Finding Destiny

by Christa Simpson

  FINDING DESTINY

  Christa Simpson

  The Destiny Series

  Book #1

  BLACK WIDOW

  Publishing

  FINDING DESTINY

  By Christa Simpson

  Copyright 2014 Christa Simpson

  All rights reserved.

  Electronic Edition

  ISBN: 978-0-9919070-4-5

  Author: Christa Simpson

  http://christasimpson.com

  www.twitter.com/christasimpson

  www.facebook.com/authorchristasimpson

  Proofreader: C.S. Janey

  http://csjaney.com

  Black Widow Publishing: February 2015

  http://BWPbooks.com

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to anyone other than the person who purchased it. In the case that you wish to share this e-book with others, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use, then please return it to the author immediately and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  A special thanks goes out to my good friend, Tanya Vought, who has continued to support me and my crazy ideas. I’d also like to thank each and every one of the ladies on my street team for their continual feedback and assistance. Thanks so much, ladies. I honestly appreciate all that you do. <3 <3

  - Christa Simpson

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  OTHER BOOKS BY CHRISTA SIMPSON

  TWISTED

  EXCERPT

  BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I absolutely hate Valentine’s Day.”

  Destiny Sanders had grown tired of the holidays based solely around couples. Especially the one that revolved around love and lace and chocolates. She had long ago convinced herself that most men were jerks, and the ones that weren’t total jackwads went off and died.

  She didn’t exactly hate men. Someone had to fix her leaky faucets and change the oil in her car after all. Destiny could’ve sworn though, that men as a whole planted this ridiculous holiday after a long depressing winter just to spite her, and she wasn’t about to let it get to her. Oh, no. Not this year. This year she had persuaded her three besties to join her on a ladies-only weekend retreat.

  She had selected the most luxurious suite she could find and invested in the most expensive pamper package. She deserved it, damn it. She took care of herself. She didn’t need a man to get through this holiday.

  But what she hadn’t anticipated was her not-so-good friend, Mother Nature, who thought it’d be fun to dump a boatload of snow on her and her friends the day before their trip. She watched out the window of her friend Melanie’s truck, as they headed to their destination. Snow. Snow. And more snow.

  Destiny pulled her eyes away and couldn’t help but notice how happy her friend Felicia was. “Wipe that smirk off of your face.”

  Felicia couldn’t seem to help it. “Can’t a girl be happy?”

  Destiny was happy. Even if she was sandwiched between her two best friends in a beater of a truck in the middle of the biggest snow storm of the year. “You do realize this two hour trip is now going to take us over three.”

  Felicia continued to twirl her long, brown hair around her finger. “Yeah, so? What’s your hurry?”

  “Um, gee, let me think about that.” Destiny was being sarcastic and goofy, so Felicia shoved her. It wasn’t a far reach, since Destiny was stuffed in between her two friends on an old, leather bench seat that had cracked with age.

  Natalie continued to drive, squinting through her oversized black-framed glasses. Destiny wondered how she could see anything through the foggy windshield. The wipers swiped side to side with a rhythmic squeak, which seemed to be the only thing that had stayed true to its course.

  “Everything is under control. I’m a master on these roads,” Natalie insisted, sensing that Destiny had been watching her.

  Destiny had to laugh at that.

  Felicia laughed too. “Maybe we should have taken my car. Are you sure this old thing can make it that far, Nat?”

  Natalie shot her a cold glare. “We’ve gotten this far, haven’t we?”

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. In a few short hours I’m going to be soaking in the Jacuzzi, right after my relaxing massage.”

  Destiny glanced out the windshield and stared at the endless drifts of snow. “Oh, that does sound nice.”

  Two hours later, in the middle of nowhere, Natalie pulled her truck over to the side of the road, coming to a complete stop in the middle of a snow bank. “I am so sorry. If I could just see that map for a minute, please. I want to make sure we’re on the right track.”

  A bad feeling swept over Destiny, but she kept her mouth shut and passed Natalie the map.

  “You know, Google has maps,” Felicia teased.

  But Natalie didn’t care. She always reverted old school like that. “Google doesn’t know everything.” Natalie ran her finger down the map, following the road that she believed we were on. “That’s odd.”

  Destiny stared up at the roof of the truck, with its sagging fabric only adding to her frustration. “I don’t like when you say that, Nat. Why did you just say that?”

  As if her worry hadn’t already become close to debilitating, the truck stalled out making Destiny’s anxiety ball in the pit of her stomach. Felicia snickered, but Destiny didn’t think it was quite so funny.

  “What’s odd, Nat? Tell me what’s odd.”

  Ignoring Destiny, Natalie twisted her key, in an attempt to turn over the engine. “Come on, baby,” she cooed to her truck. Her soft blonde curls bounced playfully, as she pumped the gas, but that really wasn’t helping.

  Felicia outright laughed this time. “You don’t pump fuel injection, Nat. Are you trying to get us stranded out here?”

