Page 23 of Oops, I Fell For The Town Bad Boy!

She smiled at him as she let Toby off the leash. The dog immediately went to his water dish, took a long drink, and then flopped down on the floor, finally worn out.

“That was fun,” she said. “Maybe we should make it a regular thing.”

And she thought he would refuse, but instead, he smiled back. “Maybe we should,” he agreed. “I think Toby would appreciate it, anyway.”

CHAPTER 12

TAYLOR

Chhggg-gg-ghhh.

The car’s ignition ground, but nothing happened. The car didn’t start. Taylor tried again and again, but the results didn’t change.

Feeling a surge of anxiety, she tossed the useless keys into the passenger seat and buried her face in her hands. She loved small-town life. There was nothing quite like it. But when something like this happened, it never failed to stress her out horribly. There was no alternate route to work. She couldn’t catch a bus or even call a ride share service. Those things didn’t exist in Miller Creek.

Nor could she call in sick from her job. Or rather, she could, but she hated to do that, because there was so little recourse for the people she worked with when that happened. Someone would have to come in on a day off and work with her patient. Even more distressingly, it would mean a disruption in routine for the patient herself, a little girl named Chloe who Taylor had been working with for only a few weeks now. Chloe was still learning to trust Taylor. It would be a huge setback for her if Taylor didn’t come to work today, if she was forced to work with a stranger.

She looked up and saw Kane standing on the porch. Great. All I need right now is to have to deal with him! Things had been better between Kane and herself lately, but that didn’t mean they had been easy. She didn’t want to try to cope with his antagonism when she was already feeling so stressed and upset.

Now he was coming down off the porch, jogging toward her. She closed her eyes, steeled herself for what she was sure was going to be an unpleasant encounter, and got out of the car.

“What’s up?” he asked her. “I could hear this thing chewing its own engine from all the way inside. How old is this truck?”

“Not that old,” she said defensively. It had always bothered her when people made rude comments about her truck, and there had always been no shortage of people willing to do exactly that. No one seemed to think it was a reasonable car for a young woman to drive around in. Maddie and their friends always asked her why she didn’t exchange it for something cuter and trendier, and when people older than she was saw it, they usually made teasing comments about how the truck was too much for her to handle.

Usually that wasn’t true. But today she feared it might be.

She went to the hood and opened it up, staring at the engine components for a few minutes. Kane came up alongside her and looked into the car’s innards as well.

“Do you know anything about auto repair?” he asked after a moment.

“A little,” she said. The truth was that she knew how to rotate her tires, which still put her ahead of most of her friends, but something like this was almost definitely beyond her. The oil didn’t need changing. She’d done that just a few weeks ago. So then what could it be?

Taylor didn’t know, but she knew that it was beyond her capacity to fix. With a sigh, she stepped back and gave the hood of the truck a good slam to close it.

“You can call a tow service, right?” Kane said. “There’s a mechanic in town who could take a look at this. At least, there was the last time I was here. Or if you wanted, I could look at it for you,” he added. “I could probably fix it. I don’t have any of the right components, but I could make a list of what we need if you want. I can run diagnostics on it and make you a shopping list, and then you can go into town and get the parts.”

“Thanks,” Taylor said weakly. “But that doesn’t really help me right now. I have to get to work. I’m supposed to be working with a girl who’s on the far side of Miller Creek.” She closed her eyes. “I guess I’m going to have to walk, but that will take at least an hour, and I’m helping her recuperate from trauma… She needs routine, not to have things thrown into chaos like this. I’m letting her down.”

“Okay, well, you could take my car,” Kane said.

“I don’t know how to drive your car,” Taylor said. “It’s a manual transmission. It’s a generous offer, but I’d stall it by the side of the road. I can’t.”

“Okay.” Kane took a deep breath. “I’ll drive you, then.”

She blinked. “You’d do that?”

“It’s what has to be done, right?”

“I mean… for me it is, but it isn’t your responsibility,” she said. “And I know how you hate going into town. You’d have to drive right down Main Street to get there. And you would have to do it again later this afternoon to pick me up.”

“You’re letting me stay in your house,” Kane said. “It’s the least I can do.”

“It’s not my house, any more than it’s yours. Possibly less than it’s yours. You don’t owe me this, Kane. And I know how much you don’t want to go into town. Even when you’ve been in for your meetings with Thomas Greely, you always disguise yourself.”

“I don’t disguise myself.”

“You really think I haven’t noticed those giant aviator sunglasses you wear, even when it’s not sunny? I know why you’re doing that,” she said. “You don’t want anyone to realize it’s you. And I get it. But I also know that every time you go into town, your risk of being recognized gets a little bit higher. I know you’re afraid that one of these times someone is going to see you and realize who you are, and for all we know, that’s true. And once one person knows, everyone will know, because Miller Creek cannot keep its mouth shut about anything. It’s amazing that we’ve been able to keep this secret so far, given that Thomas Greely and I both know you’re here, given that your father’s death is public knowledge and people are probably wondering if this might be the thing that brings you back.”

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