Page 17 of Belong With Me

Chapter Six

Ryder

Logan’s laughter echoed in the cabin of the tow truck the moment he saw Sienna’s car and he slapped his hand against the steering wheel as his laugh morphed into a wheeze.

When he finally got it together, he looked over to where I sat, and I saw the tears running down his face from how hard he had been laughing. “Man, a Beetle in Belle Springs. I can honestly tell you, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“I thought the same thing when I first came across it. Knew instantly she was from out of town. No one from around here would drive something that impractical on these roads.”

“You’re right about that. They aren’t built at all for country roads; just look at how low to the ground it sits. Nowhere near enough road clearance.”

We exited the truck and wandered across to the little red bug. I palmed the keys in my pocket, my thumb pressed the unlock button and the trunk opened with barely a sound.

Lifting the lid all the way, I saw three matching luggage cases. Brown leather with some golden emblem blazoned over the surface. “They look expensive,” I murmured, but every ounce of her seemed to scream money, so it didn’t really surprise me.

I looked over my shoulder to where Logan had situated himself. “I wouldn’t know.” He glanced at the luggage before shrugging. I offered him the keys and waited as he went toward the front of the wreck.

I reached in and collected the bags before closing the trunk lid and returning to Logan’s truck to deposit the bags on the bench seat. When the cabin light caught the metal of the zipper I noticed the large one wasn’t closed the entire way. A small, folded leather folio peeked out, with a bundle of papers tucked away inside.

Without so much as glancing at what they were for, I pushed it back in, zipped the case up completely, and returned to where Logan was checking things over. “How’s it look?”

“Not good, brother. She’s lucky she didn’t get seriously injured from the accident. These don’t hold up particularly well in a head-on collision.” As Logan ran a hand over the hood, he pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. The light created odd shadows where the metal had crumpled, creating an eerie sight. When he couldn’t budge the hood with one hand, he held the flashlight out for me to hold, then forced the cover open with both hands. As I passed the light back to him, he let out a low whistle when it illuminated the engine bay.

I watched as he leaned in and fiddled with something. “I’ve disconnected the battery, but you really should have done that when you came across her earlier.”

“I didn’t even think of it.”

He shook his head at me, flashing that light over to where I stood. “The chance of fuel leaking and then a random spark could have caused the whole car to explode.”

“It’s lucky I brought you along then, isn’t it?”

“Just make sure you remember it if you are ever in this situation again.”

“What? Coming across a woman who has crashed her car?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, I do.” And it was something that I would remember.

“Anyway, it appears she must have hit the brakes when she left the road.”

Speaking of the road, I looked over to where I had to deal with the deer earlier, and it seemed that someone had taken care of it for me; one less thing for me to worry about today. Thank God for small mercies.

“No, she said she swerved to miss it. There was no mention of braking, however I’m sure she must have.”

“Yeah, if she’d hit the fence post at a higher speed it could have caused this whole engine bay to slide back into the cab. She would have been trapped.”

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath.

Logan shone the light over the rest of the car, making remarks here and there. Eventually, he called me closer. “Look brother, in all honesty there’s no likely way to fix this. The engine is pretty much completely ruined, and the undercarriage needs to be worked over.” He gestured at the areas he mentioned. “I won’t be able to tell you until I can get under it.” He clicked the light off. “And I’m not doing that here. Let’s get it on the truck. Then I’ll drop you back at the house.”

We set to work, and eventually what was left of the bug sat chained to the truck bed ready to head to Logan’s shop. As he moved the truck slowly onto the road, Logan commented, “She’s a city girl all right. But fuck me if she doesn’t look fine as hell.”

“She’s certainly got the mouth to match it too,” I added. “She’s a goddamned goddess, and she doesn’t mince her words.”

“A goddess, huh?” Logan snorted. “It’s not like you to mention that kind of stuff.”

Looking out the side window, I clenched my fists. “Lay off it, Logan,” I warned him. “You know what I mean.”

---