AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Give me a few minutes to shut the store down, and I'll meet you back there." Colt follows us as we walk out. "It was nice to meet you, Kara."
"You too." She smiles.
When we leave, he locks the door behind us, there's a different tension between us, and I hate it. "Are you okay?"
"I'm slightly uncomfortable that you paid for all of that."
"Don't be. I wanted to do it for you. You feed people to show your love. I fix things. We each have our own way of showing people we care. It means a lot to me, so please let me do it for you."
Her gaze softens. "It's not easy for me to accept gifts. When I first talked about doing this, neither my parents or sister agreed. They thought I'd be broke and running home with my tail between my legs within three months. I went to college to try and learn what people liked. I'd watch the food trucks at the quads and see what was popular. The taco truck always had a line, and they kept it simple. A couple different types of tacos and the choice of three sides. I got the degree my parents required, but as soon as I was out of there, I bought the truck, parked it, and got to work. Since then, it's been me, and the employees I've been able to hire." She sighs, her eyes clouding. "I do get a bit of an attitude about it. I don't mean to, but I'm protective."
"No." I hold my hands up as if I'm surrendering. "I get it. I've been helping my dad since I could use a measuring tape. At fourteen I was further along in building things than some people twice my age. They liked to make me feel like I didn't know what I was doing. It's hard not to have a chip on your shoulder. Especially when you know you're good at what you do, and others just want to minimize."
"Yes, exactly. I do appreciate everything you've done for me. Even if it is hard to say thank you."
I smirk down at her. "You can say thank you in other ways, without having to actually voice the words. We can work out a repayment plan, no problem."
Her cheeks heat, but there's interest in her gaze. "We'll see what we can do."
"C'mon, I'm sure Colt wants to get home."
* * *
"Can you hold that light for me?" I ask as I put the tarp down on the ground.
She holds it above her head, so we have a good vantage point of the truck. I make sure the tarp is tucked in at all edges, so I don't get wet. Dew on the ground will freeze quickly, and fuck knows it's cold enough out here. Our breath is white as it hangs between us.
"How do you work out in this? It's so cold." She hunches over into herself.
Shrugging out of my jacket, because I won't be able to work with it on as well as I would without it on, I hand it to her. "Here, keep it warm for me?"
Without hesitation, she puts her arms in, and wraps it around her body. She inhales deeply. "Smells like you."
"Oh yeah?" I adjust my position on my back. "And what do I smell like?"
"You always have a woodsy smell, masculine, like if you were a Bath and Body Works Candle, you'd definitely be a Mahogany Teakwood."
I laugh loudly, my voice reverberating off the bottom of the truck. "That's the first time I've ever been paid that type of compliment, but I'll totally take it."
"Can't say I've ever given it to another person." The amusement is evident in her voice.
My fingers are chilled, but I've managed to get the wrap over the pipes that she's indicated keep freezing. Scooting myself out from underneath, I head to the bed of my truck, and grab out the skirting as well as some boards we cut before I left work. "This is a temporary solution, Kar. It's not meant to be permanent. I don't want to make changes that you might not like, so it'll look a little weird, but we can fix that. If this is something you want for the long-haul, we can get some better skirting that'll match the truck, and we can fix some options that are a little easier to move in case you decide you don't want this to be a permanent spot for the truck."
"Thank you for thinking of all of that." She swallows roughly. "I don't know many other people who would put as much thought into this as you have."
I shrug. "I get it. I deal with people every day who want to make what they have look better. They definitely don't want to make it look worse. The way the truck appears to the public is important not only to you, but to customers who want to make sure they're purchasing from a place that looks like they should be in business." The entire time I've been talking to her, I've been setting up the boards, and now that it's done, I pick up the nail gun I brought along with me and start nailing the pieces of the skirting to the boards. It takes less than fifteen minutes to go around the whole truck. "Alright. Let me know how that works out for you. There are changes we can make, and improvements. Just gotta let me know."
As I stand up from where I'm crouched, she hits me with a hug, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Thank you." Her voice is thick. "You don't know how much this means to me, and I doubt you ever will. You get free food forever."
I push back some hair out of her face. "Forever sounds good to me."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kara
"It's so much warmer in here." Rachelle smiles at me a few days later.
"Yes it is, and it was pretty hot, watching him put the skirting on. He was so concerned about us being warm. I've never had that before." My mind goes back to when he said the words forever. It wasn't what I expected at all, but it was everything I wanted to hear. My phone rings, and I answer quickly. "Keely, what's going on?"
