by Marie Force
“Yeah, I got a guy here who has you in his phone as his ICE.”
“His what?”
“His ‘in case of emergency.’”
She immediately thought of her brother, Wade, who would list her ahead of any of their siblings, except he didn’t have a cell phone as far as she knew. “Who is it?”
He ignored her question and continued his tirade. “You’d better come and get him the hell outta here before I call the cops.”
With the phone tucked in the crook of her shoulder, she stashed the leftover ice cream in the freezer and went to find some shoes. “Where are you?”
“Red’s Bar out on 114. Come quick. I’m giving it half an hour, and I want him out of here. Guy’s nothing but trouble. I knew it the second he walked in here with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t do anything until I get there.”
“Thirty minutes.” He hung up on her.
Ella was out the door a minute later and heading out of Butler shortly after that. As she navigated the one-lane covered bridge by her parents’ house on Hells Peak Road, it occurred to her that no one knew where she was or where she was going. Not that she felt the need to check in every time she left her house, but heading to a roadside bar late on a Saturday night—alone—was definitely out of character for her.
In the back of her mind was the nagging suspicion that it might be Gavin at the bar. But why would he have her listed as his ICE, a term that was completely new to her as someone who didn’t have a cell phone. What was the point? There was no reception whatsoever in their town, and almost everyone she knew lived in Butler. If no one could call her and she couldn’t call anyone, why get a cell phone? Where would Gavin have gotten her number and why would he list her, of all people, as his ICE?
She dismissed that idea almost as soon as she had it. His parents would be his points of contact anyway.
She refused to let her foolish hopeful heart lead her on a wild-goose chase through the dark Vermont night on a mission to rescue one of the men in her life. Maybe it was Lucas or Landon. Both of her younger brothers had been known to party and get into trouble on occasion. Not bad trouble, more the mischievous kind. Though they drove her crazy most of the time, both knew they could call her if they were ever truly in trouble.
As did Max, the youngest of the ten Abbotts. But with his girlfriend Chloe’s baby due at any minute, he was probably in Burlington with her, waiting for something to happen. And wouldn’t Chloe be his ICE?
Ella was still trying to figure out who would have listed her as his emergency contact when she pulled up to Red’s, which was, apparently, a biker bar. Row after row of neatly parked bikes lined the lot, their chrome fixtures illuminated by the lights.
“That’s a lot of bikers.” Ella swallowed hard at the thought of walking in there alone. She should’ve called Charley or Wade to come with her, except the pissed-off guy on the phone had given her thirty minutes to get there, which hadn’t been enough time to round up reinforcements.
“Get moving, chickenshit.” Ella took another minute to find the courage to walk into a bar where she wouldn’t know a soul except for the man who’d made her his emergency contact—without her knowledge. Whoever he was would get an earful about doing that without telling her.
The gravel parking lot crunched under her feet as she made her way to the front door. Inside, voices and music competed to create a deafening roar. How did anyone stand it in here for more than a few minutes? It was also dark. She could barely see a foot in front of her with all the lights focused on a band on a stage on the far side of the huge space.
“Help you, sugar?” a deep voice asked.
“I’m looking for the manager or the person who would’ve called about a patron who needs a ride home.” She ventured a glance up at him and then kept going until she finally found his eyes, gasping at his sheer size. The man was at least six foot six or seven, a wall of solid muscle. Ella wasn’t sure if she wanted to run from him or beg him to keep her safe in this unfamiliar place.
“Right this way.” He took her by the arm and led her through a mass of sweating, dancing bodies.
More than one hand copped a feel of her as they pushed through the crowd with Ella holding on to her escort for dear life. She swatted at the roving hands and stayed with the giant, who took her to an office in a deep, dark corner.
Ella was shown to a room where Gavin Guthrie was in the middle of a fierce argument with another man with bright red hair, presumably the Red in Red’s Bar.
“I didn’t do anything!” Gavin said, his voice slurring. “I had a few drinks! So what?”
“I know what you did to the bar down the road. You’re not welcome in my place.”
“I paid my cover like everyone else. You can’t just kick me out.” He took a lunging step toward the other man, staggering.
“Gavin,” Ella said.
Freezing in place, Gavin did a double take when he saw her standing next to the giant of a man who had stayed, probably to watch the show. “What’re you doing here?” he asked in a much softer tone than he’d used on the bar owner.
