A Heart That's Just Right

*** Based on Christian Morals--Christian Romance ***

Coco Goldy's car slides on ice in the middle of a Colorado blizzard early in the morning. She finds herself at the doorstep of Jonathan Beare, who resides in the huge home with his elderly mother and father. He thinks she's the famous burglar-lady-in-black, but she'd never heard of the woman. She just likes to dress in black. She's stuck at the home, finding out that the man who takes her in is none other than the rich owner of Beare Candies. Even though he has a goal of helping her realize her gifts from God, she wants to get away from him before he realizes she's not the person he thinks she is.

Excerpt

Coco Goldy pushed the button for the doorbell, hearing it ring inside the huge brick home. Wind, sleet, and snow blew onto the covered porch, making her hide her face in her old black coat. Her hands shook and her heart still raced from the car accident that'd left her stranded on the desolate country road west of Denver. Granted, it'd taken a while to trudge through the ice to the house, so she kept telling herself she was shaken from the walking trip but not from the accident. However, she couldn't drive her car in its current condition. She never wanted to drive again, because the thought of dying in the accident terrified her.

The wind blew hard and the sleet hit her face once more. Her frozen hair hit against her cheek as if slapping her, chastising her for being out in such a storm. Hadn't she been punished enough in her life? With her past, it certainly seemed to be true.

The house light turned on and the inside dark wooden door opened. A man stood in front of her, wearing gray sweatpants and a blue sweatshirt, with no shoes on his feet. With one eye opened, his hair was askew as if he'd just woken up. However, his face was so handsome—Coco couldn't believe her luck.

A blast of warmth hit her as he opened the outer glass door. Her cheeks and ears felt sore from the cold, bringing her back to reality from staring at this man.

"May I help you?" The man checked his watch with a yawn. "You do realize it's two in the morning." His jaw tightened. "On a Saturday." He seemed almost angry. "When I can finally sleep in."

She got the message, feeling guilty and unworthy of ringing the doorbell to the mini-mansion. She needed help and was willing to grovel if need be. "Yes, sir, and I'm really sorry." She pointed behind her as her teeth trembled. "My car just slid on the ice and it looks dead. I don't think I can drive it, let alone get into the driver's side from the ice. My cell phone battery's dead. Can you call a tow truck for me?"

He wiped his eyes and stared down over her. "You're soaked." He paused for a moment, his expression turning angry. "Wait. You're the Burglar Lady in Black. Get off my porch." He started to close the outer door, but Coco knew this was her only chance before he locked the big wooden door behind it. His home was also the only house around that she could find in the blinding sleet and snow.

She pushed open the glass door farther and held open the inner wooden door. "Who? Who are you accusing me of being?" With her free hand, she pointed behind her once again. "I had an accident and need a tow truck."

He didn't move for a moment, studying her from top to bottom, as if he was memorizing what she looked like. "Wait right there while I call the police." As he backed away and closed the door, Coco tried to wrap her head around the man's comments while letting go of the outer door. She heard a lock click. The man was either terrified or didn't trust strangers.

She was hardly scary or untrustworthy. Burglar Lady in Black? He was calling the police? What did she do wrong? She just needed a restroom and to get her car towed. As she sighed in frustration, her neck muscles strained, feeling like she'd been plagued with whiplash from the accident. From the look of the car when she'd walked away, she wasn't surprised her neck hurt because she'd probably been going too fast. She considered running back to her car, but since it took so long to get to this house in the ice and she was so cold, she just had to pay the price and wait. However, if he called the police, she'd probably end up in jail…again. At least it was warm in jail, from what she remembered.

While weighing her options to run back to the cold car, the inner door lock clicked again and the wooden door opened.

The handsome yet angry man stood in front of her with the phone at his ear. "She's still here." He nodded, his gaze traveling from her head to her feet as he pushed open the outer door just a bit. "Yes, sir. She's wearing all black, but no, she didn't try to get inside." He sighed, shaking his head. "I understand." He moved his mouth away from the receiver. "You don't behave like the Burglar Lady in Black. I'm to ask you where you were on Wednesday night."

She thought back to that night. "I was working until eleven at night. I'm a clerk at Ralph's Groceries in Arvada. You can check. I started work at three in the afternoon."

"What's your name?" the man asked.

"Coco Goldy." She lifted a lock of her hair and studied it, seeing the ice clinging to the strands. "It matches my golden hair—at least it's golden when it's dry. I've been nicknamed Goldilocks because of my hair and name."

"Goldilocks?" He laughed slightly and recited her name over the phone, returning his attention to her a moment later. "I'm Jonathan, or Jon, Beare and live here with my parents."

She couldn't believe it, a small chuckle escaping from her lips as she shivered. "The three bears live here? Momma Bear and Daddy Bear…which makes you Baby Bear?"

"Sure, but if there's a real bear on this property, I'm running the other way." He grinned slightly, returned to the phone, and repeated the information on her whereabouts from two nights before. "Yes, officer. Thank you. I'm going to keep her here because there's no way she can leave in this storm. If you need any more information, just call me." Jon nodded and laughed. "Yes, sir. You have a good night, too, sitting in your office watching the ice fall." He ended the call and opened the door further. "I'm sorry, Miss Goldy. I need to apologize for my behavior. It's just that you're wearing all black and that's the Burglar Lady in Black's signature color. Come on in and be my guest."

She pointed behind her, not moving an inch. Wasn't he getting this? "I just need a tow truck. My cell phone's dead. I can wait outside for it." Since he didn't seem to trust her, she wasn't about to ask to use the bathroom.

"You can't stay out there. Come in and get warm. You look frozen."

She crossed her arms and shivered, not wanting to go inside this unknown home. "I just need to use a restroom and call for a tow truck. That's the reason I took this road because the sign on the main road promised a gas station with a restroom."

He backed away, flipped off the porch light, and turned on the inside hall light. "I can't let you die out there." With one arm extended, he ushered her into his home. "Come inside and we'll see what we can do to help you."

When she entered his home, the warm air surrounded her as if she'd walked into a furnace. She just hoped it wasn't a nasty place to be. "Thank you," she said. "I'll pay you as soon as I can get my purse out of the car. I couldn't get back in the car because I kept slipping on the sheet of ice. It's not nice out there, but I can try."

"Come with me," he said, and locked the inner wooden door behind her. "The bathroom's this way."

"Thank you." She wiped her feet on the mat and followed him down the hallway past a sitting room on the left. Her black heels clacked on the wooden floor to a bathroom, situated between what looked like a kitchen and a living room. She could only see from the moonlight coming through the far windows and the dim light from the foyer.

He flipped on the bathroom light. "I'll wait right here for you."

She inched past him, worried it may not be safe. "Thank you. Then I'll be on my way."

"We'll talk."