Good as gold wood spring.., p.1
Good as Gold (Wood Springs Book 1), page 1
Good as Gold
D.M. Holland
Copyright © 2022 D.M. Holland
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Art Painter
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
content Note
Good as Gold is a sweet (and sometimes steamy) small town romance. Please note this story includes discussion of loss of a loved one and cheating by a previous partner.
Chapter 1
Goldie jerked the steering wheel at the last second, narrowly avoiding careening into the ditch that lined the side of the deserted back road. Slowly, she brought the car to a stop as she pulled onto the shoulder. Somehow, she managed to suppress the tears that threatened as she buried her face in her hands.
A cold, wet nose nudged the side of her face and she smiled brokenly. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching the road.”
Walnut, or Wally for short, gave her a long lick in response. Wally was just about the sweetest German Shepherd and Pit Bull mix a girl could ask for, weighing in at a hundred pounds. Beside her, Cashew, or more commonly Hew, whined for attention. Goldie turned in her seat to give both dogs some love.
“Do you guys need to go out for a moment?” The answer was a resounding yes. “All right, let me grab your leashes.”
Goldie opened her car door and went around to the passenger side. Cracking the door, she picked up the leashes, one blue and one orange, and hooked Wally and Hew’s leashes before opening the door wide enough to let them jump down.
The road was dark, in the middle of nowhere, and seemed as good a place as any to stop to let her dogs pee after driving for five hours straight. No doubt she needed to stretch her legs just as much as they did.
Her phone began to buzz in her back pocket. Cursing, she transferred the leashes to one hand and stared at her phone screen.
“Hey, Mom,” she answered, unable to interject any level of emotion into her tone.
“Hi, honey. How’s the drive?”
“Fine.” If you didn’t count almost crashing. “We just stopped for a rest break.”
“I really think you should get a hotel room for the night. I don’t want you on the road so late, especially since you aren’t familiar with the route.”
“I’ll stop if I get tired.” Goldie was only half listening as she let the dogs sniff the brush.
“Good. I know the past year has been hard on you, but I really wish you waited before making such a big decision.”
“I couldn’t stay in Maryland anymore, you know that.”
Her mother’s tone was impatient. “No, I know no such thing.”
“We’ve been over this; I don’t want to fight with you. It’s done. This is my decision; something I need to do for myself.”
Her mother heaved a sigh. “Send me a text when you get there. I don’t care what time it is; I just want to know when you’re safe.”
“I will. Love you, mom.” But her mother had already hung up. It was Goldie’s turn to sigh as she pocketed her phone.
“All right, kiddos. Are you ready to go?” Maybe some people would think Goldie was crazy for talking to her pets as if they were people, but since they treated her a lot better than her own husband did, she figured she was permitted this one quirk.
Ex-husband, Goldie reminded herself.
Hew and Wally finished sniffing and jumped back into the SUV, which was packed as full as Goldie dared. It wasn’t as if she had many belongings she wanted to bring with her, anyway. Just about everything she owned, she left behind.
They would just serve as a reminder of him, something she very much did not need.
Her divorce had been finalized this week, and Goldie had wasted no time getting out of dodge. She had been planning for it, but did that mean she was even remotely prepared?
Emotionally…hell no. But physically she was doing it even if it killed her.
The remnants of her old life were so completely broken, there was nothing worth picking up. It had sounded just as simple, refreshing even, to start over somewhere—anywhere—new.
But she had learned the hard way that nothing could be simple.
As they say, when it rains it pours.
Goldie’s biggest client, a local organic supermarket, who accounted for about seventy percent of her profit, cut their deal with her soap making business. If she didn’t increase her revenue from online orders, she would have a failed business to stack up with her failed marriage.
Headlights shone and a car barreled down the road, slowing as they came closer. She hurried to hop into the driver’s seat and lock the doors.
Being caught alone in the middle of nowhere Kentucky wasn’t her idea of a good night.
Don’t stop, she prayed to herself silently. But of course, the all black pickup truck slowed to a stop beside her window, rolling down their own in the process.
She considered ignoring them, but that seemed rude…even if this was the making of a scene in a horror movie. Right now the audience was probably screaming at her to drive away, not roll down her window like she was doing. An old George Strait song sounded from the pickup’s speaker as the driver leaned forward to speak to her.
George Strait sure didn’t seem like the music choice of a serial killer, so she turned fully to face the stranger.
“Hi, there. You aren’t having car trouble, are you? You’ll be waiting all night for AAA.”
Holy hell. She tried to pick her jaw up from the floor to speak. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
He nodded. “Glad to hear it.”
“Thanks for stopping to check.” She tried for a friendly smile but she was sure it came out more of a grimace. She pushed a loose wave back into her messy bun as a distant part of her brain registered that the stranger was…attractive.
