Page 5 of Words from the Heart
“Now, let’s have a look.” Parker walked over to the truck, mumbling something under his breath when his back was turned to her. “Well damn, she didn’t bother with making sure she had a spare.”
“Yeah – otherwise I’d of changed the tire myself.” Delilah smiled at him, but the sarcasm wasn’t lost on him.
“Well… I will call a tow truck for you, but it could take hours around here before the truck is picked up.”
“Great… I was going to the grocery store – there is nothing to eat at Momma Belle’s house.”
Parker watched as Delilah ran her fingers through her dark brown hair. It fell just to the top of her shoulders and was slightly wavy. Her brilliant green eyes found his staring at her. “What?”
“Let me take you to dinner. Then I can run you home and I’ll make sure your truck gets towed there.”
“No, I can’t ask that of you. Just run me home.”
“Didn’t you just say there was nothing to eat there?”
“Well, yeah. But I don’t expect you to feed me dinner.”
“This is partly my fault – since it was a roofing nail that prevented your grocery run.”
Delilah held her breath. Why did going to dinner with this man scare her so much. “I’m not riding in the back.” She grabbed her purse from the truck and locked the doors. Tossing Parker, a glance, she slipped into the passenger side of his SUV.
Parker took a steadying breath and got in beside her. Stealing a peek at her, he smiled to himself, “How’s Ruby’s dinner?” It was a local hole in the wall that served the best burgers around.
“Sure, that works.”
Parker put the SUV in drive and looped around heading back the way she’d come. She listened as he spoke into the radio, requesting a tow for her truck, and taking himself out of service so they could eat. Part of her longed to feel attractive to a man, the other part of her didn’t care. They rode in silence, both sneaking looks at each other. There was no doubt she was attracted to this man, hell, he was gorgeous. But she wasn’t going to fall for another man again. She wanted to find herself first. So, she hunkered down and banished all thoughts of the man sitting next to her.
They ate quickly as Parker had been given a call on the other side of town. He apologized frequently, saying he felt awful for the tire and rushed meal. As he parked in her gravel drive, he got out and walked her to the front door.
“I work today and tomorrow, so I won’t be back to work on the house until Thursday. Call me if you run into any problems before then, I’ll stop by on duty if I have too.”
“Thanks for dinner. I think I’ll be fine though, you’ve done more than enough for me already.” As she smiled, the tow truck pulled in with her truck. The driver got out and headed towards her.
“Hey, Parker.” The driver called out to him as he headed towards his SUV.
“Hey, Jed. Thanks for getting it so quick.”
“No problem. I put on a new tire already as well.”
“Oh, WOW.” Delilah gasped, “I didn’t expect that. How much do I owe you?”
“Not a thing, darlin’. Your grandma was a dear friend of mine and she’d be rightly pissed if I didn’t help you out.”
Delilah blushed, “Well, perhaps I can fix you a meal sometime. Once I go to the store that is.”
“That’ll be nice. Here,” he pulled a card from his oil stained overall’s, “this is my number. You call me if you have any problems with the car.”
“Thanks, Jed. And Parker,” she called out to him as he climbed into his car, “be careful out there.”
Parker nodded and pulled out, leaving Jed and Delilah to watch his patrol car taillights disappear into the darkened sky.
“That man needs a woman.” Jed said matter of fact.
Delilah coughed, covering a laugh, “I’m surprised he doesn’t have one looking like that…” she caught herself and quickly changed her words, “I mean as nice as he is.”
Jed smirked, shaking his head, “Naw… he’s too picky or something. In fact, you’re the first woman he’s seemed to have noticed in a long while.”
“Well, too bad. I don’t want a man. I just cut one loose who was as worthless as they come. No need for that drama again.”
Jed chuckled as he climbed into his tow truck, “You can say that… but I watched how you looked at him.”
“What – he’s gorgeous. Doesn’t mean I want more than a glance.”
“We’ll see…” Jed waved, leaving Delilah with her mouth agape as he pulled off into the darkness. He was wrong. She didn’t want Parker – sure he was pretty to look at, but that’s all.
She climbed the steps, exhaustion finally hitting her hard, as she shut the front door and made her way upstairs. Delilah slipped off her shorts, leaving her shirt on and climbed into her childhood bed. Tomorrow she’d start going through Momma Belle’s things.
