up a few steps as a wetness started to flood his shoes, she almost fell face first into the snow. "Let me help you. Wait for me, Lynn." Looping an arm around her waist, he held her firmly as more coldness seeped into his body. She was like an icicle.

  His footsteps wobbled through the snow as he helped her out of the ditch and into his truck. And those shaky footsteps weren't just from the snow making it difficult to walk.

  Heat. Lynn needed lots of heat. His fingers shook like the leaves on a tree on a windy day as he blasted the heat and then opened the middle compartment between his seat and hers, grabbing some tissues. "Here, press this to that gash. I'll get you there in no time."