Taken by Storm

by Heather MacAllister

  “We should take Joyce up on her offer,” Cam said. “We might not get another opportunity.”

  Zoey squeezed her eyes shut. “This always happens to me. I go off plan to take advantage of an opportunity and it ends up being a mistake. Every. Single. Time.”

  “Zoey, listen to me.”

  She opened her eyes.

  “Your goal is not to get on a plane. Your goal is to get Casper to the kennel. Your sister’s plan didn’t cover blizzards. You need a new plan. Sticking with the old one is a mistake.”

  Her phone warbled its readiness and Zoey punched in a number. Cam signaled to Joyce that they’d be just a few more minutes. Zoey covered one ear with her hand and pressed her phone tightly against the other ear.

  Cam held her gaze until she slowly lowered the phone and turned it off. She glanced at Casper, then to the end of the corridor, where crowds of people walked back and forth.

  She stepped toward Joyce and held out her hand. “I’m Zoey,” she said. “And we’re incredibly grateful.”

  “So do we have a deal?” Joyce asked.

  Cam looked at Zoey and she nodded. “Deal,” they said at the same time.

  7

  WHAT WOULD HAVE taken just over an hour in normal conditions took nearly five hours. The drive seemed even longer because Casper had to ride in his crate to make room in the rear seat.

  Zoey could hear him licking his paws because she’d forgotten to spray them with bitter apple. And he seemed to have figured out that Joyce was to blame for him riding in the crate because he growled whenever she edged too close.

  Zoey should have ridden in the back with him, but she’d thought Joyce would be more comfortable there as she was able to prop up her foot. By the time Zoey realized she’d made a mistake, it was too late. Between Joyce’s foot, the heavy, slow-moving traffic and the deep piles of snow on either side of the highway, there was no easy way to stop and switch.

  Joyce was a talker. Zoey had her own moments of babbling, but Joyce was a pro. She told them all about her family’s tradition of being married on January twenty-first, St. Agnes Day, which explained why the wedding was in the middle of the week.

  Then she weaseled all sorts of information out of Zoey and Cam and gave them advice. She was absolutely right when she told Cam that if his family wanted a say in how the brewery was run, then they should be doing more of the work required to run it. But she was all wrong when she advised Zoey to stop being afraid of failure and get a real job.

  “I’m not afraid of failure,” Zoey replied. “In fact, I’m very familiar with it.” Zoey explained about her Skin Garden creams and even gave Joyce her lemon-and-olive travel balm.

  Joyce squinted at the jar with the specially-printed label, unscrewed the lid and sniffed. “What’s your business plan?” She smeared some of the balm onto her hands.

  Conscious of Cam sitting next to her, Zoey said, “It’s too early for that yet.”

  Sighing heavily, Joyce shook her head. Of course, Joyce would be a retired high school vocational business teacher. “You’re afraid. You’re afraid to try too hard because you might fail. When you commit to a business plan, you’re all in, you’re putting your heart into it and success or failure is all on you. Without a plan, when you fail—and you will— it’s easier to convince yourself it doesn’t count because it wasn’t as though you were seriously trying.” Joyce paused. “It doesn’t hurt as much that way.”

  Zoey’s face heated. “I plan.” She didn’t dare look at Cam. “But my plans always go wrong.”

  “Make better plans,” Joyce said from the backseat. “That goes for you, too,” she warned Cam.

  “I have a business model,” Cam said mildly.

  “But it doesn’t do any good if you don’t follow it.”

  How could Joyce be one-hundred-percent right about Cam and one-hundred-percent wrong about Zoey? Because she’s not, said a little voice that Zoey tried so very hard not to hear.

  But she did hear, and it made her very grumpy.

  “It’s not that I don’t have a business plan,” Zoey said, not wanting to sound like a total incompetent in front of Cam. “It’s that I don’t have the resources to implement it.” Listen to those words. Didn’t that sound professional?

  “And how do you plan to acquire those resources?”

