Page 24 of Love Letter Lost
and it’s not the flannel guy. Call me!
I managed to contain a groan as I tucked the phone between my thigh and the sticky red vinyl of my seat without responding.
“Everything okay?” Ridge asked.
“Fine. Just some family stuff.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“Nope.”
We ate in silence as I scrambled for a change in topic. Overhead, a song about summer love filtered through the speakers.
“Tell me about Amber,” I blurted, scrambling to find words to fill the space between us. She seemed nice enough, though a part of me didn’t like her and I couldn’t figure out why.
“What do you want to know?”
“How did you two meet?” I figured it was as good a place as any to start.
Ridge filled the rest of our lunch with talk of Amber. They’d met through a common friend nearly a year ago, though it had taken six months for Ridge to ask her out. The details swam in my head as he talked about her, fleshing out the woman I’d only briefly met on Saturday.
“She’s even helping her dad with that big development project I’ll be working on during my internship. She’ll be staging and decorating everything.”
I nodded, staring into my melting shake, a bit overwhelmed at everything I’d learned about Amber. I’d wanted a distraction, and I’d gotten it.
We finished lunch and headed back to the car. I winced, climbing into the overheated passenger seat. While June made an excellent time for a wedding, it could heat up a car fast.
I felt my phone vibrate as I settled into my seat. I answered, hoping the unknown number would be the auto shop with good news about my car.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mallory Roberts?” a woman’s voice questioned.
“Yes, it is.” I looked up to see Ridge giving me a puzzled look. I shrugged.
“This is Heather Birch. I have an update on your car.”
“I’m so glad you called. How long will repairs take?” I knew it was unlikely, but I prayed the repairs would be finished in a day or two.
“Unfortunately, we still don’t have a timeline. We’re waiting on some paperwork from one of the insurance companies as well as a part to make the repair. I apologize for the inconvenience. We may have more of an update tomorrow, but I can’t make any promises.” With each word my heart sank.
I finished the call and leaned back in my seat, staring at my phone. I had hoped that the repair would be easy and maybe even finished by tomorrow for bridesmaids’ dress shopping with Livvy. Since she wasn’t currently responding to my texts, I wasn’t sure if she’d be okay to chauffeur me for the day. Deciding that it was time for a more direct approach, I called her. The phone rang for an eternity before it went to voicemail.
“Hey, Livvy. Call me back when you get this.” I ended the call and sighed, trying to think. I couldn’t help Livvy with bridesmaids’ dresses without a ride, but she was strapped for time. When we’d talked about shopping, she had nearly burst into tears because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to fit it into her schedule. David’s parents were flying in from California, and his grandmother would be arriving from Japan a couple of hours later. Once they got here, Livvy’s schedule would be filled with activities with her future in-laws, interspersed with last minute wedding appointments.
“Everything okay?” Ridge’s voice brought me back to the present, and I looked up at him.
“Yes—no, but I’ll be fine. I don’t know how long car repairs are going to take, and I need to meet Livvy to go dress shopping tomorrow, but without a car…” I trailed off, gesturing in frustration. Ride share was always an option, but it didn’t fit into my budget when I had flooring to pay for.
“I can drive you.”
His words gave me pause. While Ridge had been a huge help today, I felt terrible asking him to give up more of his time just to act as my chauffeur.
“I can’t ask you to do that."
“You didn’t ask me. Livvy did when she called me in to save the day.” Ridge nudged my shoulder and grinned. “I’m happy to help. I don’t have anything going on until next week, and we both know that the less Livvy panics, the better it will be for everyone within a hundred-mile radius.”
My eyebrows drew together as I processed what he’d said. “I’ve already taken over your entire day today. Won’t Amber be upset?”
