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He looked so forlorn that she reached over and gave his arm an impulsive squeeze. He turned his head and studied her. Their eyes met, and something hot leaped between them. Embarrassed, she slowly removed her hand. Her palm felt warm where she’d touched him.
She rose and turned to Lucy. “Let’s go spend Mat’s money on junk food while he figures out what’s wrong with Mabel.”
Hush Pups didn’t offer the luxury of indoor seating, and Nealy camped out with the girls at one of three metal tables just beyond the parking lot, where they watched the tow truck haul both Mat and Mabel away. While Lucy ate, Nealy chased after Button. Eventually, however, the baby grew tired and curled up for a nap on the quilt.
“I’m totally bored.”
“Why don’t you go explore? Just check back.”
Lucy gazed at her little sister, then studied Nealy suspiciously.
Nealy smiled and spoke quietly. “I’ll watch her every minute.”
Lucy’s brown-painted lips did their best to sneer. “Like I’d care.”
“Oh, you’d care, all right. Give it up, Lucy. The day Button got you for a big sister was the luckiest day of her life.”
Lucy blinked and turned away, but not before Nealy caught a glimpse of the vulnerable fourteen-year-old who lived beneath that tough facade.
After she left, Nealy stretched out her legs on the quilt, propped her back against one leg of the metal table, and contented herself watching the life of the small West Virginia town pass by.
She’d just started to doze when an ancient red Oldsmobile pulled into the parking lot and Mat climbed out of the driver’s side, looking even more ominous than he had earlier. “I was right. It’s a busted tie rod, and it won’t be ready until tomorrow morning. ” He stopped next to her. “Mabel’s parked at the garage, which seems to be part of the county junkyard. There’s some kind of landfill next to it, and the whole place smells like a Mafia burial ground.”
“So we can’t spend the night there.”
He slumped down into the chair across from her. “There’s a Holiday Inn about five miles away.”
He looked like a man in desperate need of a drink, and she pushed what was left of her watery Coke at him. “I’ll get you a hamburger.”
“See if you can find one with some nice E. coli tucked inside.”
“I believe it comes with the order.”
He smiled, then fastened his lips around her straw and took a sip. She’d expected him to drink from the rim, and she stared at him
for a moment. He set down the paper cup. Something crackled between them, an awareness that made her edgy and self-conscious.
She’d never met anyone who emanated so much male sexual energy. She saw it in his eyes, the set of his shoulders, the curl of his fingers. She heard it in that blast-furnace voice. It was almost as if he’d managed to escape female influence. He belonged on the back of a bucking horse, behind the wheel of a ship, building roads, or leading a military charge.
She shook off her fanciful thoughts and headed for the drive-in window. She knew nothing about men like Mat Jorik, and furthermore, she didn’t intend to learn.
Lucy returned just as Mat finished eating. She watched Button try to crawl up his leg into his lap, then looked over at the ancient Oldsmobile. “Couldn’t you get a Camero or something?”
“They were fresh out.”
Button spent the ride to the garage attempting to catch Mat’s attention by alternately gurgling at him and shrieking. He determinedly ignored her. When they reached the garage, Nealy discovered the adjoining junk-yard was just as smelly as he’d indicated. She was relieved when they’d finished loading everything they needed into the car and set off for the Holiday Inn.
The desk clerk regarded Mat uncertainly when he asked for two rooms as far away from each other as possible. Nealy had no intention of taking sole responsibility for the girls, and she quickly stepped forward. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s a big kidder.”
They ended up with adjoining rooms.
As Nealy set her satchel on the bed, she tried to figure out what was missing. And then she realized it was the smell of fresh paint. Every hotel in the world wanted to put its best foot forward when the President or First Lady stayed there, and this nearly always meant redecorating the largest suite. Nealy had fallen asleep with a headache from paint fumes more times than she cared to remember.
She saw Lucy standing at the window, gazing at the pool below. “Why don’t you go swim?” She checked the floor for hazards, then set Button down on it.
“I don’t have a suit.”
“Wear what you have on. You can wash it out when you come in.”
