Restoring Her Faith. Jennifer Slattery

times. No answer. Lovely. She’d keep trying until she reached them.

      The hum of an engine approached, then slowed. She glanced over her shoulder. The sheriff. Good. Hopefully this meant she’d soon be done here and recovering in her nice, air-conditioned hotel room.

      Drake’s phone rang as she relayed the details of the accident to the officer. She paused to listen.

      “I know, and I don’t blame you for that.” Drake rubbed the back of his neck. “But we’re kind of in a bind here.”

      He explained what had happened. “Both our vehicles need to be towed. I’ll drive my dad’s truck until mine gets fixed. When do you think you could get out here?” He gave a low whistle. Lowering his phone, he turned to Faith. “My friend with the tow truck—today’s his day off.”

      “And?”

      “He said he’d come out, but it might be a while.”

      “How long are you talking?”

      “Didn’t say. I suspect after the church picnic.”

      She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Perfect. What was she supposed to do now? Call someone from Austin? That’d take hours.

      “That glass that broke... I’m going to need to replace it.”

      Drake nodded. “I’m sure my insurance company will cover it.”

      “I mean ASAP. I’ll probably have to have it rush ordered.”

      “Okay. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”

      In other words, take him at his word. But what choice did she have? At least she had witnesses.

      “Tell you what...” Drake’s dark-haired friend scratched his jaw. “I’ve got some thick cord in the back of my truck. Bet we could rig this vehicle to our trailer hitch and pull it into town.” He looked at Drake. “Leave Billy to tow yours whenever he gets to it. And you could pull her trailer with your pop’s truck.”

      The officer clamped a hand on Drake’s shoulder. “Good thinking, boys.”

      Faith bit her lip. Let a couple of strangers haul her car? But...they were friends with the town sheriff. And it was hot. Not to mention she was starving. And thirsty. “I, uh, I guess. But I’d like to grab my bike.”

      The men’s eyes shifted to the top of her automobile, where her mountain bike remained secured, thankfully unharmed.

      “No problem. I’ll load it in the bed of my dad’s truck.” Drake began unlatching the clamps on her top-mounted rack, his shoulder muscles straining beneath his cotton T-shirt.

      The officer tore off a sheet of paper from a pad and handed it to Faith. A blank report form. “Fill this out.” He handed another page to Drake. “You, too.”

      Drake shifted a few steps back to use her trunk as a writing table.

      The officer followed. “How’s your dad doing?” He wiped the sweat off his forehead using his shirtsleeve. “Any talk of selling his place?”

      “Nope. Not a lick.”

      “People been pestering him, though?”

      “Doesn’t matter. I have no intention of letting those land-hungry weasels wear my folks down.”

      The officer studied Drake. “I admire you, boy. How hard you’re trying to save your parents’ ranch and all. Just be careful your stubbornness doesn’t land everyone in a mess they can’t get out of.”

      A tendon in Drake’s jaw twitched. “That property’s been in our family for going on six generations. I intend to make sure that doesn’t change.”

      Faith cleared her throat to interrupt their conversation, or perhaps remind them she was there. She handed her form to the officer.

      “Y’all finished?” He closed his notepad and slid it into his front pocket.

      His radio crackled, and he moved aside to answer. Sounded like another accident somewhere. “Ten-four. I’ll head there now.” He clipped his radio back on his shoulder mount, then turned to Drake. “Think you can give her a lift into town? There’s a fender-bender out on Harrison I got to attend to.”

      “Sure. No problem.” He flicked his dark-haired friend’s arm. “Y’all can follow whenever you get this contraption secured.” Then he turned to Faith with a grin that made her stomach do an odd flip. For reasons she didn’t care to entertain. “Where you staying?”

      “The Cedar View Inn, just outside of town.”

      “Ah. Mr. Johnson’s place. Great guy. He’ll treat you good—best lodging within a forty-mile radius.”

      Also known as the only hotel around. As to how nice the rooms were, she wasn’t holding her breath. Though her breathing did stall whenever the blue-eyed cowboy caught her gaze.

      Not good. Not good at all.

       Chapter Two

      Drake Owens glanced at the frazzled city girl, dressed like one of those granola types, sitting in the passenger’s seat beside him. Chestnut hair fell over her shoulders in long, loose waves. Gray eyes shadowed by deeply furrowed brows hinted that a spitfire lingered just below her polite smiles and thank-yous.

      Pretty enough to jumble a man’s head, if he wasn’t careful. Drake never had that problem with the folks from Leaded Pane.

      His phone rang. His headset answered. “Hey-lo.”

      “You called?” It was Elizabeth, his sister.

      “Just making sure y’all made it down to the lake all right,” Drake said. “That my rascally sons didn’t give you and Mom too much trouble.” At three and a half and six years old, those two could be quite a handful. His mom had always managed to keep them wrangled well enough...until Dad’s accident. Now she spent most of her time caring for him. Luckily, Drake’s sister had stepped in to help nanny, almost full-time. Otherwise he would’ve had to back out of the restoration project.

      “Oh, your boys were fine. Getting Dad into the truck was another story.”

      “The picnic will be good for him. He needs to get out of the house. Mom, too.”

      “I know. Now if I could somehow get him to socialize a little... He’s been tight-lipped all day.”

      More like all month, not that Drake could blame him. That fall from the barn loft had stolen more than his mobility. He’d lost his independence, ability to provide for his family, to do what he’d always loved...

      If he lost the ranch, too...

      Drake refused to let that happen.

      “William!” Drake’s sister called out to his youngest. “Get that out of your mouth!” With a sigh, she returned to the phone. “Got to go. See you in a few?”

      “Yep.” Soon as he dropped his feisty little friend off.

      Not that he could blame her for her sour mood. He’d just ruined her afternoon in a big way. To think that if he’d stayed out at Mr. Farmer’s for ten more minutes, he might’ve avoided the accident altogether... But he’d been too wrapped up thinking about his parents’ financial issues. As a result, he’d totaled her car, and nearly sent her trailer flying with who knows how many thousands of dollars’ worth of stained glass.

      Speaking of...why was she here instead of the guys from Leaded Pane? As a family-owned business from Northeast Texas, they understood the importance of maintaining the flavor of a place. Not so with city folks, like this princess sitting next to him. They always seemed compelled to force their progress on everyone else.

      As if a town