Christmas Tempest (Holiday Heartwarmers #12)

Chapter Seven

Dex couldn’t believe his good fortune in ramming into the one vehicle where his dog had been picked up by the owner. Though she’d admitted hitting his dog, Dex had secretly run his hands over the animal, looking for any broken bones. And other than feeling the dog cringe when he put weight on certain areas, he would bet a buck that nothing had been broken.

Of course, if necessary, he’d make a veterinary appointment as soon as he arrived in the city to be sure. After turning on the motor, he pulled out his phone and sadly learned that he’d run out of power. “You wouldn’t have a way for me to charge my cell phone would you?”

Jasmin stopped fixing her hair and dug hers out of her pocket. “I still have some bars left on mine. Here.” She pointed to the front dash. “Look, if you put yours on the charging tray inside that center console and push the button, as long as the car is running, it will charge your battery too. I’ve been doing that myself, so my phone is still working.”

“You don’t mind?” Accepting her phone, he held it toward her. “I have to call my nephew’s grandmother in Seattle. He’s expecting me to pick him up. We were going to spend Christmas together.”

“Of course I don’t mind. It looks like you might be a bit late. Was he expecting you today?”

“Actually, yesterday. I got held up in a road accident and spent the night in my car. Now it looks like I’m going to be further delayed.” Dex leaned over to accept her offering and peered out the back of the car and winced. “It’s getting deeper. Soon we won’t be able to see out of the windows. I have a shovel in my trunk. Right after I make this call, I think we’d better make use of it to keep the car visible when the plow comes this way.”

While he proceeded to put his call through, Jasmin started preparing to go out into the storm. She agreed with Dex. They should be clearing away a lot of the buildup for sure. This was a main highway into town and sooner or later, the snow plow would show up. Best they be ready for it.

“Hello. Margot. It’s Dextor.”

Because of the small space, Jasmin couldn’t help overhearing Dex’s conversation. Two things she noticed immediately. His voice changed dramatically from open and friendly to guarded and fake.

The second surprise was hearing Pretty Girl’s low growl of disapproval. Was it hearing the name Dex had spoken or the change in his voice? Uncertain of which choice had spiked the animosity, Jasmin did pick up on the fact that whoever Margot was, they didn’t like her.

***

“Where the hell are you? I’ve had Dillon waiting for you since yesterday when you were supposed to arrive.” Margot’s voice sounded raw with anger.

“I called last night and left a message. I said I wouldn’t get there as planned.”

“I didn’t get it. So, what the hell is your excuse this time?”

Dex’s heart dropped when he heard the querulous tone in Dillon’s grandmother’s voice. “Hey, no need to get upset. I’m just saying, I can’t help being late, Margot. There’s a terrible snowstorm that I unfortunately got caught in. My car’s stuck in a ditch and the highway cleanup crew won’t be here for some time if at all today. Is Dillon okay?”

“Of course, the kid’s okay. But I had plans. Now I’ll have to cancel. Not happy about this Dextor. Not at all. Neither is your nephew.”

“I’m sorry, Margot.”

Cutting him off, she railed on, “The brat’s been packed for days and waiting by the window. I want you to know, he’s getting really snarky with me all of a sudden. I won’t be putting up with it. You better talk to him about his attitude, or he’ll be locked in his room. You hear me?”

God heard you… you sanctimonious old fleabag. Keeping his cool, not wanting Dillon to pay for him releasing his temper, he spoke in as soothing a voice as he could muster. “Look, Margot, I know it’s an inconvenience, and I’m more than willing to pay you well for these extra days of caring for him. I’ll be there as soon as possible, I promise. Just cut the boy some slack. After all, he’s just lost his parents.”

“Sure, and I lost my daughter, but no one seems to think about that at all. Not that she treated me very well, but at least I had someone to rely on in my old age. I—”

And the phone died. “Margot, Margot are you there?” Dex grimaced as he held the phone against his cheek and leaned his face over it in frustration.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help overhearing. Is everything okay?”

“It will be once I rescue that kid from the hell he’s been forced to live in for the last month. It’s taken me that long to get the courts to give me custody of Dillon… my nephew. Yesterday was the date I could claim him, the first day of his adoption.”

“And you’re stuck here with me. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s like a nightmare I can’t find a doorway out of.” He couldn’t believe he’d spoken those words until they left his lips.

Jasmin leaned toward him, her hand reaching to touch, to soothe… and he took it gladly, hanging on to sanity through her kindness. “Poor kid’s been forced to stay with that… that wicked woman, and I’ve had no say. She’s his grandmother, his next of kin, whereas I’m just his uncle on his father’s side. The courts took her claim more serious than mine.”

“How did you overcome that?” He saw Jasmin’s eyes widen, sympathy glowing in her deep green pools.

“By agreeing to let the wicked witch have all my brother’s worldly goods in exchange for her signing over custody of Dillon to me. I knew she hated the thought of opening her perfect home to an active eight-year-old kid. Number one, she doesn’t like boys. And number two, my brother and Doreen’s healthy bank account – the money they’d been saving for a down payment on a house – was all she really wanted.”

“What a horrible woman! No wonder you and Pretty Girl don’t like her. Neither do I. And I haven’t even had the misfortune of meeting her.”

“Let’s hope you never have to. Trust me, you’d want to strangle her in the first few minutes.”

“And yet, she’s a part of the family? On Dillon’s mother’s side I gather.”

