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“Howdy, folks,” Bobby said. “Got some bad news. We ain’t got a tire that fits. Gonna have to get one from a couple towns over. Should have it this afternoon though. Could get you on your way by supper.”
“I don’t suppose there’s anywhere to rent a car around here?” Noah asked.
“Nah,” Bobby said. “But if you can drive a stick, you can borrow my truck.” He pointed his chin to a beat-up Chevy circa 1950.
Noah looked at Daisy, who shrugged but nodded. “That’s a really nice offer,” he said. “Sure you don’t mind?”
In response, Bobby threw him the keys. “The county fair’s startin’ today. If you’re lookin’ for something to do.”
Noah left his cell phone number, and Bobby agreed to call once the car was ready. He grabbed Daisy’s suitcase, she filled a backpack with some of the merchandise from the trunk, and they jumped into the pickup.
“Since we never got to it yesterday, let’s find a mountain to climb,” Daisy said. “If the car’s not ready after a hike, we can go to the fair.”
“You’re the boss.” A hike sounded fine, but the Podunk county fair, he would gladly take a pass on.
They stopped at the motel, and while Daisy changed clothes, he returned their keys and checked them out. She met him in the parking lot wearing shorts even shorter than the sundress she’d had on yesterday. Not helpful.
“You ever cover those things up?” he asked, nodding to her legs. Sure, he’d seen great legs before, but these were in a class all their own.
“It’ll be a hundred degrees today!” she said. “I’m sure a strong, tough man like you can handle it.”
He wasn’t as confident and grumbled in response. He was a tried-and-true leg man. Although, even if he’d been a boob man, Daisy had that covered too. Ass man? Yep. Foot fetish? Uh-huh.
“How ’bout a real breakfast before we hike?” Noah asked. “All that sugar’s gonna burn off quick.”
She agreed, and they parked at the diner they’d had dinner at the night before. He bought a paper and started the crossword puzzle while Daisy messed around on her phone. She only ordered coffee and rolled her eyes, mumbling something about him being bossy, when he told the waitress she’d also have eggs and wheat toast.
“You need fuel. Anything I should know about?” He hitched his chin toward her phone.
“No new threats, if that’s what you mean,” she said, sipping on water the waitress had left. “I gotta do some filming today. Hope that won’t be a problem.”
“That reminds me. You posted a picture last night. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that.” That was nicer than saying she hadn’t obeyed, right?
“You said ‘videos.’ And, even though I made one, I’m waiting to post it,” she said. “As for the pic, I made sure there was nothing to identify where we were in the shot. It could have been a glass of wine at any bar in the world.”
“Daisy.” He closed his eyes and prayed for patience. “The picture itself has data embedded that can show where you were.”
“Oh.”
“Just so we’re clear. No pictures, no videos, no posts of any kind, all right?”
She gave a smart, sarcastic salute, and he fought an eye roll.
Last night, when he thought she was safe and sound next door, he’d watched some of her videos. She was peppy and happy, but also full of good info. If he wanted to travel Europe.
The first video opened with a view of a street market, obviously in a foreign country.
“Here we are in Spain,” Daisy had started. “As many of you know, I lived here for a year a couple of years ago. I wasn’t making videos then, so I’m coming back now to show you what I did and what I learned.”
His jaw dropped as she proceeded to turn to a local merchant and have an entire conversation with him. In Spanish. From what little he’d retained from his high school Spanish class, and the fact that the man clearly understood her, he could tell she was fluent. She’d never mentioned that.
As he clicked video after video, he learned she was fluent in French and Italian too! She joked that her Japanese was rusty, and that she only knew a tiny bit of German.
Respect for her took a giant leap forward. He’d pegged her as a ditsy, look-at-me-I’m-pretty social climber. But even if she was that, she was also an intelligent woman.
After they’d returned from the bar, he’d watched a few more, including the one where she decided to come home. It was more serious in tone and just her casually talking to the camera.
Apparently, she’d done and seen all she wanted to abroad and was ready to settle down in the States. She listed getting older and her sisters marrying and having kids as other reasons. She promised to keep doing videos, but with a more domestic slant.
