“I can also drive to the next area with signal and call somebody for you.”
She looked toward the thickening snowfall.
“How far?”
“Maybe eighteen miles downhill.”
“And uphill?”
“Almost nothing until the lodge road.”
Her expression sharpened.
“You know the lodge?”
“Heading there.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
He laughed softly.
“Was going to ask you the same thing.”
Neither answered.
The man looked back toward the pickup.
The passenger door opened.
A nine-year-old girl leaned out.
“Dad!”
He turned immediately.
“What?”
“Can I get out?”
“No.”
“I have my coat.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s fourteen degrees.”
“So?”
The man closed his eyes.
“Because I said no.”
The girl disappeared back inside.
The billionaire smiled.
“Your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“She negotiates.”
“Poorly.”
From the pickup came:
“I heard that!”
The billionaire laughed for the first time all afternoon.
The man smiled.
Then looked back at the Rolls-Royce.
“Want me to check it?”
She stepped aside.
“Yes.”
He approached.
Before touching anything, he removed gloves from his jacket and opened a small flashlight from his pocket.
The billionaire watched.
No awe.
No fascination with the badge on the grille.
He seemed more interested in the steam pattern.
He crouched.
Looked beneath the front end.
Then stood and leaned carefully into the engine bay.
“How long after the warning did you stop?”
“Maybe thirty seconds.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“If this is what I think, you saved yourself a much larger bill.”
She watched him.
“You say that like the current bill will be small.”
He glanced at the Rolls-Royce badge.
“It’s a Rolls.”
“Nothing is small.”
She almost smiled.
He checked the coolant reservoir without opening it.
Touched a hose cautiously.
Then lowered himself near the passenger side.
“Got a flashlight on your phone?”
She turned it on.
“Hold it here.”
He pointed.
She obeyed.
The billionaire found the experience strangely amusing.
Dozens of people worked for her.
Thousands indirectly.
Very few gave her instructions without becoming nervous afterward.
This stranger did not know enough to be nervous.
That felt refreshing.
He looked beneath the undertray.
Then frowned.
“There.”
“What?”