Excerpts

Cammi Carlisle had been heading east on Route 40 since dawn, doing her level best to keep her mind on the road rather than the reasons she'd left Los Angeles. It would take Herculean strength and the courage of Job, too, to tell her father everything she'd done since moving away from Texas.... Sighing, she looked away from the rain-streaked windshield long enough to glance at the blue-green numerals on her dashboard clock. Fifteen minutes, tops, and she'd be home. Dread settled over her like an itchy blanket. Her dad would never come right out and voice his disapproval of her decisions. Instead, he'd shake his head and say, "It's your life ... but I think you'll be sorry...." He'd said it when she signed up for Art instead of Bookkeeping in high school, when she traded her scholarship to Texas U. for acting lessons at the community college, when she announced her plans to move to Hollywood and try her hand at acting. Cammi sighed, wondering how old she'd have to be before her dad no longer made her feel like a knobby-kneed, silly little - From out of nowhere, came the angry blare of a car horn, the whoosh-hiss of tires skidding on rain-slicked pavement, the deafening impact of metal smashing into metal.... Then came an instant of utter stillness, punctuated by the soft tinkling of broken glass peppering the blacktop. Cammi loosened her grip on the steering wheel and took stock. She'd been traveling north, but her fifteen-year-old coupe now faced south in the intersection of Amarillo's Western Avenue and Plains Boulevard - the very corner where, thirteen years earlier, on a rainy night much like this one, her mother had died in a fiery car wreck. Still reeling from the shock of the impact, Cammi stepped shakily onto the pavement. She didn't seem to be hurt, and prayed whoever was in the other car had been as fortunate. Not much hope of that, though - the vehicle reminded her more of a modern-art sculpture than a pickup. The truck's side window had shattered on impact, making it impossible to see the driver. Gently, she rapped on the crystallized glass. "Hello ... hello? Are you all right in there?" "I'm fine, no thanks to you," came the gruff reply. The door slowly opened with a loud, protesting groan. One pointy-toed cowboy boot thumped to the ground, immediately followed by the other. "Are you crazy ?" the driver demanded as he stood and faced her. Pedestrians had gathered on the street corners as the drivers of other vehicles leaned out of their car windows: "Anyone hurt?" one woman asked. "Doesn't appear so," a male voice answered, "but I'm gonna be late, thanks to these idiots...." Good grief, Cammi thought. As if her reasons for coming home weren't bad enough, now she'd have to add "caused a car crash, smack-dab in the middle of town" to the already too-long list. Suddenly, she felt light-headed and grabbed the gnarled fender of the cowboy's pickup for support. He waved back the small crowd that had gathered, and steadied her, two strong hands gripping her upper arms. Crouching slightly, he squinted and stared into her eyes. "You okay? Should I call 911?" The dizziness passed as quickly as it had descended. Cammi shook her head. "No. I'm okay." And to prove it, she stepped away from his truck and smiled. He thumbed his Stetson to the back of his head and looked her over from head to toe. Satisfied Cammi was indeed all right, he nodded and crossed both arms over his chest. "Did you even see that red light?" Blinking as the cold October rain sheeted down her cheeks, she stared, slack-jawed and silent, as her gaze slid from his dark, frowning eyebrows to his full-lipped, scolding mouth. Not a bump or bruise, Cammi noted, not so much as a split lip. Thank God for that! "I - I'm sorry. I don't know what was ..." He ignored her just as surely as he ignored the quickly thinning crowd. Muttering under his breath, he began pacing circles around what was left of their vehicles. "Is she blind?" he said, throwing both hands into the air. "Where'd she get her driver's license, in a bubble gum machine?" Unlike her sisters and so many of her friends, Cammi had earned her license on the first try, and hadn't been involved in so much as a fender bender since. "I can see perfectly well, thank you," she snapped, "and there isn't a thing wrong with my hearing, either." He looked up suddenly. Scrubbing both hands over his face, he expelled a deep sigh, then slid a cell phone from his jacket pocket. "Well," he said, flipping it open and punching the keys with his forefinger, "at least you're not hurt." Frowning, he gave her a second once-over. If Cammi didn't know better, she'd have to say he looked downright concerned. "You are all right, right?" Except for that brief dizzy spell. - and Cammi thought she knew what was to blame for that - she'd come through the accident unharmed. A quick nod was her answer. Facing the intersection, he spoke quietly into the phone, shaking his head. He reminded her a bit of her father, what with his frustrated gestures and matter-of-fact reporting of the facts. He probably outweighed her dad by twenty pounds, all of it muscle, she decided, remembering the way his strong hands had steadied her moments earlier. The similarities made Cammi swallow, hard, knowing that the reprimand this cowboy gave her would pale when compared to the look of disapproval she'd see in her father's eyes once she got home. It would've been tough enough, bringing him up to speed on the reasons she'd left L.A. - without this mess. Especially one so similar to the wreck that killed her mother. Especially considering that in his mind, this too, like so many other things, had been her fault. Stubborn determination, she knew, was the only thing that stood between her and tears. But there'd be plenty of time for self-pity later, after she'd told her father about Rusty, about the - "Tow trucks are on the way," he said, interrupting her reverie. He snapped his phone shut, dropped it back into his pocket. "You look a little green around the gills," he added, wrapping those big fingers around her upper arm yet again. "Soakin' wet, too," he continued, leading her toward Georgia's Diner. And in a voice she couldn't describe as anything but tender, he added, "What-say you wait inside, where it's warm and dry, while I take care of things out here." She hated to admit it, but she did feel a bit dazed and confused. Why else would she have so quickly and willingly followed his instructions? As he reached for the door handle, Cammi considered the possibility that he was one of those multiple personality types ... raging mad one minute, sweet as honey the next. What if he'd just robbed a bank, and the accident had interfered with his getaway? He held the door open and smiled. "Order me a cup of coffee, will ya?" He nodded toward the intersection. "I have a feeling I'm gonna need it once that mess is cleaned up." (Continues...) Excerpted from An Accidental Hero by Loree Lough Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.