All the girls were attracted to Joe Bryant. He was 6'2", dark brown hair, with piercing brown eyes, and a beautiful body. He was the town police officer and was respected by everyone in the community. Joe Bryant was business partners with Ross Davis. Ross Davis and Joe Bryant became business partners after they served together in Vietnam. They both put their finances into a  ranch outside of Sunspot, New Mexico. Joe Bryant went to the police academy in Artesia, New Mexico. He wasn't married and he didn't have a girlfriend. 
Rose could tell Joe was getting annoyed at the way the waitress Susie was throwing herself at him. All the woman in town and the girls in  high-school pined over Joe. He worked part-time as a secuirty guard at the Cloud Croft HighSchool. He also helped juveniles on probation to straighten up their lives and teach them discipline thru maritial arts. Joe was in a serious relationship with a woman named Catherine Larter. He asked her to marry him but she cheated on him and he never had gotten over the betrayal.
Rose was not an attractive girl or at least she never felt like she was beautiful. The boys never paid her any attention nor did she want the attention. Rose was in her own world. She was into nature, books, and getting good grades. She wanted to get out of this hic country town that would eventually suck the life right out of you. Rose wanted adventure and wanted to see the rest of the world. She'd go up into the woods and sit on the bank of the mountain side and stare a the vastness of the land and the beauty that seemed to stretch for eternity. Rose wanted to be part of that vastness and has so many dreams of what she wanted to accomplish out of life.
Rose's father Ross always pushed her to hit the books and wanted her to go college. Rose's mother died when she eight. She only had her father and two brothers to raise her. The lost of her mother Abagail Davis left her feeling alone and insecure about herself. Rose had long black hair and was straight as a stick. She was made fun by other girls her age because she was a tomboy. Rose thought to herself as she was sitting their listening to her father and Joe talk that at least she didn't have to worry about putting on make-up or of fixing her hair. She was thinking of  what college she wanted to go to. She couldn't wait to graduate this summer. 
 Rose brothers had their own lives to live and were already graduated from high-school. They worked for their father and their lives consisted of chasing the girls in town. Rose felt all alone because everybody around her were to busy working and didn't have time to entertain a young women. She went to school and stayed to her herself. Rose's father let her drive the F150 4 by 4 extended cab to school.Rose's father knew that she was responsible and wasn't type of young women that didn't get herself into trouble. Rose friends were caught up in the dating scene and she didn't quite fit in. She just wasn't into romance and into boys. Rose wanted to live the adventures she read about in books and wanted to become a singer. 
All that she wanted and thought about changed her senior year in high-school. She was on her way home, which was about a two hours out of town when the truck just died out. Rose sat there in the truck not quite sure what to do. She realized she didn't have a cell phone to call anyone and she couldn't walk because it was going to be dark in about two hours. She just sat in the truck thinking for about twenty minutes wondering what she should she do. Rose thought to herself she could wait for her dad to come looking for, she could try walking, or maybe someone would come by and help her. She was in deep thought when a tapping at the window brought her out of her train of thought.  Rose looked into those piercing brown eyes and was lost in them for a few moments. She rolled down the window and Joe said, " What are doing parked beside the road?" Rose told him that the truck just died out. He told Rose to pop open the hood on the truck. Joe walked to the front of the truck and Rose got out to follow him. He moved a couple of wires and tried the ignition again but the truck won't turn over. 
I don't want to leave the truck here so I'll pull to my house.