“Yes. Doreen’s mom. Just so you know, Doreen is – was nothing like her. According to what she always told us, she took after her father, and when he was still alive and in control, her mother hadn’t been so hard to take. She changed after his death, went through a few partners who were bad news, and she turned into a sour soul in the end. I believe it’s one of the reasons why Doreen liked to go out on jobs with Max. Get out of her clutches. That and because they had a great live-in nanny who Dillon adored.”

“What happened to her?”

“As soon as she could, the witch fired her and moved Dillon into her own house. No doubt to save that money. And because Sara Whitly, an older woman, was the type of grandmotherly figure kids dream of having, Margot shot sparks and swallowed green bile whenever they were together.”

Picturing his words made Jasmin giggle. “You really don’t like her, do you?”

“Want me to growl like Pretty Girl to show you just how much?”

Jasmin laughed. “Nope. I’m ready to head into the blizzard if you want to help me with opening your trunk.”

“I’m right behind you. First though, I’d better get Pretty outside so she can take care of business too.”

Jasmin’s nod let him know she agreed. Forcing open her car door became impossible, and so she lowered the window and threw herself out head first, landing in the deep snow.

Whipping around, she began clearing the way for Dex to get out of his door and then struggled to the back where they both cleared the door so it would open to let the dog loose.

Laboring to get to his own vehicle, Dex was finally able to open his trunk where he found not only a shovel, but a warm comforter, bottles of water, and other emergency gear he kept in his car over the winter.

Reaching inside, he also found the windshield brush and passed it to Jasmin. “You could use this to clear the windows you can reach.”

“Good idea. Thanks.” Between them both, they cleared a reasonable area between both vehicles and uncovered as much of both cars as possible, but the struggling took it’s toll. By the time they climbed into the front of Jasmin’s car, they were trembling with exhaustion and Jasmin noticed Dex wincing. “What’s wrong with your right foot?”

Taking off his mitts, he threw them on the dash, moved the driver’s seat back as far as it would go, and tried to take off his boot. “I twisted it when I was getting into my trunk. Stepped in a deep ditch I couldn’t see.”

“Why didn’t you say something, stop and take a rest?”

“Figured it wasn’t that bad, so I kept going. Now it’s throbbing like a son of a bit… biscuit. Only problem is, if I take off my boot, I might not get it back on.”

Jasmin leaned over from the passenger seat. “Right. They’re not the lace-up kind. I think you should take it off while you still can. Then we can pack snow around it to keep the swelling down. Hopefully, there’s a first aid kit in your emergency supplies with an elastic bandage that we can use. First, let’s get that boot off.”

By opening the door and leaning precariously backwards, he had the room to swivel around and get his foot on her knee. She was able to pull the now harmful item with enough strength, wriggling it this way and that, until it finally came off. All during this maneuver, Dex clenched his jaw, and no sounds came from him, just the whines from Pretty Girl who’d made her way closer so she could put her head over the seat and lick his face.

By the time Jasmin finally had his foot loose, she could see the sweat that had broken out on his face and the pale sheen on his skin. Feeling horrible for having caused the pain, she reached into her stash of goodies and handed him the bottle of good brandy her father favored. “I figure you deserve this, and I know my father would agree. He’d be happy to share his Christmas present with you.”

Closing himself back inside the car, Dex reached for the bottle and took a swig, letting the liquor burn it’s way to his belly, helping it to relax from the previous ordeal.

“Do you think it’s broken?” She prayed he’d say no.

“I don’t think we could have gotten the boot off if it was. I’m sure it’s just a wrench and will probably heal in no time.”

“Are you always this upbeat?” Jasmin felt the swelling and winced for him. “Can I take a look?”

“Sure. You can have your way with my foot as much as you want. I’m one of those weird dudes who actually likes foot massages.” He took another sip from the bottle, and then handed it to her.

“Just to warm me.” She held up the bottle and spoke before sipping and then making a face. “Yuck. I think I’ll stick with the wine.” After pushing the bottle back his way, she slowly peeled off his sock, and both saw the black and blue coloring around his swelling ankle. Rooting around in her purse, she found the large silky folding bag she carried everywhere to pack in groceries and opened it to reveal it’s size. I’m going to gather snow in here, and we need to put it on your foot.”

“Okay. Can you get out of the car on that side?”

“Not a chance, but I can reach through the window.” So saying, she lowered it, quickly sweeping away the falling flakes from melting inside before scooping up enough to fill the bag. Then she pushed the button to close the window again and after tying the bag handles together to keep the snow from escaping, she put it around his foot and grinned when he let out a sigh of relief.

Pretty Girl barked her approval and settled once more to resting. Enjoying the heat from the vents blasting through the coldness, Jasmin took off her down-filled parka and made herself comfy, folding up the garment so that Dex’s foot could rest on the softness, lifting it up as high as possible.

“Tell me about Dillon. What are your plans for the boy? Do you have enough battery charge in your phone now to show me his picture?”

Dex opened his cell and was surprised to see his battery had charged thirty-six percent already. Quickly, he showed her his latest photos of a happy, small-boned boy with his uncle’s natural-curly brown hair.

“He looks happy. And so much like you, he could be your son.”

“I know. My brother Max and I were twins, so it’s not surprising.”

“Tell me more.”

“You really want to know?”

“Of course. He’s a sweetie and doesn’t deserve his bad luck in grandmothers. I’m thrilled for him that you and Pretty Girl have adopted him.”

Dex stared at her without speaking. His warm gaze roamed her face until she broke away. “What?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you. It’s as if you understand why I there’s no choice about my nephew coming to live with me.”

“Of course I do. But I sense an issue. Does your wife feel differently?”