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I locked the truck and headed toward the front door.
“Shut up!” The front door quickly opened and closed, revealing Reagan in all her glory. She spun around, her purple curls flying, and stopped when she saw me. Her red lips parted before she quickly pressed them together again. “Hey.”
“Hey.” My lips curved into a smile and I reached out to take her hand to help her down the steps. “You look beautiful.”
She blushed, and it somehow brightened her eyes. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
I looked down at my outfit—a white shirt and black pants—and gave her a tiny bow. She laughed and let me keep hold of her hand until she was safely in my truck. I pushed the door shut behind her and walked around to my side.
“All right, how do I get to Mario’s?” I glanced at her. “Can you put it into the GPS?” I tapped the screen in the dashboard and brought up the GPS menu.
“Sure.” Reagan pulled her phone out of her purse and unlocked it. She swiped the screen a few times before she tapped a zip code into the screen. “There we go. It’ll take us just up the street from the restaurant.”
“Perfect.” I flicked on the blinker, checked my mirrors, and pulled away. “How was your day?”
“Long,” she replied, pushing some hair behind her ear. “Aunt Bethel needs to get away from the order book with her doctor’s handwriting.”
I laughed. “I did hear that conversation when I was in the store.”
“Mm. She’s getting it confused with her own personal diary. I had to stop into the store and buy her one on my lunch break today.” She peered over at me. “I booked in a funeral for next week and she’d written in her fucking dentist appointment.”
I scratched my jaw and desperately tried not to look at her. If I did, I knew I’d fucking die laughing. I didn’t exactly know her aunt, but from the two times we’d met, I wasn’t all that surprised.
“How’d she take the new diary?”
“About as well as if you’d tipped a wheelbarrow full of cow shit on her head.”
“So… She took it well, then.”
Reagan barked out a laugh and dropped her head back so it rested on the headrest. “Oh, my God. Don’t even. She hasn’t stopped ever since we closed the store. I’m not allowed to work a full day yet and it’s driving me crazy.”
“They’re looking out for you.”
“Don’t you start. I’ve had it all day from my brother reminding me of that when he came in to do deliveries.” She shuddered. “I know they are, but I’m going stir crazy not being able to do anything. I just want to get back to my normal life, you know?”
I gave her a sympathetic smile. I did know. “When do you see your doctor next?”
“I don’t have anything booked. Why?”
I pulled up at a red light and looked over at her with a sly smile. “Go see your doctor and get a full check-up. When they tell you that you’re fine, there’s no need for them to keep you at home anymore.”
She reached over and clasped my arm. “Oh, my God, Noah. You’re a freaking genius.”
I clicked my tongue and winked at her before pulling away and making the turn toward the road that would take us to the coast. The GPS said it was only a few minutes from here.
“I try,” I said once we were past the intersection. “There’s no chance of you getting a break until then?”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I think I’m just too independent to be living with my parents, my aunt, and being told I can’t work.”
“You want me to keep breaking you out? I’ll do it. I’ll even buy you extensions so you can hang out of your window and—wait, no. If we play Rapunzel, I’d be going into the house rather than getting you out, and that defeats the object.”
“You just said ‘play Rapunzel’ and all I can think about is role play.”
“Your hair is the right color for the Disney one.”
“How do you know that?”
“Do you know how many classrooms I’ve visited to teach kids about fire safety?” I raised my eyebrows as I made the turn toward the restaurant. “I know all about princesses and dinosaurs and unicorns and fuck knows what else.”
Reagan smirked. “That’s kinda hot.”
I chuckled. “You know what else is hot? We’re here.”
I swear she almost groaned in delight.
“Thank God. I’m starving. Let’s go!”
***
Reagan smiled at the waiter as he filled her glass of wine. I held up a hand and shook my head when he moved to do the same to mine. The last thing I needed to do was get drunk and have to leave my truck out here.
There was always the chance I’d need to get to work quickly. That was the thing with my job—I was always on call, even when I wasn’t supposed to be.