This of course was a vast understatement. But it was something she hadn’t paid attention to about the opposite sex for the last year and a half as her divorce proceedings were going on. She was too jaded, too crushed by her husband’s betrayal to want anything to do with another flesh and blood man.
But something about this stranger, with his smooth honey drawl and dark curls peeking out from under a well-worn baseball cap drew her awareness.
Wally and Hew popped up beside her head, curious about the newcomer.
“Those are some good looking dogs you got there,” the man said with a lopsided grin.
Before Goldie could respond, Hew barked once as if to say thank you, and he laughed.
It lasted only a moment, but the sound of his amused chuckle burrowed past Goldie’s defenses. Feminine interest that had been long dormant awakened and she flushed, self-conscious that he would somehow sense her response to him.
“They’re a bit of a handful, but I love them,” Goldie answered, patting Hew on the cheek.
“I’ll bet. Well, you have a good night, now. Get home safe.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Goldie watched as the handsome stranger drove off. Then she shook her head and pulled onto the road behind him.
It went to show how bad her situation was that she had fantasized about the first man who deigned to be nice to her, even for approximately three-seconds.
She was divorced at twenty-eight, with nothing to show for her failed relationship but a boatload of emotional scars. How was she supposed to have known Brian, her partner of ten years (husband for seven of them) was screwing around on her?
It came as a complete shock, especially when he announced the home wrecker was pregnant and he was leaving to be with her.
It was a small blessing Goldie hadn’t caught him with her. Instead, she went to social media just to torture herself. Of course the woman was gorgeous, tall and lithe, with auburn hair and bright blue eyes…Basically Goldie’s opposite.
Sure, Goldie was pretty in her own way, but she had never possessed the effortless good looks of her replacement.
Goldie was short and curvy, her stomach had never been flat a day in her life, and her eyes were such a dark green that they might as well be black. She wasn’t exactly the type to inspire poetry…or tempt her husband not to stray, apparently.
Would that fact ever stop hurting?
The bruise to her pride was smarting, but the shock of Brian’s infidelity is what really cut her to the bone. She thought they were happy, blissfully in love.
She had been happy, at least.
His leaving her had her second guessing every memory, every shared intimacy. Had she seen what she wanted to see? Had she imagined his feelings for her?
There had been many low nights, fueled by ice cream overdoses, where Goldie wondered if she somehow tricked Brian into marrying her. Like it was her fault they had been together in the first place, as if she had trapped him and this was her punishment.
But the fact that he got this girl pregnant…That was the real kicker.
Before they got married, they discussed having kids. Brian told her he wanted a big family, and Goldie was thrilled,
It turns out, he didn’t change his mind about wanting kids. But he did change his mind about wanting kids with her.
The tears she had been holding at bay finally broke through her crumbling defenses. The stranger’s tail lights blurred ahead of her, and she hastily blotted at her eyes. Blindly, she reached for the packet of tissues that sat in the passenger seat. As her nose began to run, she took her eyes off the road long enough to locate them.
She chose the wrong second to glance away.
A heavy thud wracked her SUV and she and her dogs were thrown forward on impact.
Chapter 2
Goldie let out an oof fueled by shock and pain as she jolted against her seatbelt. Hew and Wally yelped as they tumbled into the back of her seat. Instantly, she was thankful for the duffel bags filled with clothes that padded the seats for them.
Her smoking car came to a stop and she tried to peer through her cracked windshield.
Groaning, she tried to turn her head to see the dogs, but even that small movement hurt her neck. “You guys okay? Everything will be all right, we just hit a deer.” They whimpered in response, and Goldie took that as a good sign. They sounded scared, but hopefully not hurt.
Goldie unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. Gingerly, she stepped onto the pavement and her worn sneakers crushed broken glass.
A buck lay on its side directly in front of her car and she winced. She wasn’t sure if it was dead or dying, but she wasn’t getting any closer to investigate.
The dogs continued to whine and she didn't know if it was better to leave them in the car or let them out, so she settled for opening the back door. She checked them over for injuries, luckily not finding any, and softly petted their thick coats. She poured water into their travel bowls before pulling out her phone.
As she stared at the dark screen, she thought of what the stranger said. You’ll be waiting all night for AAA.
Goldie didn’t like to admit that she didn’t know what to do in a crisis. Brian was always around to handle any car trouble, and she’d never been in an accident before. Did she need to report it to the police? But what could they do? She didn’t need an ambulance. She could call her mom…not that she wanted to speak to her for a second time in one night.
As she debated, headlights approached and she looked up to find the same black pickup truck parking on the opposite side of the road.
“I saw what happened through my rearview mirror. Are you all right?” The stranger unfolded himself from the driver’s seat and walked over to her.
