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“I appreciate the help…” I tightened my jacket to the frigid air.
“Name’s Jesse.” For a heartbeat, he locked his eyes on mine.
“Well, yes, thank you, Jesse, for your assistance. I was driving and suddenly, it just blew.” I huddled into my jacket. The air was damp which made the cold seep into the depths of my bones.
“Figured as much when I saw fresh pieces of rubber a little ways back.” He reached under the mat and pulled out the spare, leaning it against the side of my car. “Just give me a minute to grab a jack and an impact wrench. Hop in my truck to keep warm.”
“No, that’s okay.” I’d rather shiver uncontrollably than give the stranger any opportunity to kidnap me. Paranoid? Sure, but I was also a realist. “I’ll watch, if you’re okay with it?”
“Suit yourself.” He disappeared into his truck and backed up.
Was he taking off?
Instead of driving away, he pulled deeper into the ditch and positioned his truck to light up the passenger side. I wanted to smack myself in the head for being so crazy and had to remind myself not every guy was an asshole. Just most.
A moment later, drill in hand, he stomped through the compact snow to the flat tire.
“Do you want a play by play?” A cheeky hint of a grin tugged on his lips and dimpled the divot in his chin as he positioned the jack under the front end of my car.
“Sure, why not?” I stood on the other side of him so as to not block the bright light while he pumped the jack.
Surprisingly, without an ounce of talking down, he walked me through the easy star pattern of bolt removal and pulled off the shredded mess and the rim, which neededreplacing. The dummy tire, as he called it, was pushed into place and the bolts re-fastened.
“All good, miss.”
The jack hissed as it lowered my car, and Jesse slid it out.
“Wow, that’s it?” I needed to learn how to do that. It looked within my capabilities.
“That’s it.” He grabbed the shredded tire and set what was left of it back in my trunk. “You’ll need a new one, obviously. Where you headed?”
I swallowed and stared into his eyes. “Cheshire Bay.”
“Perfect. There’s a shop there, umm, something like Lenny’s Neighbourhood Mechanic.” He pulled off his cap and gave his head a scratch. “He’ll have a small selection of tires, but likely something that’ll fit your car.”
“Thanks. I truly appreciate your help. What’s the charge, and I’ll e-transfer you right now.” I pulled out my phone, but first, quickly sent a text to Lily, letting her know I would be back on the road within a couple of minutes.
“Nothing, ma’am.”
“I have to give you something.”
He covered the tire with the mat and closed the trunk lid. “Honestly, it’s all good. Pay it forward or something.”
I stood there, dumbfounded. “That doesn’t feel right.”
“What would’ve been right? Just leaving you here on the side of the road?” He grabbed his jack and drill, setting them into the box of his truck.
Hmm, he got me there. “Well, thank you.” The idea of this being a purely sweet gesture wasn’t sitting right. “Are you sure?” Maybe I had some cash in my wallet. It’s too bad I hadn’t baked anything; those always went over well.
He kept a respectable distance. “Absolutely. You have a Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you. You too.” I stood there, shivering.
“Get into your car before you freeze to death.”
“Thanks again, Jesse.”
I hung there on the side of the road until another semi blew past us, the kick up of wind further reducing my internal temperature. With a quick wave, I hopped into my vehicle and started it up, blasting the heat. After rubbing my hands together to return some warm blood into them, I sent another text to Lily and within a moment, I was on my way.
Slowly, I pulled off the side of the road.
Jesse seemed to be following me, but then again, the desolate highway was the only one between Port Alberni and the turn off to Cheshire Bay. I didn’t pay it too much attention until he signaled left, like I did, onto the main road leading into the tiny seaside village.
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