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“We don’t know that. Let’s find out what the garage says.”* * *“Two weeks.”
I stare in shock at the man with Lee written on his coveralls.
“Excuse me?”
“It’ll take two weeks,” he repeats. “That part isn’t one we keep in stock, and I’m backed up since my nephew up and left town with the girl he knocked up this past spring. So, unfortunately, your car is gonna have to wait.”
I sigh deeply.
“That’s if you want to fix it,” he continues.
“Why wouldn’t I want to fix it?”
Lee looks down at the paper on his counter. “Well, it has almost three hundred thousand miles on it. This week it’s the fuel pump, but next week, it’ll be the alternator or something else. It’s lived its life.”
“I’m not putting my car to sleep,” I mutter. “Please, fix it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I give him my information, grab his card so I can call him later, and walk out with Archer. He was unusually quiet the entire time we were in there.
“Just say it.”
“You need a new car, babe.”
“That one will be just fine.”
He shakes his head. “If you’re worried about standing out, just buy another used car. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be reliable. You don’t carry a phone. I found you on a deserted road, alone, at oh-dark-thirty. It’s not safe.”
“This one will be fine,” I repeat. I know I’m being stubborn. I don’t care. “Thanks for the ride to work.”
“What time should I pick you up?”
I start to tell him no thanks, but when he looks at me, his eyes tell me he’s at the end of his patience with me today.
And I’m too tired to argue.
“Two should be fine.”
“Two, it is.”
I nod and sit back in the warm leather seat. Being driven in this luxurious car for a couple of weeks won’t be a hardship. We’re passing through the heart of town when I see the same black Mercedes SUV that I saw in the parking lot of the football game the other night.
Black with tinted windows and black rims. Just like my father used to drive. What is a car that cost that much money doing in Bandon, Oregon?
Is it the family? Are they here, looking for me? Or is it just a coincidence? This is a resort town, and people come to visit from all over.
That’s the logical answer. But I don’t like it.* * *“And then we got new mountain lion cub triplets,” I say as Archer drives me home from work. “They can’t be more than three weeks old. Absolutely adorable. We don’t know where their mama is. Probably poached.”
I feel the heat creep up my face. Whenever an animal is lost to the greed of humans, it pisses me right off.
“Why people feel the need to illegally kill animals is beyond me. There are seasons for hunting, for the love of Moses. But we’ll take care of them. The goal is to release them back into the wild.”
“That’s pretty incredible,” he says with a nod. “I’m glad it turned out to be a good day. Now, about moving in with me.”
“It feels silly to do that.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a home.”
“Yes, but if I’m going to be your chauffeur, it makes sense that you base out of my place until the car is fixed.”
“It’s not that I don’t enjoy being with you, or even want to be with you. I hope you know that.”
“But?”
“But it feels fast, and it feels like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“You’re not. There, we solved that problem.”
Okay, he does make a good point. And, frankly, I missed him last night. And didn’t I decide that I was going to enjoy every minute with him that I could get?
“You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
“I’m just positive that I want to be with you. If you’d rather I move into the cottage, I can do that. I don’t mind.”
“It seems like a waste to not stay in that gorgeous beach house,” I reply.
He pulls into my driveway as I bust up laughing. But the laughter dies when I see my front door standing wide-open.
“I’m going to assume you closed that when you left this morning.”
“I always double-check the locks,” I confirm as dread spreads through me. “They found me. Oh, God, they found me.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. And stay put.” He pulls out his phone and dials 911. His hand reaches for mine as he waits for someone to answer. “We believe we have a break-in.”
He rattles off my name and address, and within five minutes, the cops show up.
There’s been no movement inside.
I get out of the car, but the officers motion for me to stand back.
“We’re going to do a sweep, make sure no one is in there. Then we’ll get your statement, miss.”
“Of course.”
Archer moves up beside me and wraps his arm around my shoulders as we watch the cops go inside and around to the back of the house. Less than two minutes later, they reappear, holstering their weapons.
