Page 32 of Cognac & Cornflowers

“True.”

“So, how about I back off from being so damned serious, and we go back to getting to know each other – naturally?”

She smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

Just when she thought that he was going to kiss her again, the sound of his cellphone ringing broke through the moment.

“Hi, Slade.”

Becca watched his face as he listened to whatever his friend was saying. Her heart was still pounding. She’d been trying not to let herself get too carried away with whatever might happen between them, but he seemed to think that something could happen – something … real.

“Are you sure? I’m sorry about this.” He laughed. “Yeah. That’s true. But … sorry.”

Becca watched him, wondering what the problem was.

“Okay, keep me updated.”

She raised her eyebrows as he put his phone back in his pocket. “Is he okay? Where is he?”

Jacob smiled through pursed lips. “He’s okay, but Fred isn’t.”

“What? Why? What happened?”

“Apparently, Fred overheated sitting in traffic. Slade managed to get a tow to a repair place, but they’re already closed for the evening. He’s going to see what he can do.”

Becca’s heart sank. She knew the day was coming when Fred would need to be repaired – or scrapped. But she’d been hoping so hard that he’d make it through the school year. She didn’t exactly have the funds sitting around to buy another car. And it wasn’t like she could get by without one.

“I should …” She didn’t know what she should do. She needed to get Fred back here. Having him stuck at some repair shop who knew where, wasn’t going to help things. She should have driven him herself, then she could have called and gotten towed home.

Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Slade might be able to do the repairs. He hasn’t figured out what the problem is yet. He was just touching base so that we didn’t worry he was taking so long.”

Becca checked her watch. He was right. Even with the traffic, she would have expected him back before now. And that reminded her that she needed to call her folks – before they started worrying about her.

As much as she’d enjoyed this time with Jacob, she needed to get home and get things figured out – to call her folks, and to see if she could get a rental car. She pressed her fists to her forehead.

“It’s okay.”

She looked up at him. “It’s not. I should go. Thank you. For coming to get me, for dinner, for … What about Slade? How’s he going to get home?”

Jacob just smiled. “He’s a resourceful guy. He’ll be fine. He’ll get himself and Fred back here. Why do you think you need to go?”

“Because I need to figure out what I’m going to do.”

“About what?”

She blew out an exasperated sigh. “About transport. About getting Fred back and getting him fixed. About calling my folks and letting them know I got back okay. About …” She ran out of steam and shrugged at him.

“Mind if I help?”

“How?”

“Well, for transport, you can have the Range Rover until Fred’s fixed – or replaced. And if you want some privacy to call your folks, you can do that from the study while I call Slade again and we sort something out to get him and Fred back here.” He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to answer.

“You make it all sound so straightforward – and easy.”

He smiled. “Because it can be.”

She held his gaze for a long moment and then nodded. “Okay, thank you.” She didn’t know what to say about the Range Rover. That big thing probably cost as much as her townhouse, but she did know that now that she’d thought about it, she wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else until she’d called her folks and let them know she was back safe. One step at a time. And it wasn’t as though she could do much about Fred. Slade was there with him, and hopefully, Jacob would get them back here. She took a deep breath and followed him back inside.

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