Read Online Midnight Kiss by Robyn Carr, Victoria Dahl, Jean Brashear - Free Book Online Page A

quick glance, a frown, then looked back at the road. And that’s when it happened—as if it fell from the sky, he hit a buck. He knew it was a buck when he saw the antlers. He also saw its big, brown eyes. It was suddenly in front of the SUV—his oldest sister’s SUV that he had borrowed to go up to the cabin. Though they weren’t traveling fast, the strike was close, sudden, the buck hit the front hard, was briefly airborne, came down on the hood, and rolled up against the windshield with enough force for the antlers to crack it, splinter it.
    Drew fought the car, though he could only see clearly out of the driver’s side window. He knew that to let the SUV go off the road could be disastrous—there were so many drop-offs on the way to the cabin. He finally brought the car to rest on the shoulder, the passenger side safely resting against a big tree.
    Sunny screamed in surprise and was left staring into the eyes of a large buck through the webbed andcracked windshield. The deer was lying motionless across the hood.
    Drew turned to Sunny first. “Sunny…”
    “We hit a deer!” she screamed.
    “Are you okay? Neck? Head? Back? Anything?” he asked her.
    She was unhooking her belt and wiggling out of it. “Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God! He’s dead! Look at him! He’s dead, isn’t he?”
    “Sunny,” he said, stopping her, holding her still. “Wait a second. Sit still for just a second and tell me—does anything hurt?”
    Wide-eyed, she shook her head.
    He ran a hand down each of her legs, over her knees. “Did you hit the dash?” he asked. “Any part of you?”
    She shook her head. “You have to help the deer!” she said in a panic.
    “I don’t know if there’s much help for him. I wonder why the airbags didn’t deploy—the SUV must’ve swept the buck’s legs out from under him, causing him to directly hit the grille, and since the car kept moving forward, no airbags. Whew, he isn’t real small, either.”
    “Check him, Drew. Okay?”
    “I’ll look at him, but you stay right here for now, all right?”
    “You bet I will. I should tell you—me and blood? Not a good combination.”
    “You faint?”
    She nodded, panic etched on her face. “Right after I get sick.”
    He rolled his eyes. That was all he needed. “Do not get out of the car!”
    “Don’t worry,” she said as he was exiting.
    Drew assessed the deer before he took a closer look at the car. The deer was dead, bleeding from legs and head, eyes wide and fixed, blood running onto the white snow. There was some hood and grille damage, but the car might be driveable if he didn’t have a smashed windshield. It was laminated glass, so it had gone all veiny like a spiderweb. He’d have to find a way to get that big buck off and then, if he drove it, he’d have a hard time seeing through the cracked glass.
    He pulled out his cell phone and began snapping pictures, but in the dark it was questionable what kind of shots he’d get.
    He leaned back in the car. “Can I borrow your camera? It has a nice, big flash, right?”
    “Borrow it for what?”
    “To get some pictures of the accident. For insurance.”
    “Should I take them?” she asked.
    “I don’t know if you’ll have time before you get sick and faint.”
    Blood. That meant there was blood. “Okay—but let me show you how.” She pulled the camera bag from the backseat, took the camera out and gave him a quick lesson, then sat quietly, trying not to look at the dead deer staring at her as light flashed in her peripheral vision.
    But then, curious about where Drew was, she looked out the cracked windshield and what she saw almost brought tears to her eyes. With the camera hanging at his side from his left hand, he looked down at the poor animal and, with his right hand, gave him a gentle stroke.
    Then he was back, handing her the camera. “Did you pet that dead deer?” she asked softly.
    He gave his head a little nod. “I feel bad. I wish I’d seen him in time.