Page 51 of Your Carriage Awaits in Crumbleton
Trish winked at Michelle again, and she breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling a bit less like she was in freefall. She might not know exactly what was going on right now, but her mum, Keith and Danny clearly did, and that was enough to make her feel safe.
‘Ready for the off?’ said her dad, stroking the dashboard with a look of reverence, the beautiful car giving her a brief window of grace before he kicked off with the inevitable third degree.
‘Sure,’ said Michelle. ‘Would you hold on to this for me?’
Brian took the bakery box and rested it in his lap, blissfully unaware of the clue it held as to their destination.
The minute Michelle pulled away from the curb and her mum disappeared back inside the cottage, Brian turned to stare at her. ‘Alright, young lady, are you going to tell me how you come to be the proud owner of this car?’
Michelle couldn’t help but smile at that. If only she did own the Buick!
‘It’s not mine,’ she said slowly. ‘It’s actually a complimentary car.’
‘Give over,’ chuckled Brian.
‘I’m serious,’ said Michelle. ‘I broke down in that rain on my way back from Lawrence’s the other day. The garage I got towed to lent this to me.’
‘Really?!’ said Brian, clearly not believing a word of it. ‘This car? You know it’s probably worth about seventy grand, right?’
‘I’m sorry, what?!’ gasped Michelle, suddenly gripping the steering wheel tighter and easing over the cobbles more slowly.
Brian nodded. ‘To think you’ve just been leaving it in the carpark for troublemakers like Danny Dalton to steal.’
Michelle did her best to resist an eyeroll at that.
‘So,’ said Brian, blissfully unaware of the irony of his statement, ‘where’s your car, still at the garage?’
‘Yep.’
‘I’ll have to get their details,’ said Brian with a grin. ‘I wouldn’t mind getting to drive something like this every time I need to take the taxi in for a service.’
‘Mmm.’ Michelle was stuck somewhere between pure horror and the giggles.If only he knew!
‘Wait… why are we going this way?’ said Brian, the minute she took the turning out towards Crumbleton Clump.
‘Because this is the way to my new diner,’ she said. ‘Hopefully.’
‘But there’s nothing out this way,’ said Brian with a little frown. ‘Unless you’re treating me with the scenic route so I get to enjoy the ride a bit longer?’
‘That,’ said Michelle, nodding vigorously, glad of the ready-made excuse. It’d buy her a few more minutes…
‘Why are you indicating?’
‘Dad, have you ever looked at the old showroom up here?’ she said blandly, not daring to look at him.
‘No. I haven’t,’ said Brian, his voice tight. ‘And I can tell you right now that it isnotsuitable.’
‘Why?’ said Michelle. Her voice came out in a nervous squeak as she continued to trundle right up to the dandelion-dotted front of the showroom.
‘Turn around, Michelle.’
‘Dad—’
‘No. Turn around.’
Michelle killed the engine and turned to face her dad instead.
‘Dad. This car?—’
