Page 50 of Love Me Steadfast
So that was what I saw that night. And the reason she got all red in the face last year when I asked her to sing me something. “You pulled it off though.”
She gives a noncommittal shrug. “We’ll see if the idea sticks. She also wants to make a podcast, become a professional barrel racer, and start an animal rescue.”
“You should bring her to the Huttons,” I say as the road turns to gravel. “They rescued a colt last year, and they are always looking for help.”
“I don’t know them well enough for something like that.”
“You met them at Hazel Creek.” I glance at her. “The Huttons are awesome.”
“How come you’re so close?”
“Henry gave Zach a safe place to land when he came to Finn River. The three of them grew tight when Zach was trying to lay low.”
“What’s that all about, anyways?” She shoots me a curious glance.
Shit.Tread lightly. “Um, just some family stuff back home.” Zach had been wanted for questioning regarding a murder and a mysterious arson and needed a way to escape Kristov’s abuse while also protecting me until he could get custody.
She nods, but I can’t tell if she’s satisfied with this answer.
I run a hand through my hair. “The Huttons are the closest thing we have to family here.” Though I miss the McCabes in Alaska, we keep in touch. A couple of them came to last season’s state championship in Boise. I only played for a handful of minutes, but it was awesome having them in the stands. Especially Evan—I could hear his holler from the moon.
“Then, sure,” Charlotte says. “I’ll see if I can get Morgan interested. She loves horses.”
A pulse of warmth drips thick and sweet inside me. It’s gratitude for Barb and Henry, and their kindness, and the idea of sharing it with Charlotte and Morgan.
Charlotte slips a wallet designed to look like a panda from her pocket. “I brought my permit.”
“Oh, good.” Zach made me promise to check—I’m barely legal to have a passenger myself—but that argument we drove away from made me forget.
She slides the wallet back into her pocket. “I promise I’m not as bad as Theo told you.”
“I’m not worried.” I slow down to turn onto Morning Star Road. When Theo suggested we head out to the farms, I thought ofthe backroads past the Huttons. If Charlotte’s up for it, maybe we can stop in on our way back. Barb always has cookies.
“I didn’t see you at homecoming,” she says.
“I wasn’t feeling it this year.” From Theo, I know Charlotte went with Crosby. I’ve seen him walking her to band practice after school with that arrogant sneer on his face. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah.” She’s glancing out the window, giving me a chance to watch her in profile out of the corner of my eye. Her parted lips and her high cheekbones. Her cute nose and those freckles.
I’m dying to know more about her night, but I don’t want to make it weird. Is she into Crosby? It’s crystal clear he’s into her.
“The music was horrible though,” she adds. She’s wearing her dangly musical note earrings today. Each time I shift, they sway, snagging my attention.
“Says the music snob.”
Her mouth drops open as she glances my way. “I am not a snob.”
Laughing, I steer the truck to the side of the road. “Okay, your turn.”
She rubs her palms down her thighs. “O-kay,” she sings, her voice unsteady.
I push in the clutch pedal with my left, and shift into first. “Watch my feet.”
She leans sideways, her silky hair brushing my forearm. Is it her hair that smells so good? It’s not like perfume. It’s earthy and a little sweet. It almost reminds me of the gingerbread Barb baked last Christmas. I force a breath to refocus, then slowly back off the clutch while adding pressure to the accelerator pedal. “You’ll feel the bite point, where the engine starts to engage.” I add pressure to the accelerator, and the truck eases forward. “Give a little gas and take your foot off the clutch pedal.”
I drive a few more feet, the high whine of the engine filling the cab, then show her how to put it back in neutral. “Now you do it.”
“Promise I’m not going to ruin your engine?” she asks, cringing.