  Destiny put her hand on Natalie’s shoulder to calm her, since she was now on the brink of a panic attack. “Just relax. We’ll give it a minute and you can try again. Okay? Why don’t you tell me what you saw on the map?” Destiny could only hope that it would be enough of a distraction to slow Natalie’s racing heart.

  “We should have been there already. The map shows we’re on the right road, but I didn’t see the turn off. Maybe it was snowed in.”

  Felicia flipped a lock of dark hair over her shoulder. “That’s ridiculous. We were all watching. There’s no way we passed it.”

  “I don’t know,” Destiny admitted. “At the rate the snow is coming down, I think it would have been an easy miss.”

  “Maybe if we had taken my car, we might have been able to see out the windows. Not that I’m pointing any fingers.” Felicia glared at Natalie.

  Destiny was growing tired of Felicia’s insensitivity. “You’re not helping here.”

  “I’m just saying.”

  “Well don’t.” Destiny was starting to lose her cool. “Try the key again.”

  Natalie tried and tried, but the engine only moaned back at her. “Come on,” she shouted, but it was not going to turn over. She slammed her hand on her steering wheel, admi
tting her defeat.

  Only moments earlier, they had been well on their way to their own private paradise and now it was like a dark nightmare had taken over like a vicious, unexpected storm.

  “Now what are we going to do?” Natalie asked, knowing they were officially stranded.

  “Easy peasy,” Felicia said, as she rummaged through her purse. She came out with her cell phone and stared at it with dismay. “You guys are not going to believe this. I’m not getting any service.”

  Why was Destiny not surprised? “Of course you aren’t. We’re in Bumfuck, Idaho, in the middle of the biggest snow storm of the year. What else could I expect?”

  This was supposed to be Destiny’s weekend to cool down. She had been all wound up after losing her job and was having a hard time adjusting to being unemployed, even if it were only temporary.

  “Let me try my phone,” Natalie suggested, as if it would be any different. “Nope. Nothing. Now what?”

  Destiny, being the reasonable one, unsnapped her seatbelt and pulled out her snow gloves. “How did I know these were going to come in handy? Bundle up, ladies. It looks like we’re going for a walk.”

  After half an hour of trudging through the snow, with the wind blasting it at them violently, Destiny started to worry. If they carried on much longer, she was sure the three of them would become ice cubes on the side of the road, complete with frostbite and hypothermia.

  “This is crazy,” Natalie chimed. “This snow has got to be two feet deep. Maybe we should head back to the truck.”

  Destiny refused to give up, even with a vicious wind ripping right through her jacket. Without a doubt, if they hunkered down and waited for someone in the truck, they would be sealing their unfortunate fates. “We’ve already come this far. Let’s just keep going.”

  “I’m afraid to say this, but Destiny is right. We can’t very well sit here all day. It’s bad enough with this snow, but I’m not about to wait around for night to hit. There could be bears out here.”

  Destiny wished Felicia hadn’t reminded her of that. She was fine with a little hike in the snow, but she didn’t do bears. Bears were the one thing that disturbed her about hiking north of their small town. “You said there’s a town not too far up the road. A mile. Maybe two.” She tried to remain optimistic.

  “Maybe ten, for all we know,” Natalie added, not trusting her own judgment anymore. “I’m going back to the truck. I can’t just leave it out here. You guys do what you want.” Natalie spun away, and as she did she slipped and crumbled to the ground with a yelp.

  Felicia hurried over to her. “Are you okay?”

  Natalie looked up at her with a scowl; as if it were her fault she twisted her ankle. “I’ll be just fine, as soon as I get back to the truck.”

  Felicia made an attempt to lift Natalie to her feet, but she fell back down onto her butt with a moan. Destiny wiggled her fingers, to make sure they were still there. She couldn’t even feel them anymore. The pins and needles had already turned into a general tension, making it difficult for her to bend her fingers at all. Much longer and they were going to have worse issues than a broken down vehicle.

  “Can you walk?” Destiny asked.

  Tears had started to form in Natalie’s eyes. “My ankle. I think it’s sprained.”

  Felicia was not impressed. “Great! Now we’re seriously screwed.”

  “Wait,” Destiny said, holding a gloved finger in the air.

  Felicia seemed to have officially given up. “I think we’ve done enough waiting. This weather is too wicked for us to be walking out here like this. I say we get dragging her sorry ass back to the truck.”

  “Will you shut up? I heard something.”

  “A bear?” Natalie screeched, fumbling to her feet.

  “No. A vehicle.”

  The whine of an engine drew closer, as the ladies listened carefully. The wind whipped at their faces, and continued to send the snow slanting at them. They all glanced in the direction of the sound, but a greyish fog mingled with the white wall of snow making it hard to see anything. Suddenly, Destiny saw a light breaking through the fog in the distance and it was heading right toward them.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  “What are you doing? What if it’s some crazy lumberjack who eats women for breakfast?”

