Page 539 of One More Kiss

Mick

I climbed into the car,then headed out of town. Dusk hadn't quite fallen yet, and the sky was a rosy pink as the sun began to set. I turned onto the long stretch of road that would take me home, rolling the windows down and cranking up the volume on the stereo. Up ahead, a blue car off to the side of the road caught my attention. I let off the gas and automatically slowed, looking for the driver to see if they needed help.

The closer I got, I saw the hood propped open, and a figure stood peering into the engine compartment. I slowly navigated around the car then pulled to the side of the road and shifted into park. A woman about my age turned to look at me, her arms crossed tightly over her waist. I opened my door and met her gaze as I unfolded from my seat. “Do you need some help?”

Almost reluctantly, she nodded. I couldn’t blame her. If I were in her shoes, I’d be cautious of some random guy rolling up, too. I took in her defensive posture before dragging my eyes upward to her face. She was pretty, with fair skin and hair the color of burnished copper pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. My gut tightened as my gaze strayed lower, taking in her flushed cheeks, eyes rimmed with red as if she'd been crying. “What happened?”

“It stalled out,” she explained, gesturing toward the car with one hand.

Not moving from my spot, I tipped my head at the exposed engine. “Mind if I take a look?”

She looked torn but finally nodded. I slowly approached and she moved off to the side, giving me a wide berth. As I neared the car, a small face in the backseat drew my attention. Strapped into a car seat, a little girl with bright reddish gold curls identical to the woman's lifted one hand to wave at me. I waved back, then turned my attention to the woman standing nervously next to the fender. “Did you notice any lights come on?”

She shook her head and a strand of hair came loose from her bun, falling to graze along her shoulder. “No.”

“No steam, no strange noises?”

She shook her head again. “It took a second to turn over when I started it, and it was fine for a while. Then it started making this grinding sound.” She gestured with one hand. “I figured it was better to pull over than risk it and keep driving.”

“Okay, no problem.”

I poked around for a few minutes, then threw a look her way. “Can you try to start it for me?”

She climbed into the driver seat and cranked the engine. Just as she’d said, it made a horrific noise when it turned over, but it didn’t stall.

I walked around the car, and she rolled down the window so I could speak with her. “I’ll need to run diagnostics on it to tell for sure, but I don’t have what I need with me.” I hitched one thumb over my shoulder. “I work at Kline Motors in Cedar Springs. If you head there, I can check it out for you.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

For the first time, I noticed how big and crystal blue her eyes were. The sight rendered me speechless for several seconds before I gathered my wits about me. “Yeah, we can go right now if you'd like. I'll follow you to make sure nothing happens.”

“Um… okay.” White teeth cut into her bottom lip. “I would appreciate that, thank you.”

I nodded back toward town. “You go first, and I'll be right behind you.”

The woman did a K-turn in the middle of the road, then headed back the way I’d come from just minutes before. I hopped in the driver seat of my car and fell in behind her. She must've known exactly where we were going, because she found the garage with no problem. She steered the car right up to the first bay, and I parked beside her. Taking my keys out, I unlocked the door and hit the button to lift the bay door so she could pull inside. I guided her in, making sure to leave the door open so she didn't feel trapped.

“I'll need in the driver’s seat for a second,” I said to her through the window. “I'm going to grab the code reader if you want to have a seat in the waiting room.”

Without waiting for her response, I trudged over to the workbench. When I returned, the woman stood next to the car, holding the hand of the little girl who'd been in the backseat. She grimaced when she saw me. “I hate to put you out, but would you happen to have a bathroom we could use?”

“Sure, follow me.” I led her into the waiting room and pointed down the hallway. “First door on the left.”

She threw a little smile over her shoulder at me. “Thanks.”

I don't know what it was about this woman that unsettled me, but I felt jittery as I made my way back to the garage to fix her car. I plugged in the reader and waited a minute for the fault code to appear. The sound of footsteps met my ears, and I tossed a glance at the woman.

“Good news. It’s just a faulty oxygen sensor.”

Again, those teeth appeared in her bottom lip. “Will that take a while to fix?”

I studied her face, and I knew instinctively it was more than just a question of how long it would take. I shook my head. “Nah, it’s quick and cheap.”

I watched as the tension drained from her body. “Thank God.”

“Give me a few minutes, and you’ll be ready to go.” Travis could just add this to my list of inventory to deduct. The woman was obviously already stressed, and I wasn’t going to add to that.

I had my head stuck beneath the hood a few minutes later when a tiny face appeared beside me. “What you doing?”

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