Page 3 of Ashes to Ashes

Two

I climbedout of the truck and waited a good long minute to make sure the idiot didn't turn back around. I tapped on the window. "He's gone fornow."

The purple cap popped up from the shadows inside the building, and her face appeared through the hazy windowpane. "Thank you," she said through the glass. She disappeared for a few seconds and reemerged on the side of the building, brushing vigorously at her shirt and jeans to rid them of dirt and cobwebs.

She was tall and thin and moved with the graceful speed of a dancer or athlete. Her smile lit up beneath the shade of the hat as she stopped in front of me with her hand out in greeting. "I'm Denni."

I took hold of her hand. It was smooth and warm. "Luke."

"Huh, I had you pegged for a David or Bryan. Anyhow, I owe you, Luke." She bit her lip and glanced around. "I could wash your truck or fill the tires withair."

I shook my head once. "Nope. No debt. I'm just glad I was here. That is one mean guy. Maybe you're better off without him." I reached up and lightly touched the bruise on her cheek. I had no idea what had prompted it, but suddenly, I wanted that bruise to be gone. "Or maybe you hit it on a door handle?" I asked hopefully, not wanting to know that the asshole had hither.

Denni's thin shoulders rose with a deep breath. "Nope, the bastard punched me. Knocked me clean out and then stole something ofmine."

My eyes widened. "Stole something?"

She laughed. It was a good sound. "Not that, silly. Jeez, men and their one track minds. Trust me, that cherry was popped long ago. Well, not long ago, but back in high school. No, he took something even more important, and now I've got to figure out how to get it back." She pointed at my truck. "Where are you headed?" She covered her mouth. "Excuse me. My grandmother always used to scold me and tell me I was a nosy posy. Seems she was right. None of my business." She pointed back over her shoulder. "I'm just going to head out to the highway and try that ole' thumb trick you mentioned earlier. Have a safe trip, whichever direction you head." The long loose curls of her hair bounced against her back as she walked away. She swung her backpack up to one shoulder.

Aside from the luxurious mass of hair, it was hard not to notice that she had an amazing ass in her tight jeans.

"I'm heading up to the mountains," I called toher.

She stopped and spun around, flashing her hazel eyes my direction with just enough gleam to make me lose my train of thought.

"To the mountains?"

Her question helped revive my memory. "I'm taking my dad's ashes up to his cabin. He wanted me to spread them out over the forest floor."

"I'm sorry about yourdad."

"Thanks. He was sick for a year, so it wasn't a surprise or anything. I mean it still hurt like hell to lose him, but I had some time to acceptit."

She walked back to me. "Guess that's the one perk in knowing that you're going to die. You can say good-bye to everyone. My grandmother got up to go to the bathroom one night, and she just keeled over dead. I never got to say good-bye or let her know how much I would missher."

"I'm sorry to hearthat."

"Happened back when I was a teenager. She raised me." Her lush black lashes floated down as she stared at the ground. "Well, I need to find a ride out of here before Zeke comes back looking forme."

"I can take you north as far as you want to go." The words just fell out of my mouth without another thought. Actually, there was one thought. Emma would kill me if she knew. "So what do yousay?"

"If you don't mind? I promise to be a good passenger. I'll only sing when it's a super great song. And I won't eat all of your snacks, and if I do have some, I promise not to drop crumbs. Unless you have those powdered sugar donuts, then the promise is off because those are impossible to eat neatly." She shot me a questioning look that was fucking adorable. "Do you have snacks?" she asked hopefully. "My cookies and milk just left with the creep."

"I've got half a chili dog and some red licorice whips."

"Two of my favorites."

I walked Denni to the passenger side and opened the door. The shiny blue urn was leaned against the seat, tucked in beneath the seatbelt.

She pointed at it. "Is thatDad?"

"Yes."

"How do you do, sir? You have a lovely son." She leaned over and lowered her voice. "He's extremely handsome too." She looked back at me. "Should I hold him on my lap, or do you want me to ride inback?"

I unfastened the seatbelt. "No, I can tuck this in behind my seat. I just didn't want it to roll around and break." I moved Dad's urn to a safe spot, and Denni climbed inside my truck.

I walked around to the driver's side and climbedin.

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