Page 18 of Race to the Beach

As she approached the front of the car, she noticed someone was under it."What are you doing?"

Chapter Nine

Thiswasn'tgood.

Not good at all.

Owen expected there was a lot of body work that would need to be done.But to be honest, it was the damage beneath the hood that worried him the most.

Her car didn't have to look good to run in the race.Although, there was an award for the nicest-looking car.There were some other silly awards such as the loudest car and the car with the most authentic parts.He didn't even want to imagine how they were going to prove which car had the most original parts.

He wondered how much of the damage was due to him hitting her.Of course, all of the damage to the back corner panel was his fault.But as his gaze skimmed over the bent tie rod and the smashed brackets, it would be impossible to assign blame.

"Owen is that you?"

He rolled out from under the car.He caught sight of his parents’ neighbor, Sally Greene, and her little girl.He tried to remember the little girl's name, but it wouldn't come to him."Hi."

Sally stepped farther into the garage.Her gaze moved to the car."Wow.Is that your car?”

“No.It belongs to another driver.”

“I hope they didn’t get hurt."

“Me too.I haven't heard anything since they took her to the hospital."Anxious to get back to his inspection, he said, "If you're looking for my mother, I think she's in the house."

"Actually, I stopped over to speak to you."

"Me?"He had no idea what they had to talk about."What can I do for you?"

"Nothing.I just wanted to say thank you."

He was more confused now than he was before."I don't understand."

Sally smiled."Sorry.I didn't mean to confuse you.I just heard that you signed up to take part in the bachelor auction next weekend.And as a parent, I am thankful to everyone who steps up to help the pediatric unit.The hope is that we'll never need it, but it's a huge comfort to know that it'll be there if the need arises."

He opened his mouth to tell her he hadn't agreed to be in the auction, but what came out of his mouth was quite different."I don't know if the auction is going to generate that much money."

Sally let out a small laugh before she picked up her daughter and rested her on her hip."From what I hear, there are a lot of single young women lining up to bid on you."

He knew her words were meant to alleviate his worries, but they actually did the opposite.His stomach took a nauseous lurch.He swallowed hard.The last thing he wanted was to have someone bid on him and expect a romantic evening.It wasn't going to happen.

"Well, we won't keep you.We just wanted to say thank you."

After the neighbor lady walked away, Owen realized it was too late to get out of this auction.It sounded like the whole island knew about his participation.He inwardly groaned.

With a firm knot in his gut, he grabbed the creeper, an old wooden board with four wheels.With a push off, he resumed his position under the car.With a trouble light in one hand, he surveyed the damage.It definitely didn’t look better from this angle.

He felt really bad for Maxine.None of this was her fault.He just wanted to help her.

"What are you doing?"

The angry tone had him rolling out from under the car, but not quite far enough.When he tried to sit up, he bumped his head on the car's undercarriage.Feeling like a total klutz, he reached for the rag in his pocket and wiped off his forehead before sliding out from beneath the car.

When he got to his feet, his gaze met hers.He noticed the flames of anger dancing in her blue eyes.Her lips were pressed into a firm line.

Oh no.This isn't good.

Using his foot, he slid the creeper back beneath the car so no one would trip over it."Hey, Maxine."He sent her a smile, hoping to thaw her icy greeting.He caught sight of the sling over her left arm."How are you doing?"

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