Lord, he was a tall drink of water. Maybe she suffered an injury to her head, because all she could do was blink owlishly up at him.
Beside her, Wally whined and moved forward, as if he wanted to jump down to greet the newcomer.
“Stay,” Goldie commanded, finding her voice. “They’re friendly,” she assured him. Being large breeds, stereotypically and wrongfully considered scary or aggressive, some people had the tendency to be afraid of them.
But the man gave the same devilishly handsome, lopsided smile and offered the back of his hand for Wally and Hew to sniff. Once they nudged his hand with their noses, giving the okay and essentially demanding to be pet, the man obliged. He pet them, but his eyes were on her, assessing. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Goldie said as she blew out a long breath. “Just shaken up. I’ve never hit anything before, let alone a giant deer.”
He grinned. “It is a nice sized buck, I’ll give you that.”
“I’m not sure I know the proper protocol. Should I call 911?”
He shook his head. “The sheriff is a buddy of mine. I’ll give him a call so they can clear the road. And like I said, you don’t want to hold your breath for AAA. I can get you a tow but there’s no reason for you to wait for it to get here.”
Goldie frowned. “Why, is there somewhere within walking distance I can go?”
For the second time that evening, he laughed. “I take it you’re not from around here?”
Goldie didn’t answer. She was tired and felt dangerously close to tears again.
“I can give you a lift; you won’t be finding many Uber drivers or taxis in these parts. And I definitely wasn’t suggesting you go walking alone in the dark. Were you heading to town?”
Goldie hesitated. They were surrounded by forest and the only source of light came from their vehicles. The night was silent aside from crickets and her still smoking engine. “Not exactly. I was passing through.”
“Understood. Well, I know a nice bed and breakfast where you can stay for the night, until you get this mess sorted out.”
“Okay,” she said in a small voice. “I guess I won’t be going anywhere for a while.” She gestured sadly at the damage to her car.
He grimaced sympathetically. “My cousin Jimmy runs the auto repair shop in town. I’ll talk to him; get you a deal.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
Goldie wasn’t about to argue. She had enough sense not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and she wasn’t exactly rolling in cash at the moment. Far from it; a costly divorce and struggling business would do that to a person.
“Let me give you a ride. We can call on the way.” He held out his hand. “I’m Wesley Reeves.”
“Goldie Byrd,” she answered, shaking his hand. She jolted at the contact. His hand, large, warm, and deliciously calloused, engulfed hers. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him through her lashes, but unlike her, he seemed unaffected.
“Goldie Byrd,” he murmured, and she shivered at the sound of her name on his full, sensual lips. “Sounds like you should be an actress with a name like that.”
“I might have the name, but not the talent.”
He grinned. “You need a hand grabbing anything?”
“Uhm, yeah thanks. Let me just, uh…let someone know what happened and that I’m getting a ride.”
“Send them my license plate number,” he instructed and Goldie glanced at him curiously. He looked sheepish. “That was standard practice with my sister.” A flash of pain crossed his face, but she blinked, and it was gone. “If I was your loved one, I’d want to know that you’re safe.”
“Oh, uhm, thanks.” Goldie flushed and awkwardly went to snap a picture of his plate to shoot off to her best friend, Laura. No way was she about to tell her mom she was going off with a strange man. “What town are we headed to?”
“We’re outside of Wood Springs.”
She nodded and quickly typed out a text.
Goldie: hit a deer and a good Samaritan is giving me a lift into Wood Springs, KY. Going to have to stay the night, probably longer while my car gets fixed.
Laura’s response was almost immediate.
Laura: OMG are you okay? Keep me updated and be safe!!!
Goldie: Just shaken. I will. Love u.
“All good?” Wesley asked as she turned back to him.
“Yeah, thanks. Let me just grab my bag and the dog’s things. You don’t mind them being in your truck, do you?”
“Not at all. I love dogs.”
Thank God for that blessing. She didn’t trust people who didn’t like dogs. Especially her wonderful, lovable fur babies.
Goldie grabbed her purse from the front seat and the smallest duffel that held her toiletries and a few changes of clothes. At least one good thing from this mess was that she was already packed and had everything she needed.
“What can I carry?”
“Do you mind grabbing their leashes? They’re in the side door pocket.”
After retrieving them, he clipped on their leashes and carefully helped them cross to his truck, looking out for debris as they went. Goldie followed behind, carrying her bags, and helped him put the dogs in the cab of his truck. “Let me just grab their beds and food bag.”
“I’ve got it.”
She didn’t have the energy to argue and it was nice to have the help after the day she had. He dutifully picked up their beds and food, and Goldie grabbed a last bag that held their toys and food bowls.
