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Her crazed gaze swerved to mine a moment later, but I didn’t remove my arm from in front of her. I hoped like hell she couldn’t see how it was trembling. “So, that was the snowbank.”
I frowned. “What?”
“Just something Lu said earlier. But there aren’t any cars here, so I guess they dug their way out of it. Or were towed.” Her voice pitched higher. “Or maybe freaking aliens swooped down in their spaceships, because I don’t see any damn vehicles, do you?”
“Actually, there are two just around the bend. Maybe the people got picked up, and they left their cars for when the weather clears.”
“Or maybe they’re human popsicles as we speak.”
“Are you okay?” I kept my tone as even as possible. “Did you hurt something?”
“No. We’re just fine. Burns are made of stronger stuff than that.” She dipped her head and stared pointedly at my arm. The muscles there were bulging with enough tension that even my coat barely obscured them. “Besides, you’d throw yourself in front of me to keep me safe if necessary.”
“Doesn’t work in a car accident.” My voice was strangely thick, and I didn’t know why.
She scoffed. “That wasn’t an accident. More like a tiny bump. And that part of the road already caught a few drivers today. Damn storm.”
I reached out to grip the wheel, wrapping my fingers around it one at a time. The truck was still running, the motor purring away just like normal. The old thing was strong and sturdy and as reliable as the tide. But concern for the Ford wasn’t what had me holding on as if I needed the support.
“You said we.”
“I’m sure you can just reverse out of this. Big ol’ truck probably didn’t even get dinged.”
“Tish.”
She continued as if I hadn’t said anything. I would’ve thought she was just having a normal conversation if I hadn’t heard her teeth chattering in between the words she forced out. “Bet you don’t even have a scratch. Nothing to remember this by except a fond memory.”
What she was saying didn’t match what had just happened unless you read between the lines. But I’d become an expert at it the last couple months.
“And hey, if you do have a dent or a ding, I know a good body shop. Fix you up in no time. You’ll go on as if this never even happened.”
I unclicked my seatbelt and reached over to undo hers.
“What are you doing? We have to go to the wedding.”
“In a minute.” I drew her into my arms, holding on even as she bristled.
Her resistance barely lasted a minute before she softened against me and pressed her face against my chest. Right over my heart where it was thundering like the fiercest summer storm just before the rain came and washed everything clean.
“I don’t know for sure.”
I stroked her hair. If she could tell my hand was shaking, she didn’t mention it. It hadn’t stopped from the crash and wouldn’t be anytime soon.
“I didn’t even think about it. Never considered. We weren’t in town. I mean, we did it a lot in town too, but it probably happened the first time. Maybe. I don’t know. Of all the luck—”
I stopped her right there and tipped her face up to mine. “From where I’m sitting, my luck finally came in.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Try me.”
“It’s shock. It’s because you got off. It’s because Caleb is getting married, and you’re high on love fumes and don’t want to be alone.”
“You’re right. It’s all of those things. But none of those change the fact that I wake up in the morning and I want to see your face. I want to hear your voice. Hell, I even can’t wait to see what snarky insult you’ll toss at me next.”
I brushed her hair away from her mouth and realized I wasn’t the only one shaking. I pressed my forehead to hers. “We’re in this together. You’ll never be alone again. I promise you, Leticia.”
She released a sound caught between a laugh and a sob. Pure relief drenched me as she eased back and stared up at me with achingly dry dark eyes. “I wasn’t even sure you knew my real name.”