  “Working and saving.” And avoiding expensive mistakes.

  Joyce shot more questions at her. “Exactly how much financing do you need? How long will it take to acquire? Are there alternate sources of revenue? Potential investors?”

  “I—”

  “That’s part of a business plan, too.” Joyce shifted in the seat as she reached for her purse.

  Casper hummed a throaty warning as her foot moved closer to his travel kennel. It was a pre-growl. Zoey wondered if he used it at dog shows to warn other dogs without being heard by the judges.

  “In fact, we can brainstorm one for you right now.” From her purse, Joyce withdrew a small leather-covered notebook and shifted away from Casper. “If I were still teaching, we’d be gearing up for the Starting a Small Business unit. I’ve helped hundreds of students formulate business plans over the years. It was my favorite part of the curriculum.” She exhaled heavily. “I really miss it. They say that when you retire you can do all those things you’ve always wanted to do, but you know what? Watching students learn to start a business and then have some of those businesses become reality? That’s what I loved. So this will be such a treat for me. And after we hash out a plan for Zoey, we can fix Cam’s.”

  At that, Zoey’s eyes widened and she glanced at him. Through it all, he’d remained outwardly calm, and although Zoey had seen his knuckles occasionally go white where he gripped the steering wheel, he’d never complained or lost his temper. He’d even politely answered a few of Joyce’s questions. Considering he had a degree in business and actually had started his own company, Zoey was in awe of his restraint.

  But this might send him over the edge. To spare him, Zoey kept Joyce’s focus on her the rest of the way to Rochelle. Joyce asked questions that Zoey couldn’t answer, and even more questions Zoey didn’t want to answer, especially with Cam listening in.

  “Who is your target market?” Joyce asked a few hours later, holding up the jar.

  “People with skin,” Zoey answered. She was a little snappish at this point.

  “Young skin? Old skin? Dry skin? Damaged skin? Ethnic skin? Sensitive skin? Irritated skin? Male skin? Female skin?” Joyce was relentless.

  “I’m still researching.” That had become Zoey’s default answer.

  By the time they reached the city limits of Rochelle, Zoey felt defensive and incompetent.

  “I will say that packaging your samples in generic, gender-neutral jars was an excellent decision while you’re still testing,” Joyce said.

  “Thanks.” Zoey managed a smile, even though she hadn’t thought they were either generic or gender neutral. But Joyce had obviously wanted to end with a positive comment, even though it was actually another negative. “You’ve given me a lot to consider,” she added.

  Joyce tore many tiny pages out of her notepad and handed them to her. “After you’ve had a chance to finalize a plan, send it to me and I’ll review it for you. I wrote my email address on one of the pages.”

  Just as Zoey was about to politely decline, Cam said, “That’s a very generous offer. You should take her up on it, Zoey.” He didn’t add, “You need all the help you can get.” But to Zoey, it was implied.

  She was deluding herself if she believed she would ever be a success at anything, and now Cam probably believed it, too. That stung.

  Cam drove Joyce directly to the church, where the family had delayed the wedding for nearly an hour. Her grandson arrived just as they were saying goodbye, and Cam and Zoey drove off
to the sight of an exuberant family reunion. Seeing how happy they were and how jubilantly they all waved at her and Cam, Zoey forgot her embarrassment at having her business incompetence exposed.

  With a sigh, she settled into the front seat. Casper had been freed from his crate and was gnawing on an “emergency only” chew toy. They were emergency only because apparently he became overly attached to them. Phyllis from the kennel hadn’t explained exactly what “overly attached” entailed. At this point, Zoey didn’t care.

  “We did a good deed and nothing went wrong,” she said to Cam. He’d been awfully quiet, and she suspected it was not just because she and Joyce had done all the talking.

  Cam leaned forward and surveyed the sky through the windshield. “Mmm.”

  “What do you mean, ‘mmm’? I don’t like the sound of ‘mmm.’”

  “The sky looks...heavy.”

