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Was God trying to tell her something? Of all the places for her car to break down, why did it have to be in front of Main Street Church? Why did it have to happen on her first day back in town? She stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind her as her mind raced with ideas about how to get out of this predicament. She didn’t have the slightest clue as to who to call to service her car. Although she vaguely remembered an auto body shop in town, she couldn’t recall the name of it.
She looked up and down Main Street, her eyes honing in on an approaching police car. Cassidy watched as the squad car slowed down and made a left onto Oak in front of the church.
“Oh, Lord. Please don’t let it be him,” she prayed. “Anyone but him.”
The run-in with Tate was still fresh in her mind. She’d been stung earli
er by his surly attitude and comments about Holly. While a part of her didn’t blame him for hating her, another part of her ached to see him look at her with an emotion other than disgust.
As the squad car came to a stop behind her car, she watched as a familiar pair of broad shoulders stepped from the car. Tate was staring straight at her, his blue eyes like laser beams as he assessed the situation. The sight of him striding toward her caused her pulse to quicken and beads of moisture to pool on her palms.
“Oh, come on,” she muttered. “Can this actually be happening to me?”
His long powerful legs brought him to her side in a few quick strides.
“Car trouble?” he asked, his voice brisk and businesslike.
She let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know what happened. I took my car to the shop two weeks ago for a checkup.” She threw her hands in the air. “I’ve traveled all this way, only to conk out in the final stretch.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked them away. She didn’t want to be weak in front of Tate, she didn’t like feeling helpless. It reminded her way too much of the past and the way she used to feel. She’d worked extremely hard in her life to move past those feelings of helplessness. But with her mother’s illness, her long-overdue return to town and the sudden breakdown of her car, her vulnerabilities were rising to the surface.
Tate reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, his touch shooting warmth through her entire body. “It’s okay, Cassidy. Just take a deep breath.”
Just take a deep breath. He’d said those familiar words to her a hundred times or more during their relationship. Whenever she’d been stressed or high strung, he’d uttered those five words as a means of calming her down. And it had always worked, Cassidy realized. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself that this difficult moment would soon pass.
When she opened her eyes he was still standing there, his gorgeous face filled with concern.
“I have Lou’s shop on my auto dial. We’ll have them come pick up your car, and I’ll drop you off at your parents’ house.” The lines of his face had softened, and for a moment she could almost pretend as if nothing had changed between them. He looked so much like the Tate who’d loved her. She had to resist the impulse to reach out and touch his face. It was something she ached to do, but knew she had no right to.
She clenched her hands at her sides. “You don’t have to do that,” she protested. “I can call a cab or something.”
The last thing she wanted to be was a burden to him. He’d made it perfectly clear at the diner that he wanted nothing to do with her. Even though he was town Sheriff, under the circumstances it would still be above and beyond the call of duty to come riding to her rescue.
He frowned at her. “I know I don’t have to, Cassidy. I’m law enforcement in this town. I’m not about to leave you stranded out here.” His lips curved upward in the slightest of smiles. “And in case you don’t remember, West Falls only has one cab, so you might be waiting out here for quite a spell.”
Cassidy laughed. “I guess I forgot about that.” She looked up at him, warmth filling her insides at his sudden playfulness. How she missed this.
He folded his arms across his chest and stared her down. “So, what’ll it be? A ride in the squad car or waiting in the hot sun for an elusive cab ride?”
Not much of a choice, she realized. Although riding with Tate would be awkward, it was the most convenient option at hand. She couldn’t run away every time she ran into him. It was bound to happen throughout the course of the summer, particularly in a town the size of West Falls. She needed to compose herself and act like a grown woman, not like the teenaged girl who’d been head over heels in love with Tate. That might work, she thought, if she could only tell her heart to stop slamming inside her chest every time he was nearby.
“I accept the offer. It’s mighty kind of you.” Kindness. It was Tate’s signature, as much a part of him as the cleft in his chin. And even though his actions were well-meaning, she couldn’t imagine a worse torture than being physically close to him, but separated by a world of differences.
Tate nodded curtly and pulled out his cell phone to contact Lou. When she pulled her suitcase from the trunk of the car, she felt strong hands taking the luggage from her grip. Without a word Tate swept up all her bags and carried them over to his car, depositing them in the backseat. She followed behind him, sliding in on the passenger side.
When Tate seated himself behind the wheel, he glanced over at her. “Someone will be here within five minutes to tow the car to the shop. You’ll need to call them later with all your information. They’ll probably have an estimate for you by then.”
Cassidy murmured her thanks, appreciation flowing through her at how easily Tate had fixed things. A few minutes ago her problems had seemed overwhelming. Although she considered herself an independent woman, it was a nice feeling to have someone to lean on. That’s what she’d been missing since she’d left West Falls. Someone to lean on. There had been several boyfriends in her life in the past few years, but not a single one had ever touched her heart the way Tate had. Not one had ever made her feel as if he’d been the other half of her soul.
Tate reached over and placed his cowboy hat on the dashboard, his arm brushing against hers in the process. She sucked in a short breath, her nerve endings tingling at the sudden contact. The spicy, woodsy scent of his aftershave rose to her nostrils, bringing back memories of being held tightly in his arms and inhaling that intoxicating scent.
For a few moments the only sound inside the car was the low hum of the squad car radio as it crackled and buzzed. A slight tension thrummed in the air. She was all too aware of her close proximity to Tate and his each and every move as he maneuvered the car. His right hand gripped the steering wheel while his left arm rested on the windowsill. Every now and then he would tap his fingers against the wheel, moving to a beat only he could hear.
Tate cleared his throat. “I hear you have a gallery in Phoenix.” He cast a quick glance in her direction. “I was a bit surprised at that. You always said you wanted to teach art to children. That didn’t work out?”
Had Tate kept up with the goings-on in her life? She’d only had her gallery for two years, so clearly someone had filled him in on her news. Did he actually care about her life or was he simply filling the time with small talk?
She shrugged. “I was an assistant to a gallery owner when I first moved to Phoenix, so I spent years learning the ins and outs of how to successfully run a gallery. It was the next logical step for me to run my own.”
