Page 29 of The Right Woman

When I slip back into the cab of my truck, she’s shivering, so I blast the heat for her. I rummage around in my back seat for a sweatshirt from my gym bag and hand it to her. “Sorry. It probably stinks, but I forgot to bring a coat with me.”

She takes it and, instead of balking, holds it to her nose, sniffs it in a long inhale, and seems to relax.

“Thank you.” The navy fabric drowns her little frame, and she tucks her knees up under the front like it’s a blanket, perching on the seat like a bird.

Making sure she’s settled, I start the engine and head out onto Main Street. “Have you eaten? You need food?”

“I’m okay. I’m not very hungry. I just came from dinner…”

My jaw clenches at the thought of her being out with someone else, but I shouldn’t be concerned with that. Did he break her heart? Is there someone she loves? Before I get too caught up in the raging green monster eager to tear out my insides, her eyes dart over to me with a shy glance. “At my mom’s.”

“Ah.” I had seen her sitting with a group of people that looked like her the morning of that lady’s death. Perhaps that was her family. A sister? Mother? Father? Not sure who everyone was. Things seemed tense, though. “You don’t get along with her?”

Straightening in the seat, she flicks the vents toward her to get more heat. Her chest puffs up with air as she takes a deep inhale. “No.”

I keep checking over the other side of the cab, but she’s harder to read than Avery. “Did something happen there?”

One tear rolls down her cheek as she stares straight ahead, ignoring me. Instead of forcing things, I flip on the radio, where Miles Davis sings “Blue in Green” through his trumpet. Bill Evans tries to keep the optimism of the moment with the melodic piano, but Paul Chambers reminds us where this tune is heading with the bass.

“What is this?” Piper asks, interrupting me from my reverie.

“This is jazz. Miles Davis, more specifically. You like?”

She’s quiet for a moment, staring out into the night as soft rain drops create tiny prisms on the windshield. “It’s like he put my soul into the sound.”

My fingers grip the steering wheel tight.Fuck. No, no, no.

I think I just fell in love.

Emotion grips my throat tight, but I clear it. “Yeah. He does that.”

Despite her saying she’s not hungry, I assume she must need some type of hot meal. So I pull over to the corner diner at the end of Main and Oak, one of the places near the north end of the campus. She glances at me with a wet droplet hanging from her bottom lashes. “Just hang tight. I’ll be right back.”

Once inside, I find Mandy in her blue-and-white checked frilly uniform and tap her on the shoulder. “Oh, Adon! Hey. You want your usual?”

“No, actually. Just wanted some of the chili and crackers to go. Cheese on top.”

She tucks her pen into her gray beehive hair. “You got it. Give me one minute, darlin’.”

It doesn’t take her five minutes before she returns, and I pay at the register. By the time I get back to the car and hand the bag to Piper, she’s swaying to Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.” “What’s this?”

“Chili and crackers. Just in case you need something.”

When I pull my hand back, she snags it with both of hers and tugs me closer. “Adon, I can’t thank you enough for coming to my rescue.”

Her eyes are big, rounded, and needy. My lips itch to feel hers and, inwardly, I groan at the struggle I’m going through. Shit. The rumbling sound escapes, and she parts her mouth as if to accept me. It’s beyond tempting how close she is, close enoughfor a simple taste. But I can’t do this. She’s too young, wild, carefree. And vulnerable right now.

So I pull back and steer the truck toward the shop. “You’re welcome. You can call anytime.”

“But you also sent me a new couch. You didn’t need to.”

I shrug and shake my head. “I broke it. I needed to replace it.”

As we finish our drive, she peeks at the chili, and by the time we sit down in my office at the back of the shop, she downs half of it and rubs her belly beneath my sweatshirt. “Maybe I was hungry.”

“Do you want to talk about tonight? What happened?”

Across the desk, she lifts her gaze up to my face, but her smile drops. “Something bad?—”

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