AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He let her hand go reluctantly. “I know.”
“You sure about that?” She took the flashlight and clicked it on under her chin. “We’re being rude to the man who’s come here to help us. So lighten up, all right?” She widened her eyes and crossed them before stepping back out. “Jasper. You gotta see this huge muffler. Maybe you can help Shane drag it off the side of the road so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
“Sure. Let’s see what we got.”
Shane rolled his eyes. The woman could talk the devil into a deal. While she showed off the tires, he gathered the phone chargers, a few bottles of water from the back, work gloves, his wallet, and her knapsack of tricks. This was going to put a serious dent in their travel money. At the best of times his tires were expensive. In Bumfuck, Nevada, who the hell knew how much they’d be. Luckily it was truck country, so they had a chance his size would be in stock.
She was laughing, and Jasper had a starstruck look on his face. Typical. The woman was dangerous. Shane came up behind her and laid his hand on her neck and shoulder. She smiled up at him. His chest tightened as he swiped his thumb along her nape.
Jasper put his hat back on. “We’ll get you folks back to Lund. I’ll give a shout-out to the Coopers at the church. We don’t have a hotel, but they have a room they let folks stay in. Nothin’ fancy, but it’ll do for a night.”
“We’d appreciate that.”
“Now let’s get this muffler off the road and get you guys into town.”
Shane nodded and handed Kendall her bag. The wind kicked up, and rust flakes scored his jeans and boots by the time he and Jasper got the muffler across the road. It was damn heavier than it looked. No wonder it took out two of his tires.
“The truck that dropped this bad boy probably sounds like a jet engine,” Jasper said.
Shane grunted as they heaved it well into the bush. “That stupid muffler is going to cost me over five hundred.”
“More like seven, I’m afraid. Your tires are big ones.”
“Dammit.”
“You gonna be able to pay that, son?”
“Yeah.” It would take more than half of what they had left. With the price of gas, they were going to have to get creative. “Any day laborers out your way?”
Jasper took off his gloves and tucked them into his hip pocket. “Not in Lund. We’ve got people movin’ on left and right.”
“Yeah, that’s everywhere.”
“Where are you two headed?”
“We’ve got a place in New York.”
He whistled. “That’s one helluva drive.”
Shane rubbed the back of his head. “Sure is.”
“At least your wife is a good sport.”
“She’s not my wife.”
“Girlfriend, then. I wouldn’t let that one get away for very long, son. She’s a bottle of sunlight and smiles. There’s always someone out there a little smarter than we are who’ll snap that up.”
Shane looked over his shoulder. Kendall was perched on the end of the tow truck, her feet swinging. The light from the phone cast her face in overbright white. She looked up, a lopsided grin on her face. “Ready, Oscar?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Oscar? Didn’t you—”
“As in the Grouch.”
Jasper laughed. “She’s a pistol.”
“You have no idea.”
