Page 2 of Shelter for Tanna

He’d decided to go down for the night when he thought of something. HotShot was walking toward the locker room when Braden caught him. “Hey, did you happen to see what wrecker service that was?”

HotShot’s eyebrows soared upward. “You mean the one the woman works for?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? You got ideas for her?”

“Shut up. Just tell me what the name of the service was.”

“Charlie’s Wrecker Service. I’m guessing she’s not Charlie,” HotShot said with a chuckle.

“No. Her name’s Tanna. TannaHilliard.”

“Uh-huh. You’re going looking for her, aren’t you?” his friend asked.

“What? No. I’m not?”

“Yes you are. I can see it on your face. You liked her.”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t like me. So there’s that,” Braden admitted.

“I bet she doesn’t like very many men. Maybe she likes women,” HotShot offered, and Braden could see he wasn’t being a smartass. And he had to admit, it was true?she might be a lesbian. Nothing wrong with that, but he wished he knew before he put any effort into trying to find her.

Unfortunately, it seemed there was only one way to find out, and he’d have to put himself out there to do so. He didn’t want to, but a little voice inside his head kept whispering,Do it. Find her.

And he was pretty sure he was going to follow that voice’s lead.

* * *

She was chilled to the bone. After the mess at the intersection in front of the college, she’d gotten called to three more wrecks and a car that simply wouldn’t start. Being the wrecker service under contract to an automobile club meant she wound up with a lot of things?bad batteries, flat tires, and sometimes things that weren’t a simple fix. Then she’d tow them to the repair shop of choice. That was easier than trying to diagnose and fix.

The door of her little compact car made a hollow sound as it slammed shut behind her and she sighed before she opened the front door. As usual, it was a scene of utter chaos. There were toys and papers everywhere, and in the kitchen she found a harried, exasperated Daniel stirring a pan of macaroni and cheese. “Hey, honey.”

He looked up at his mother and smiled. “Hi, Mom. Bad day?”

“Raining. That’s always a bad day. Where’s Max?”

“Where do you think? In his room. He’s been impossible this afternoon so I finally just gave up.”

“When he goes to bed tonight we’ll clean up this mess. Until then, just do the best you can. I’m going to shower and put on dry clothes before dinner. What are we having?”

The fourteen-year-old boy turned back to the stove. “Macaroni and cheese and chicken wings.”

“Sounds good. Be back in a few.” On her way down the hallway, she opened a bedroom door and stuck her head in. “Hey, son.”

“Hi,” the eight-year-old boy growled.

“Just checking on you. Need anything?”

“No. I’m playing. I don’t want to talk.” He threw a toy truck at the door.

“We’re going to be eating in a little while. Could you pick up your toys, please?”

“I’m not picking up my toys.”

“You know the rules.”

“Blah, blah, blah!” he shouted at her and turned back to what he was doing. Tanna closed the door and made her way on down the hallway. Stepping into her bedroom, she closed the door, stripped off, and headed to the shower.

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