Page 14 of Your Carriage Awaits in Crumbleton
‘That’s brilliant!’ she said, resisting the urge to fist-pump in triumph. Perhaps this was going to be simpler than she’d expected.
‘There’s a “but” attached, I’m afraid.’
This ominous statement was closely followed by a metallic clang and a curse as something dropped onto the concrete floor.
‘You okay?!’ said Michelle.
‘Yeah… yeah, sorry about that.’
She raised an eyebrow and watched as the oily boots scrabbled for purchase again. Then Danny Dalton emerged—inch-by-deliciously-grubby-inch—from beneath her car.
‘Hi!’ Michelle squeaked, resisting the urge to start twirling her hair between her fingers like a love-struck teenager. She couldn’t help it. The grin beaming up at her was practically enough to make her knees wobble.
‘Hey, fancy seeing you here,’ Danny chuckled, just before Elvis jumped on top of him and started to lick his face. ‘Get off, you idiot! Help…!’ he spluttered. ‘I’m going to drown!’
Michelle couldn’t help but laugh as she leaned forward. Taking hold of the excited dog’s collar, she dragged him off his owner with some difficulty.
‘Phew, thanks!’ said Danny, heaving himself to his feet and wiping his face with the back of one broad, decidedly muscly arm.
Michelle watched as he left streaks of grease across his face.
Hubba hubba!
‘What?’ said Danny when he caught her watching him.
‘Erm… you’ve got a bit of something…’ she said quickly, pointing vaguely at her own face. It wasn’t a lie, but “a bit of something” definitely wasn’t the reason she was staring.
‘Oops!’ he laughed. Leaning over, he grabbed a rag from a nearby workbench and gave his face a cursory wipe before starting to rub his hands.
Michelle still couldn’t tear her eyes away. For some reason, he seemed taller than last night. The fabric of his grey work shirt stretched across his chest, his muscles flexing and releasing as he scrubbed at the oil stains. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as her eyes raked his mop of dark hair. She wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers through it.
When Danny looked back up at her, there was a decidedly mischievous grin playing at the corners of his mouth. Had he just caught her staring?
Michelle quickly gave herself a little shake. She needed to say something.
‘But…?’ she said.
‘Huh?’ said Danny, looking confused.
‘Under there,’ she said, pointing at the car and feeling mildly stupid. ‘Before there was that crash. You said the car’s running, but there’s abut…?’
‘Oh, yeah, right,’ said Danny, tossing the rag aside and running his hands through his hair. Michelle followed the movement hungrily before shaking her head again. Focus, she had to focus!
‘But… it feels like a bit of a miracle the car’s running at all. There are a few bits… erm… missing.’
‘Missing?’ said Michelle in surprise.
‘I found a couple of parts in the glove compartment, actually.’
‘Blame my ex-boyfriend,’ she said quickly, the words tumbling out in a rush. ‘He borrowed my car all the time, and every time he came back, something else had fallen off. Of course, it was neverhisfault. He only drove it to save himself fuel. He was a nightmare. He…’
Michelle clapped a hand over her mouth. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get stuck in and have a proper rant about Lawrence’s many failings, and thisreallywasn’t the place.
‘Your ex?’ said Danny. For some reason, he was looking weirdly cheerful. ‘The one you went to pick your boxes up from yesterday?’
‘Yeah. That one,’ said Michelle, doing her best not to sound like she was growling. It wasn’t Danny’s fault that anything to do with Lawrence turned her into a bear with a sore head.
‘Anyway, the car,’ said Danny. ‘It’s like I said, it’s running. You can drive it away if you want. Thing is, if you do that, I don’t think you’ll get very far.’
