The Santa Man

Chapter 10

Sarah looked at her watch. She'd managed to stay silent for seven minutes, which she thought showed quite a bit of self-discipline. She longed to ask this lean, quiet man questions. About Willing. And the people he was delivering supplies to. And why he wasn't married.

Or if he was he involved with someone.

He didn't look at her as if he was involved with someone. His gaze had been warm, appreciative, if a little wary. She was used to that, having been given the gift of curly blond hair and a too-curvy body. She fought those curves daily, with protein bars and artificial sweeteners and her Zumba DVD's.

She called Amber and told her what she was doing, though the call was cut short by Amber's boys screaming in the background. She also updated the nice young man at AAA, who assured her that she was "on the list." Whatever that meant. He thought her car would be towed to Billings, but maybe not today, though he wasn't sure.

Sarah decided she would not stress over a ten-year-old car. At least not today. Not when she was lucky she wasn't hurt, upside down in a ditch freezing to death. They never saw another car, truck or vehicle of any kind.

Hip finally broke the silence with that deep, serious voice of his.

"Want a sandwich?"

She was starving. "I have some protein bars in my bag, and some M&M's."

"I was given enough food for four people before I left town," he said. "There are some bags in the back, right behind your seat. Cookies, too."

"Cookies? Really?"

"Help yourself."

She had to unbuckle her seat belt to find them. She grabbed the bag and opened it, inhaling the smell of cinnamon and chocolate. After giving one to Hip, she bit into the oversize cookie. "Oh my goodness, that's the best cookie I've ever had in my life."

"Yeah."

"Who made them?"

"Lucia Hove, the town baker."

"In Willing."

"Yeah."

"I want to go there and buy a hundred of them."

"She has a website. And she bakes for the local café."

Sarah helped herself to another cookie. "There goes my diet. And my new bathing suit in Cabo."

He turned a baffled look in her direction. "Why would you be on a diet?"

"You are a lovely man," she told him, licking the chocolate from her fingers. "Do you have a lot of stops left?"

"Seven. The next one's coming up."He pulled over to the side of the road and retrieved his papers. After studying them he handed them to Sarah, who noticed that over half had already been checked off.

Santa had been busy.