  “You mean like snow heavy?” Zoey peered outside. The clouds were gray, but they were always gray in winter, weren’t they? Besides, it was already dusk and the streetlights were starting to come on.

  “I’m not familiar with snow clouds, but if we were back in Texas, I’d say we were in for a frog strangler,” Cam said. “Since we’re in the north and it’s cold, I’m guessing snow and lots of it.”

  “But the new storm isn’t supposed to start for another day.” The tree branches were still frosted with yesterday’s white stuff.

  “I suppose you can try reasoning with it.” That was uncharacteristically sarcastic for Cam.

  Zoey studied him. The strain showed on his face as he inched the car down freshly plowed streets. Neither one of them had much experience with snowy road conditions, and so far, Cam had done all the driving. “You must be exhausted. I should be driving. I’m sorry. We could have switched at the church, but it didn’t occur to me.”

  “I’m fine.” Cam didn’t sound fine. “But we should get something to eat and figure out a plan.”

  “A plan. Right. Clearly, you’re on your own there.”

  He smiled. “Joyce was rough on you. Not that she wasn’t right, but it’s a lot to take in all at once. And she’s not as familiar with internet-based businesses. The rules are different.”

  “You’re being very kind.” Because that’s the type of guy he was, she’d learned. “But I’m still embarrassed that you heard how unprepared I am.”

  “Hey. You took one for the team so I could concentrate on the road. I appreciate that.”

  They stopped at a red light and Cam sent a dazzler of a smile her way. With dimples.

  That smile and the warmth in his eyes made her feel a whole lot better. She even managed to return his smile. As they gazed at each other, awareness prickled to life. With Joyce in the car, Zoey had been able to ignore the tug of attraction, but Joyce wasn’t in the car now. She knew the moment Cam had the same thought because the intensity returned to his eyes along with something else. It took a few seconds before Zoey recognized the expression as the same one she’d seen on dieting girlfriends when faced with a cupcake. Hunger. Desire. And the struggle with temptation.

  Cam was staring at her as though she was a cupcake. He didn’t glance away until the light changed.

  The only sound in the car was Casper biting his chew toy. “So where are we going?” Zoey asked to break the silence.

  Cam shook his head. “I’m not sure, but wherever we’re headed, it’s going to take a while to get there.”

  They stopped at a fast-food place that had Wi-Fi. Cam sat inside with his laptop and Zoey walked Casper around the snowy parking lot. Dogs weren’t allowed inside unless they were service dogs. Show dogs, even those who wore outfits that had their name embroidered on it, didn’t count. Zoey tried demonstrating Casper’s judging pose, but the teenaged manager on duty hadn’t been impressed.

  So Cam sat in a booth by the window and they shouted through it as they decided what to do next.

  Zoey marched around outside on frozen feet. She was wearing boots, but poor Casper wasn’t. He didn’t seem bothered and took his time sniffing at the lumps of snow-covered bushes lining the sidewalk. She could have left him in the car and gone inside with Cam, but given her luck, the car would have been stolen with Casper inside.

  Besides, she enjoyed watching Cam. It was dark outside now and if she stayed beyond the pool of landscape lighting, he couldn’t see her from inside the brightly lit restaurant.

  He hadn’t shaved, so he had that sexy stubble thing going on. She and Casper had circled the building and were now approaching Cam head on. His face was tinged blue from the reflection of the laptop screen and he stared with an intensity that gave him a sinister sexiness.

  He started typing, which drew her attention to his hands. She remembered the feel of those hands on her bare skin, and her knees went a little weak.

  He’d made her forget they were in an airport terminal. He’d made her forget everything except his touch. She’d wanted more and more, and if Casper hadn’t growled...

  Zoey looked down at the dog and caught him pawing at something in the shrubs. Then he dropped his head to eat whatever he’d found and Zoey jerked his leash.

  “Casper, no!” Kate had stressed that he absolutely, positively was never to eat anything except his very own special food. Not one mouthful.