  “Really, Felicia? There are three of us. I’m sure we’ll manage.”

  “Help!” she hollered again. The light continued to approach her. Then another and another appeared before them.

  Before Destiny could act on her change of heart, three snow machines lined up in front of her and stopped, with their headlights pointed at her like spotlights.

  “Shit.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  After a long day of snowmobiling, Skylar Knight was ready to get back to his cabin. His brother, Matty, had convinced him to stay out way longer than he wanted to, despite the crazy blizzard they were driving through. Lucky for him, their friend Myles was meeting his girlfriend back at the cabin soon, so it left them little time for detours.

  Skylar watched his brother slow down and mirrored his motions, pulling up beside him with a rev of his snowmobile’s engine. He was shocked to find three women standing there, two tall, thin blondes and a healthy brunette. They were all bundled up to the chin in fashionable winter wear and shaking like leaves. What the hell were they doing out here in the middle of nowhere dressed like that? Did they have a death wish?

  Matty hollered out to them first. “You look like you could use a hand.”

  A long legged beauty stepped out from the three of them and immediately snatched the breath from his lungs. “My friend had a fall. Her truck died on us up the road.” She pointed behind her and tilted her head down to hide from the blowing snow, but the truck was nowhere to be seen. When she glanced back up at them, the snow flew around her like it was a magical weapon she was wielding. Skylar was captivated, but he did his best to mask it.

  Matty flipped up his visor so he could get a better look at the girl. “Last we heard, a truck was jackknifed on the highway blocking the exit. There won’t be anyone coming out this way. At least not until after the snow stops.”

  “Well that’s just great,” the sassy brunette muttered.

  Matty had to smile at that, the slanted curve of his lips telling Skylar that he was intrigued. “Where were you heading exactly?”

  The blonde girl peered at Matty through squinted eyes. “The nearest town?”

  Skylar wondered how she could even see with those long bangs in the way. And, as if she had read his thoughts, she swiped them across her forehead giving him a better look at her pretty face. When she tried to tuck that hair behind her ear, it didn’t quite reach and fell back into her face, hiding her bright, soulful eyes. He felt the need to brush that hair away, to get a good look at her. Why the hell did he feel that way?

  Matty started to chuckle and lifted his helmet. Skylar quickly regained his composure, as Matty glanced over at him and Myles. “The nearest town?”

  The brunette, wanting to steal some attention, stepped up next to her blonde friend. She thrust out her voluptuous hip and propped a hand on it. “Can you take us there?”

  The other blonde, the clumsy one, wore large black-rimmed glasses and held her knee bent favoring her other leg. She limped forward to get closer to her friends. “I could certainly use a lift,” she admitted.

  Matty looked back at the ladies. “Considering that the next town in this direction is a good half hour drive on a clear day, I’d say you might want to rethink your plans.”

  Skylar couldn’t take it anymore. The women had to be freezing. He pulled off his helmet, swiped his hand through his messy brown hair and hollered out to his brother. “They must be cold. We were heading back to the cabin anyway. Why don’t we take them with us? They can figure out what they’re going to do from there. I doubt adding frostbite to their list of problems makes a whole lot of sense.”

  It was clear that Matty liked the way his brot
her was thinking. “Right on.” Matty turned back to the blondie Skylar had set his eye on. “I’m Matt, by the way. But everyone calls me Matty.”

  “I’m Destiny,” the girl offered, with a smile that could tempt an angel. She glanced at Skylar and then seemed to shy away, acting like she was hiding from the snow.

  So the blonde beauty had a name.

  Matty reached out his hand and Destiny gave it a hearty shake. “Ooh, you’ve got a good grip. I like a lady with a little fire in her step.”

  Skylar growled. “Matty. Drop the act. Let’s move.” He hated that he had to sit there and watch his brother move in on his game. When Matty reached out for Destiny’s hand to help her onto his seat, it was like a knife to the chest.

  Skylar rested his helmet under his arm, as he helped the blonde friend over to his ride. Then he slapped on his helmet and fired up his snowmobile. He revved his engine, to match the flow of adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had noticed how Destiny watched him with fascinated interest, even while she tucked her arms around Matty.

  “That’s my brother, Skylar. Don’t pay him any attention. He’s no fun.” Matty winked at Destiny and pulled down his helmet.

  The brunette wasted no time joining Myles on his ride. “Looks like I’m riding with you,” she hollered out flirtatiously, while a devious smile crept onto her face. “The name’s Felicia.”

  Myles had to turn around to introduce himself. “Myles,” he said, reaching out a gloved hand.

  “Hey, Myles,” she said, as she wrapped her legs around him.

  Matty looked jealous, which gave Skylar a slight sense of relief. “Don’t hang on too tight. He’s got a girlfriend.” Matty’s helmet muffled his voice, but he kept on talking anyways. “And she would have a bird if she knew he was taking another woman out on his new machine.”