Page 14 of Lady Luck's Kiss
“Got a name and number for you – that’s it.”
“That will work. Ready?”
“Sure am, put her in neutral and let’s get it inside. Coffee sounds really good about now.”
A sharp stick in the eye sounds better!she thought and pulled the steering wheel heavily to turn the large vehicle. There would be no getting out of having coffee with Buddy unless there was an Act of God at this point.
She was so glad to have the truck right now to look at. Unfortunately, that meant pushing the Camaro out so she could still work. She only had two lifts in the garage and the Camaro sitting on one of them was a waste of space.But at least it was running now,she thought. That would make it much easier to get it in and out of the garage in the evenings.
Pulling forward slowly, she got the truck into place and yelled for Buddy to stop. Setting the emergency brake, she got out of the truck carefully so as not to scratch the doors on the lift posts.
“Cream and sugar?” she asked politely.
“You know how I like it: sweet,” he started with a knowing grin.
“Just like I like my women,” she chimed in, rolling her eyes at the worn cliché.
He was consistent, she had to give him that. Every time he saw her, he made a comment. If this was it today, she was out of trouble. Pouring coffee into two cups, she handed one to him with the lidded glass jar of sugar she kept out for customers. Sprinkling creamer in her own cup, she set it down and exchanged with him simply to avoid touching his hands.
They were grimier than hers and she had been tinkering on the Camaro while she waited for the next job. Taking a big sip, she sighed in delight at the taste.
“Truck belongs to a Jake Seguin and the number is…” he droned on, but Charlie was too busy trying to keep from choking on the scalding liquid. Grabbing a tablet, she hurriedly wrote down the phone number.
“JackSeguin,” she corrected.
“You know him?”
“Met him once or twice,” she answered evasively and took another sip. Apparently, his truck broke down on the way home.That sucks, she thought,almost as much as me trashing my phone in the bath. Lady Luck, my foot!
“I’ll call in a bit to find out what happened.” That, and she wanted him gone when she had an opportunity to talk to Jack. What if he showed up to get stuff out of his truck? She almost dropped her coffee mug and smiled awkwardly at Buddy who had noticed the bobble. Thankfully, she caught it at the last second.
“Problems?”
“Just busy, you know?” she said offhandedly, hoping he’d take the hint. Seeing his crestfallen expression, she knew he had. “I appreciate you bringing it here first, Buddy. Thank you again.”
“Maybe you can thank me over dinner?”
Dang, he just didn’t stop…
“Beth is coming over tonight.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I have to go to the grocery.”
Charlie flinched. That sounded lame, even to her ears. Taking a deep breath, she smiled politely. “Buddy, look. I appreciate the work, but I don’t want to complicate things and I am just not ready. Please understand that.”
“Just call me when you decide that you are ready.” The frustration was written all over his face. His dingy cheeks were ruddy in hue and his eyes looked hurt. Nodding politely, she couldn’t answer what she wanted to say which was “when pig’s fly”or“over my dead body”.
There was no reason to put either of those ideas out for the Universe, right?
8
CHARLIE
Charlie called Jack the moment Buddy was in the tow truck and pulling out of the parking lot. There was no need for him to walk back in for some forgotten thing and overhear her talking sweet and making goo-goo eyes over the phone.
“Hello?”
