Judy Christenberry - Snowbound Sweetheart

She turned to gape at him, her eyes wide, just as the driver behind them sat down on his horn.

The traffic had begun to move.

Gil sighed. It was going to be a long ride home.

Lindsay glared in her rearview mirror at the impatient driver behind her. Not that she could blame him, but she didn’t like his rude reminder.

It made her think of the man sitting next to her.

She inched the car forward. “Why did you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“I didn’t know you’d been married before. Kathy never mentioned it.” She reviewed their conversations about Gil. Kathy had raved about her wonderful brother, but a sister-in-law had never been mentioned.

“You and Kathy discuss me?” His question was abrupt, clipped, as if the idea of her discussing him offended him.

“No, I don’t discuss you, but Kathy talks about you a lot.”

“Maybe the subject didn’t come up because Kathy hated my ex. Especially after the divorce.” He stared out the window. “Madison is just ahead.”

His reminder irritated her even more. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Nothing more was said until after she, along with a number of other cars, made the turn onto Madison, but their speed did pick up from a standstill to a slow crawl.

“Why do I remind you of your ex? Kathy and I get along just fine,” Lindsay said.

“You remind me of my ex because you’re wearing a dressy suit to make a fifteen hour drive in less-than-pleasant circumstances.”

Lindsay stared at him. “Your ex-wife made a lot of long drives in suits?”

“You can go now,” he said, nodding to the road in front of them, not answering her question.

Lindsay kept her gaze on the road, determined not to be caught lagging again.

She was startled when he actually answered her question. She hadn’t expected him to.

“My wife didn’t make long drives. But she always insisted on being fashionably dressed no matter what the circumstances.”

Lindsay thought the man was being rather hard on his ex-wife. After all, there was nothing wrong with wanting to look one’s best. But she wasn’t going to argue with him about it.

“Look at the map and figure out which road it would be best to take to get to the highway,” she suggested, keeping her gaze on the traffic. “The sooner we get on the interstate, the better off we’ll be.”

“And you’re willing to take my word for it?” She ignored the temptation to glare at him. If she did, she’d get honked at again. Or barked at by her companion.

“Yes.”

He studied the map and suggested she take the next crossroad, Central Avenue. It only took a couple of minutes to reach the intersection and make the turn, but she gasped as she swung the car into the appropriate lane.

“What?” he asked sharply, staring at her.

“The snow’s here,” she muttered, watching a large flake settle against the windshield.

After a moment of silence, he asked, “Want to turn back? Have you changed your mind?”

“No! I’m going on, but you can change your mind, if you want.”

“Not me. I want to get home.”

“Why did you come to Chicago if you hate it here so much?” It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his attitude toward big cities. Her brothers all reacted the same way, even to Oklahoma City, which couldn’t compare to Chicago for traffic jams and hordes of people.

Even she—But she shut that thought away. She couldn’t afford to admit her annoyance of Chicago, even to herself.

“Do you know Brad, Kathy’s husband?”

The non sequitur surprised her. “Of course I do.”

“What do you think of him?”

She studied him out of the corner of her eye even as she paid attention to the traffic. “Why?”

“It’s a simple question.”

“Don’t you know Brad?”

“Barely. I’ve met him a couple of times. Once at the wedding, and a couple of hours last Christmas.”

“And you don’t like him.” She wasn’t asking a question. The man’s attitude toward his brother-in-law was evident.

“I don’t know him.”

“And that’s why you asked my opinion? A woman who reminds you of your ex?”

“Forget it.” He turned to stare out his window again.

But she couldn’t. “He seems nice enough. Devoted to Kathy.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a big frown. “He hasn’t—hit on you?”

“Me? You think he’d hit on me, living across from his wife?” She was astounded. Even if Brad had been the type to mess around, she wasn’t. “Even if he had, I would never—”

“Kathy called me yesterday. Crying.”

“And you thought—”

“I didn’t know what to think. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. I flew up this morning to see if there was anything I could do. She still wouldn’t tell me. But you heard her. She didn’t want to tell Brad I’d come.”

She should’ve known. He’d already reminded her of her brothers by his dress. Now he reminded her of her brothers with his protectiveness, his smothering of his sister.

“Look, all married couples go through some rough patches. They have to work things out themselves. You can’t fix everything just because she’s your little sister.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but she heard it tightening as she finished speaking.

“Thank you, Dr. Joyce Brothers.”

His sarcastic reply only irritated her more. If it had been left to her brothers, she would’ve sat upon a silken pillow all her days and never even learned to walk, much less fend for herself. That’s why she’d been forced to leave home. She hadn’t realized she and Kathy had that much in common.

Time to concentrate on her driving. This cowboy wouldn’t appreciate her opinion any more than her brothers had.

“Have you ever heard them fighting?”

“No.” In fact, she’d been a little envious of Kathy. Not that she was attracted to Brad, but she was attracted to the devotion the two shared, the closeness. Since she’d moved away from home, she’d sometimes longed for a relationship that could lead to marriage.

As long as the man understood she wouldn’t be smothered.

She was glad she was concentrating on her driving when they got up on the interstate. As she increased her speed, her tires began to spin and the back end of the car skidded a little. She immediately eased up on the gas.

“Better keep your speed down,” her companion advised.

“Really? Are you sure I shouldn’t go faster?”

His head snapped around to stare at her.

“I was being sarcastic,” she pointed out, as if speaking to a slow learner.

“Oh. Thanks for explaining.”

She shrugged her shoulders. Okay, so two could be sarcastic. Maybe she’d deserved that kind of answer. She turned her windshield wipers up to high speed as the snow began coming down faster. She’d be glad when the highway turned farther south. It was their only hope of outrunning the storm.

Gil didn’t make any more attempts at conversation. It had been foolish to try to soothe his concerns about Kathy by asking Lindsay questions. Like he’d trust her evaluation anyway. A woman who dressed in a designer suit to drive in a snowstorm.

His ex-wife had been impressed with anyone with money. Their morals, or intelligence or even their warmth had no value compared to their bank account.

He knew Brad made a good living. But he wanted his sister to be happy, not well dressed. He wanted her husband to love her, not buy her things. Well, he wanted him to buy her things, too, but that wasn’t the most important. He didn’t want Kathy to wind up in the same kind of loveless marriage that he had.

As Lindsay carefully steered the car, Gil studied her hands. They looked smooth, soft, but he was surprised by her nails. While well tended, they weren’t long, and the polish was clear. She only wore one ring, an opal with diamonds.