Page 50 of Finding You

Double dammit.

With the car in perfect running order, there wasn’t a reason for her to stay beyond the festival this weekend.

Well, other than her really wanting to.

But she felt weird admitting that to Devin. Hell, she had trouble admitting it to herself! Just like she had that fear of rejection earlier while typing up the message to her mother, she felt that same fear about confessing to Devin how she felt about what she really wanted.

“Shit,” she murmured as she cruised along the road that led to the ski resort. It was tempting to drive all the way there and get a sneak peek at everything, but she kind of wanted to be surprised along with everyone else.

That’s when an idea hit her.

It was a little out of character for her to do something like this, but…

Carefully turning around on the narrow road, she pulled over as far as she could go, put the car in park, and turned it off.

Drastic times called for drastic measures.

ChapterTen

Devin glanced at MacKenzie as they drove back to the shop. She didn’t look upset. If anything, she looked…tranquil.

“You sure you’re all right?” he asked.

Turning to him, she smiled and nodded. “Absolutely.” Then she reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Good thing this happened now rather than while I was on the interstate in the middle of nowhere again, right?”

Frowning, he nodded. Fifteen minutes ago, MacKenzie had called him and told him the car was running hot and making a clanking noise. It made no sense. He had gone over everything with the car. Twice! There was no reason for it to run hot or to make any kind of strange noise. And as much as he hated to think he’d messed something up, he was also as thankful as she was that she was still in the Sweetbriar Ridge town limits when it happened.

“I…I really don’t know what to say, MacKenzie,” he said. “For the life of me, I can’t imagine what could have gone wrong. This has never happened before. When I release a car, I know it’s in perfect running order. We’re closing early for the next couple of days, and we’ve got a fairly full schedule of appointments…”

“Devin,” she interrupted. “It’s all right. I don’t expect any special treatment. And with the festival starting…” She sighed.

And it wasn’t with disappointment.

“I promise to look at it as soon as I can.”

She smiled sweetly at him again. “I know. Take your time.”

Take his time? Was it possible she wasn’t as eager to get to Oregon as he’d originally thought? It wasn’t completely implausible–after all, with the new turn in their relationship, maybe she was a little interested in seeing where it all went?

But if she was, why didn’t she say anything?

You could bring it up…

He could, but he was afraid to get his hopes up.

Clearing his throat, he reiterated what the next few days were going to be like. “I’ve got a line of cars needing to get done before our shortened hours start tomorrow. I promised the guys we’d all be out of there at noon since the festival kicks off at four. Traffic’s going to be a beast getting up there and…”

“I know,” she replied, still smiling. “Like I said, I’m not expecting you to go out of your way. Take care of your customers, Devin. I’m fine. Unless…” Her smile faded slightly. “I mean, I’m sure you’re a little anxious to have some time to yourself without me hovering all over the place. I promise to find a way to…”

She never got to finish. They had just pulled back in to the shop’s parking lot when Devin hit the brakes hard and threw it in to park. He turned toward her, his heart hammering in his chest and more than a little irritated. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. “I…I don’t know what you mean?”

Taking a calming breath, he let it out slowly. “Okay, I realize we might not have known each other for very long, but it’s obvious neither of us is great at communicating.”

Her shoulders sagged slightly, but she didn’t say anything.

“This whole situation with us has been a bit unorthodox. I know that. And you should know that I’m not the kind of guy who jumps into a relationship like the way I have with you.”

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