Page 33 of A Twist of Faith
Wonder what vowels and consonants the Doc yelled about now?
He steered his truck beside of her and parked, planning a perfectly enunciated sentence in his mind. Before he even reached her, her hand swept out to stop him.
“Don’t say anything.” Her index finger shot up as warning. “Not one word.”
Palms up in surrender, he stepped forward, grin itching to break free. Dee popped the lid of her car and more smoke poured out, sending her coughing. Reese released a low whistle.
“I told you not to say anything.”
“I didn’t.” He looked over into the car and recognized a lost cause. Oil sputtered from one place, darkening various spots across the engine and spark plugs.
“It made a weird noise when I pulled into the parking lot today, but I hoped—” Her shoulders slumped forward and she swiped her hair back with shaky fingers, leaving a long smudge of black along her cheek. “I hoped letting it rest would fix it.”
Reese shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, not daring to say one little word and certainly not fidgeting to clear the mark off her face.
Dee moaned and stepped back, giving the underbelly of the dying vehicle a glance. “Look, there’s something leaking from underneath too. What on earth is that?”
“Do you want me to answer this time?”
She propped her hands on her hips and waited, brows up to her hairline. He took that as a yes.
“It looks like antifreeze. Which ain’t … isn’t a good sign.”
“No, no, no.” Dee’s eyes rounded and her bottom lip dipped into a pitiful little pout. “It can’t die right now. In one more month, but not right now.”
Reese put a hand to her arm and she leaned into it for a second, resting on his strength. He kind of liked it. Made him feel strong and brave—a hero, even for the likes of a high-class city girl like her, but she seemed to think better of it and righted herself.
“Are there any mechanics open at five?”
“I know one we can call. A good buddy of mine. Hold on.” He grabbed his phone and turned with a wink. “And you can add him to one of your lists.”
“Why can’tthe mechanic fix it,” she asked for the third time.
Reese thought Dee’s dead engine might take some of the bossiness out of her for a little while. No such luck. He focused on the road as she sat beside him in his truck, pouting.
“Hecanfix it, but it’s going to cost more to fix the car than what it’s worth. Your best bet is to buy a new car.”
Her palm covered her face and she groaned. “I can’t afford a new car. It’s not on my first purchases list.”
“Your what?”
“I have a list of things I want to buy with my first check and a car isn’t one of them.”
He stared at her as long as the drive let him and then shook his head. “I reckon you’re going to have to move it up on the list or you won’t have a way to work for another paycheck.”
“But I have loans to start paying back, items I’ve been waiting to purchase until now … this wasnotin the plan.”
“Not in your plan?” Even when he said it out loud it sounded weird, and it had nothing to do with his accent. “I guess you’re gonna have to rearrange your plan. Life’s full of adjustments, big and small.”
She looked at him so hard, he felt slapped.
“Does everything you want always fit in a plan?”
She sighed back against his seat and stared ahead. “That’s why I like plans, I guess. I can know what’s going to happen and try to make those things happen. Maybe not fail so much?”
She grew quiet. Nothing but the hum of the truck’s engine rumbled between them. Afraid to fail? The stubborn woman probably had never failed at anything in her life. He tried to ignore the softening around his heart, and would have completely, if her chin hadn’t wobbled a little.
“I think there might be something we can work out.”
