Page 3 of Crashing Into Me
“If you don’t believe me, just follow me to the next exit, and we can find a garage,” Kayden pleaded.
She thought about it for a moment, and it was a decent offer, but it would add way too much time to her trip.
“I’ll agree if you can get me a rental so I can finish my drive. I have a long way to go, and I can’t wait around for it to be fixed.”
“Sure, that sounds great. Shall we then?”
Instinctively, she looked into his eyes, saw his sincerity, and nodded her head in submission. A huge white smile spread across his face, and it almost took her breath away. He was more than attractive; he had to be an actor or something—regular men did not look like that. Immediately, she felt embarrassed, realizing she’d been staring instead of talking, and quickly collected herself.
“Fine,” she replied quickly, “you really need to chill with the fast and furious road antics. You could kill someone.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, his face serious.
Other than the words between them, it was almost completely silent on the road. The sky was a deep cobalt blue with thick white clouds squeezing by one another. With the tall looming trees lining the road, it could have been an oil painting they were standing in; it looked so perfect. Everything was instantly too quiet, too intimate, and very intense as they stood there sizing the other one up. Lana turned away slowly and reached for the door of the truck.
“I didn’t get your name,” Kayden continued, taking a step towards her, and Lana held her breath.
Doesn’t this guy believe in personal space?She felt her stomach tighten, being less than a couple of feet away from him now, his smell assaulting her senses.
“Lana,” she replied quickly and pulled the door open. She climbed into the SUV, slammed the door shut, and hit the door lock. He chuckled at her and walked back to his car while she tried to catch her breath, for very different reasons this time. Lana watched him walk away, his stride containing a sense of pride and sophistication. He had to be someone important. She held her breath again when he glanced back at her over his shoulder and smiled.
AS HE TURNED awayfrom her SUV, Kayden couldn’t help the smile that sprang on his face. She was beautiful and kind of shy, but he liked her stubbornness and the way she handled him. He wasn’t used to women speaking to him that way, and he really liked it. He opened the door to his car and turned back to her, and smiled again. She was gorgeous, and he couldn’t help but steal a glimpse of her bending over the guardrail to check out her truck a few minutes earlier. The jeans she wore fit every curve in all the right places. He would definitely look forward to her call later, he thought as he jumped in the car and took off down the highway.
LANA SLUMPEDIN the truck and watched as the McLaren sped away. He was driving way too fast for someone she was supposed to be following. She started the truck, pulled onto the roadway, and hit the gas. He was running! She should’ve known better and called the police—it served her right.
It didn’t take a genius to see that she reacted to him like a grade school crush, and when he caught on, he played her like afiddle. Lana slammed her hands down on the steering wheel as she accelerated towards the car from hell. As hard as she pressed the pedal, the aging Ford couldn’t catch up to the McLaren. As her truck went up a steep incline in the road and came back down, the sports car was nowhere in sight.
“Damn it!” she yelled and took her foot off the gas, letting the vehicle slow down to speeds it was more accustomed to.
She glanced down at the business card in the middle console and rolled her eyes. Kayden Capshaw had probably spent his entire life getting out of things like this because of his looks, and she was just his newest victim. Taking another deep breath, the cherry scented car freshener slammed into her nostrils and made her feel nauseous. She grabbed it off the rearview mirror, rolled the window down, and threw it out.
She knew she’d have to find a way to track him down and make him pay for her truck, but that was tomorrow’s problem. She just wanted to get off the road and make it the rest of the way to Hamby, safe and sound. As pissed as she was with him, she couldn’t get his gaze and those eyes out of her mind. She wiped the thought away, and for the first time in a long time, she wished her car radio actually worked.
2
a longer night
As Lana pulled into the charming town of Hamby, Georgia, there was an immediate release of any stress Lana had had a few hours before she crossed the county line. The tranquility of the mountains was a welcome reprise from the highway of trees and asphalt. As the sun began to set in town, the sky was ablaze with warm pinks, deep purples, and creamsicle orange tones. Mom and pop shops lined the main streets, and up ahead, there was a quaint little park where a small family was having a picnic in the middle of it all.
The one and only public library was situated to the left as she got closer to the town center, and she could already smell the aroma of library book pages she planned to read. It made her giddy inside, and she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. As she drove onward, there was a series of small boutique shops to the right of her and a grocery store further down the adjacent street.
Visitors wouldn’t find mainstream chain stores or restaurants in this little haven. Hamby resembled a town from the early fifties, frozen in time and untouched by the haste of modern life. Most buildings were old brick constructions, but looked like they could have been built a year ago—all incrediblymaintained through the years. Architecture isn’t done like that anymore, she remembered thinking when she first visited. It was like stepping into a time capsule. Back home, whole skyscrapers were built in a few months’ time, and they always felt rushed and cold.
She could feel a physical release of any remnants of anxiety as she drove further. Lana turned on the roundabout in the middle of the square, and once inside the heart of the town, there were no highways, no hustle and bustle, no blaring car horns—just people walking and holding hands, or riding bicycles….peace. After spending sixteen hours on the road, she longed to be still for the duration of her stay.
Lana made a right at the stop sign, and across from it was Mason's, a mechanic shop she had visited once before. The building was one story, white brick with tall red lettering, and even though an auto garage, it looked warm and inviting like everything else. As she continued, the local barbershop window was aglow with its twirling blue and red sign on the corner. From the outside looking in, men were being shaved and getting their hair cut while a few read newspapers, waiting for their turn. A cliché in any town, but slow, easy, and normal in Hamby.
Watching the utopia before her, she realized how close she had almost come to never seeing it again and felt herself getting angry all over again. Lana took another deep, soothing breath and allowed the elixir of the sleepy little town to wash it all away. Further down the cobblestone street was “Aunt Mae’s Diner.” A classic little eatery with the best food she’d ever had next to her mom’s cooking.
Lana had already planned to order one of the delicious chicken pot pies and take it up to the house for later. She could already taste the fresh flaky crust, carrots, gravy, and juicy chunks of organic chicken. No preservatives, no fillers, just real food the way God intended it to be. She pulled into the diner’sparking lot and turned off the ignition. As she reached for her purse on the passenger seat, her hand touched nothing. She looked down at the floor and found the purse and its contents spilled out of it.
Lana rolled her eyes as she reached down and tossed everything back in the small black leather handbag and hopped out of the truck. The chill in the air stopped her mid-step. The temperature must have dropped by thirty! She slammed the truck door closed and rubbed her hands together as she made haste toward the entrance.
Pushing open the stained glass double doors, the smell was exactly as she’d remembered and anticipated. Aromas of freshly baked bread, collard greens, ribs, and an assortment of other savory smells filled the air, and the warm air surrounded her like a blanket. Stepping into the foyer, the chill of the cold was almost immediately gone. There was a toasty fireplace blazing along the side of the wall to her right that gave the space a homey feel.
A waitress, an older woman in a white button-up shirt, bright pink shorts, and a black apron, smiled at her. She had to have been in her late fifties, as the wrinkles on her face were very prominent. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail way too tight which made her eyes lift at the corners. Her lipstick was long gone, and only the remnants of the liner she used earlier were visible, breaking off into the cracks of her wrinkled lips.
“Well, hello and welcome to Aunt Mae's,” she chimed, with her southern drawl, “Will you be dining in tonight, honey?”
