Page 7 of Summer Storm
“I’m good. I appreciate you stopping, but my man will be here in a moment.”
“It’s the wrong bitch!” He shouts, as the man on the passenger side tries to open the back door and boy does he get a surprise. Toothless, the gentle giant, turns into a snarling mass of pissed off aggression which causes Rudy to sound off too.
Not only that, but the sight of the wrecker lights flashingcutting across the grassy median dividing the highway lanes like a bat shooting out of hell, is freaking over-the-top dramatic. Aaron lies on an airhorn of all things, nearly making me pee my pants.
The man at my window screams and darts back toward his car. Turning I watch as the second guy follows, tumbling into the shallow ditch before popping back up, and then dives through the open passenger window as the driver throws the car into reverse. With the passenger’s legs still hanging out of the car, the driver whips the car around and peels off down the highway in the wrong lane.
I whip my head back around and squeal as the tires on the wrecker smoke and Aaron slides to a squawking stop in front of my vehicle. My breath whooshes out of me and my hands begin to shake. Flinging my door open, Aaron catches me when I launch myself into his arms.
“State police are on the way. God!” He wraps his arms around me, and we cling together until the cops arrive.
After explaining multiple times what happened and giving them the best descriptions of the men that I can, they somehow get clued in to who my brother is and as if by magic they suddenly quit fudging around and remember who I am, even though I’m pretty sure I met them both the same day Aaron and I reunited. They pull prints from the back passenger door handle and then let me know I’m free to go. Jerks.
My head is aching, by the time Aaron gets the wrecker turned around. I leash up the dogs and take them for a quick potty break while he hooks up my vehicle for the tow home. It’s a tight fit with the four of us in the cab of his truck but we make it work with me in the passenger seat, Rudy on the floor between my legs and Toothless sitting in the middle, his tongue lolling out in a doggy grin, living his best life.
“I’m you’re man, huh?” Aaron asks after a few minutes of riding back toward home.
“Huh?” I turn from staring at the scenery flashing by, and frown in his direction.
“Back there, I heard you tell that fuckhead, ‘your man was gonna be there in a minute’.”
That isn’t exactly what I said, but I’m not going to quibble. I mean, besides family who else would drop everything the second I called and come hellbent and roaring to the rescue?
“Seems so.”
“Good.” With a bob of his head, he focusses back on the road.
“An air horn, huh? Who’s idea was that?” I ask still watching him. I’m delighted to see a faint blush staining the skin not cover by his close-cropped beard. He chuckles and any remaining tension the situation created disappears like campfire smoke rising into the trees.
“That would be me,” he says on an embarrassed chuckle. “I set it up as a prank for Jorie, she always honks when she leaves on a call and when she returns. In the rush to get to you, I forgot I installed it…nearly shit myself.”
“Oh. My. God. You aren’t the only one! I hope those two yahoos did for sure.” At that we crack up and don’t stop laughing until we reach the outskirts of Wintervale.
I heave a relieved but worried sigh. “Do you think the cops will find them or discover who the woman was they were really after?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. Those state boys better hope they do because when Nolan finds out, there’s going to be hell to pay.” He gives me a speaking glance as he pulls into the parking lot and hits the remote that opens the gate, closing off the back lot from the front. Once it’s open, he pulls through, driving around to the back of the garage.
Oh, boy. He isn’t wrong. Nolan’s going to be angry they were treating me like some kind of criminal, and I have a feeling Aaron will be the one to clue him in.
“Let me get this unhooked and change my clothes.” He throws a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the SUV. “I’ll check it over tomorrow. It may take a couple of days to get new tires on it, though. Not sure what we have in stock.”
It’s then that I notice his coveralls are covered in grease. Looking down at my shirt and pants, I grimace when I discover mine are too, probably from clinging to him like grapevine back there.
While he lowers my SUV, I bring the dogs out of the cab, forgoing their leashes.
“I’ll go in with you. I need to use the ladies’ room,” I inform him as I fall into step with him and we head for the garage door. My bladder is not up for any more bumps in the road, literally.Sheesh.
“I hope the Honey Garlic Chicken I put in the slow cooker isn’t ruined.” At the word ‘supper’, Toothless’s ears perk and he begins doing a funny little doggy dance, lifting first one front paw off the ground and then the other, impeding Aaron as he unlocks and opens the shop door.
Giggling at their antics when Aaron begins imitating Toothy’s dance, I pull my phone out in a jiffy and begin recording a TikTok video.
“Yoo-hoo, Aaa-ron?” I swing around in time to see a woman tumble out of an RV parked at the back lot.
I’m not usually one to judge, to each their own and all, but if anyone took a picture right now, I’m sure I’d be in danger of catching flies because she’s dressed up like…well, a two-dollar hooker on Saturday night to put it nicely.
And all I can think is some 80s rock band is going to be calling, because they’ll definitely want their hairstyle back. I mean, her hair is bleach-blonde and teased so high the woman looks like she stuck her finger in a lightbulb socket.
The red sequined sky-scraper high heels flash and sparkle as she takes quick mincing steps over the uneven pavement, her hips swinging from side to side for all she is worth. My goodness, she’s working it so hard she looks like she’s one step away from disaster, because the hot pink tube top and black mini skirt she’s wearing is so tight and so short, she’s in serious danger of exploding out both the top and the bottom… probably at the same time. It reminds me of those cardboard biscuit tubes you press with a spoon. You know the ones that scare the bejeezus out of you even though you’ve opened them dozens of times?