“They called me to come get you.”
“Why you?”
“My question exactly.”
“Will you get him out of here, please?” the frazzled bar owner said to Ella. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Let’s go, Gavin.” Despite the fact he was obviously drunk, disheveled and disorderly, he was still gorgeous. And furious, too. With one last filthy look for Red, he crossed the room to where Ella stood next to the giant.
The giant looked down at Gavin and handed over his cell phone. “I realized who you are, and I just want to say, I’m sorry.”
The big man’s gently spoken words nearly reduced Ella to tears. She could only imagine what they did to Gavin.
The kind gesture seemed to defuse Gavin’s fury. He sagged, visibly, as if he’d been reminded of why he’d gotten drunk in the first place. “Thanks.” With his hand on Ella’s back, he opened the door and guided her through it. The giant came with them, helping them through the crowd to the main door.
Outside, Gavin headed for his truck.
Ella looked to the giant for help.
He went after Gavin, grabbing his shirt and spinning him around. “Dude, you’re in no condition to drive. Let your lady drive you home.”
“Leave me alone.” Gavin tried unsuccessfully to shake off the giant. “No one told you to call her.”
“If I had a girl like her at home, I wouldn’t be hanging out here.”
“She’s not my girl.”
Ella wanted to turn and walk away so she wouldn’t have to hear anything else that would further lacerate her already wounded heart. She wanted to leave him there to deal with whatever was going on by himself. But she couldn’t seem to get the message from her brain to her feet, so she stood riveted in place while the giant tried to talk some sense into Gavin.
“Just go with her and make this easy on everyone, will you?”
“What business is it of yours what I do?”
“Making sure everyone who leaves here does so safely is my business. If you don’t want me in your business, get in her car and go. Then we won’t have anything further to talk about.”
“Fine. I’m going.” Gavin stalked over to where Ella stood, arms crossed, watching him swerve as he crossed the parking lot. She pulled out her keys and pushed a button on the key fob to unlock her white Honda CR-V.
Gavin got into the passenger side and slammed the door.
“Thanks so much for your help,” Ella said to the giant.
“No problem. He’s a decent guy who’s heading down a bad road. I hope he can figure out his shit before trouble finds him.”
“I hope so, too.”
“You have a good night now.”
Ella got into her car and nearly dropped her keys in the dark, which was when she realized her hands were shaking.
“You don’
t have to do this,” Gavin said. “I can call a cab.”
“I don’t mind.”
Ella started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, heading for Butler. Gavin never said a word as they got closer to the town line, where she took a left toward his house, rather than a right toward hers in town.
The closer they got to his home on the grounds of the logging company he owned, the harder it became for Ella to refrain from asking him how she ended up in his phone as his ICE. She kept telling herself she was better off not knowing. What good would it do? He’d sent her away twice before, so what would make this time any different? Just give him a ride and leave it at that.
Except . . . How was she supposed to drop him off, go back to her life and forget about the fact that out of all the people he knew, she was the one he wanted called in an emergency? Why her? Did this count as an emergency? Ella knew herself, and she’d never get a minute’s peace if she didn’t ask him why.
She pulled up to his log cabin on the far side of the logging property and turned off the car. Being here reminded her of the time she’d come a couple of months ago, after hearing he’d been arrested in a fight at another bar. He’d sent her away then, and he probably would again.
“Thanks for the ride. Sorry about all this.”
“It’s okay.”
He reached for the door handle. Was he really going to get out and that would be that?
She forced herself to speak before she missed the opportunity. “Gavin?”
“Yeah?
“Why am I in your phone as the one to call in an emergency?”
When a sleek city-girl meets one fine country boy are sparks about to fly?
. . . is Will and Cameron’s story
THE FIRST GREEN MOUNTAIN ROMANCE
He’s waited forever . . . Is she finally ready to love again?
. . . is Hannah and Nolan’s story
THE SECOND GREEN MOUNTAIN ROMANCE
How do you keep a love affair under wraps in a town with no secrets?
. . . is Colton and Lucy’s story
THE THIRD GREEN MOUNTAIN ROMANCE
How can he convince the woman of his dreams that his love is for keeps?
. . . is Hunter and Megan’s story
THE FOURTH GREEN MOUNTAIN ROMANCE
FIND YOUR HEART’S DESIRE . . .
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