  When he pulled against the leash, Zoey tried to distract him. “Casper, let’s see what Cam’s found.”

  Cam had been typing rapidly for several minutes and Zoey stepped close to the window to try and make out what was on the computer screen. But before she could, Cam closed the laptop, grabbed the bag of extra fast food and hurried toward the door.

  “Let’s go.” He pointed to the car. “I found a flight.”

  Zoey started after him, but Casper barked and sat down on the sidewalk.

  “Casper, come on!” Zoey tugged the leash and Casper got up but pulled in the other direction.

  “Casper!”

  He whined.

  “There is no way you have to go again, and if you do, you’re just going to have to hold it.”

  “Zoey! Come on!” Cam waved to her from inside the car, which he’d already started.

  “Sorry, Casper.” Zoey grabbed his collar and half dragged him across the parking lot. He whined pitifully and wouldn’t jump inside. When she picked him up, or tried to, he fought her. Cam finally had to come around and help her get the dog into the car.

  Then Casper tried to jump into the front seat and escape, so Zoey sat in the rear with him and attempted to calm him down.

  “What’s his problem?” Cam asked as Casper whined frantically and scratched at the windows.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never seen him act like this.” Then again, she hadn’t been around Casper all that much.

  Cam studied him in the rearview mirror. “Maybe he saw some animal. A cat or maybe another dog.”

  “I didn’t see anything, and he didn’t go this crazy when we were walking outside. Besides, he’s around strange dogs at shows all the time.”

  Casper barked and Cam flinched. If the guy didn’t lose his temper after putting up with this, he was definitely a keeper.

  Zoey finally got Casper to sit and attempted to attach his special seat belt harness, but while she was bent over, Casper scrambled across her back, his nails digging into her.

  “Ow! Casper!”

  Casper propped himself against the door and stared out the window, whining and panting. The car smelled like wet dog and French fries.

  Zoey tried to remove his coat, but that set him off again. He frantically scrambled over her lap from one side of the car to the other. “Down, Casper!” She tried a few commands in the calm, firm tone Phyllis had taught her to use, but the further they traveled away from the restaurant, the more agitated the dog became.

  Twenty minutes later,
they reached the final intersection before they’d have to merge onto the interstate. Once the car stopped, though, Casper started barking again, high-pitched yips that made Zoey’s ears ring.

  This wasn’t working. She met Cam’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Without a word, he turned the car around and headed back to the fast-food place.

  “I’m sorry,” Zoey said, not sure if Cam heard her over Casper’s yipping.

  The dog quieted when she put his leash on, as though he sensed they were going back.

  “What flight did you find?” Zoey was almost afraid to ask. Cam had been in such a hurry.

  “A six a.m. flight from Des Moines.”

  “Des Moines? As in Iowa?”

  He nodded. “There was nothing in Kansas City or St. Louis, and all the nearby regional airports route through O’Hare. Another problem I ran into is that many commuter planes can’t take Casper’s big kennel. This Des Moines flight uses larger planes on both legs of the flight. It stops in Denver and then we’ll be in Seattle by ten-thirty tomorrow morning.”

  Zoey exhaled. They’d be pulling an all-nighter, but it was much better than sleeping, or trying to sleep, in an airport terminal for another couple of days. “But Iowa—how long of a drive are we talking about?”

  He checked the dashboard. “The GPS estimates four hours. Under normal conditions. Realistically, we should tack on at least another hour. Maybe two.”

  The clock in the car said it was currently after seven-thirty. Zoey counted the hours off on her fingers. The best-case scenario had them at the airport by midnight or 1:00 a.m., depending on when they stopped going backward. They’d have to be there no later than four to check Casper in. Even with this little hiccup, they had a three-hour cushion.

  This could work. Would work. Zoey allowed herself to relax.

  Neither spoke on the return drive to the fast-food place. After parking, Zoey opened the door and Casper bolted out, dragging her toward the shrubbery that lined the outside of the restaurant. There, he nosed around, sniffing and pawing at the ground.