Page 66 of Bittersweet

“This is my boyfriend’s truck. I wanted to see the damage for myself.”

“It’s awful, isn’t it? I got some pretty good coffee from that truck. I’m very sad this happened.”

“Yeah, we are too.”

“Name’s Wally. I work at the body shop.” He pointed to the little shop on the far corner of the lot. “I’d love to help him out when he’s ready to remodel it.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll be able to get it fixed. Not anytime soon.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He shook his head sadly. “Well, if anything changes, you know where to find me. I’ll work out a deal for him. Such a needless tragedy.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind. I’ll pass that along.” She removed a business card from her purse and handed it to him. “And you stop by the bake shop anytime, and I’ll hook you up with something tasty.”

“Well, thank you. You have a good day, miss.”

“You too.”

As she watched Wally head back to the building, she couldn’t help but feel a little of her hope in humanity restored. There really were kind people out there, willing to help when things went wrong.

She pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Logan.

Harper:

Met a guy who loved the coffee from your truck. He’s got a repair shop and says he’ll cut you a deal to get it fixed.

She added a heart emoji and hit “send".

Logan:

Never start your messages to me with ‘met a guy’.

Harper laughed.

Harper:

Jealous?

Logan:

Should I be?

Harper:

He’s probably sixty. Besides, you’re the only one for me.

His reply was a heart emoji and an “I love you.”

Maybe this could work after all. She typed her reply.

Harper:

I love you too.

Harper walked around the truck again, still in shock at the damage. Wally seemed to think it could be repaired, though it appeared unfixable, but she couldn’t give up hope that maybe one day Logan would have his truck back. Or maybe, if her plan worked, he could get a new truck.

She kicked at a piece of broken concrete by the front tire, and it landed a few feet away, next to a wadded up paper on the ground. Her pulse stuttered as she took a closer look.

No! It couldn’t be.

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