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But would it have mattered?

Probably not.

Because no matter what I did, Reed Fulton would always see me as a selfish princess.

I drove on, the back side of the Jeep now vibrating, until I found a pull-off near the woods and turned off the car, letting my head fall against the steering wheel.

I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire and Reed Fulton.

All that was missing was a hailstorm. And maybe a ravenous bear.

Reed jumped out and walked around the side toward the flat. “Looks like you must’ve had a slow leak. I don’t see anything sticking out. Does your tire pressure light not work?”

“Mary Elizabeth is practically an antique.” I lifted my head. “She doesn’t have one.” I sent my parents a text letting them know I might be a little late for curfew.

“Mary Elizabeth?”

“What, is the name not good enough?”

He held up his hands. “Actually, I was going to ask if it was the same Mary Elizabeth who was the first woman to play pro baseball?”

Hold the freakin’ phone.

He knows about Mary Elizabeth Murphy? “It…is.”

“Good name, then.” A tense silence settled between us for what felt like hours, until he drummed his hands on the flat’s fender liner. “So you calling Triple A?” he asked.

And wait hours for someone to come, making me miss curfew? No thanks.

I grabbed my Yankees hat from the passenger seat and tugged it on, threading my ponytail through it before heading to the back of the Jeep.

A moment later, I had the spare on the ground along with the jack, lug wrench, and the owner’s manual—not that I’d need it. TJ and I had changed many tires on this old girl even before it was mine.

I got to work and used the lug wrench, turning the nuts on the hubcap but not enough that they came off completely. TJ had taught me only to do that once I was ready to remove the tire.

“Eliza Crowley can change a flat tire.” Reed crouched down and slid the jack underneath the Jeep. He began pushing down on the handle till the flat tire rose a few inches off the ground. “Now I’ve seen it all.”

I smiled, facing away from him so he couldn’t see, and began unscrewing the lug nuts.

Reed knelt down and held his hand open for them. Once he’d put them in his pocket, he helped me pull the flat tire free and carried it to the back of the Jeep.

“How did you learn to do this?” he asked as he rolled the new tire toward me.

“TJ.” I helped him lift the new tire onto the lug bolts before we both pushed it forward till the bolts showed through the rim. “Dad was too busy.” ’Course he wasn’t ever too busy for my brother, Robbie, but I wasn’t about to open that can of worms.

Reed set to work putting the nuts back onto the bolts. “Not too busy to buy you a fancy car though—”

“Oh my God.” What is it with you and the Beemer? I adjusted my hat. “For the millionth time, Dad knew I didn’t want that car. And for your information, I tried to return it, but the dealer and my dad go way back, so he wouldn’t have it.” Sometimes it really was annoying when your dad knew every freaking person in the tri-county area.

Reed stayed quiet as he finished working with the bolts and didn’t speak again till the last one was done. “I get it.”

“Having your dad buy you a car you don’t want?”

He laughed. “No. Having a dad who’s too busy.”

I knew Reed’s dad was in the army, but the Mr. Fulton I remembered smiled a lot more than my dad, and he used to hang out with Reed all the time when we were kids.

I reached forward to start tightening one of the lug nuts by hand, but he had the same idea. Our fingers brushed, my skin tingled, and we both drew them away just as quickly as we had placed them there.