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Beneath my feet, the car bucked.
“No, not now.” Lena pressed the gas pedal, and Bessie shot forward just before she sputtered and died. “Shit.” I could see the frustration building in her. “Of course this would happen right now.”
I reached over and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll call Ben and see if he can get a tow to us. If we don’t call now, it will be too late. And I’ll call Daniel to come pick us up.”
Her face fell. “But the barn?”
There was nothing I wanted more than to barge on to the property and find out what was in there. But we couldn’t be foolish about this either. I was still dedicated to keeping Lena out of jail. “We know it’s here now, and we’ll come back to it. Find a way to see what’s inside. It’s better this way. We’ll be better prepared.”
Maybe I could even find a way to point Charlie in this direction and take Lena out of it altogether. That would be the ideal situation.
“If you’re sure,” Lena’s voice was low with disappointment. I couldn’t pull her over into my lap in this car, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me from touching her. Leaning over, I caught her lips with mine, kissing her until I felt her body relax.
“I’m sure,” I told her when I pulled back. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”
Pulling out my phone, I looked up the number for the mechanic.
Chapter 26
Lena
Ben shut Bessie’s hood with a sigh, wiping his hands on a rag. “Remember that time a few days ago when I told you Bessie needed to retire soon?”
It had only taken a day for him to get her working again. Which was good, so Jude didn’t have to drive me everywhere. But at the same time, it felt strange to be doing this—something which had become commonplace and normal—when everything was as far from normal as possible.
I smiled at him, but I didn’t have anything to say about Bessie’s retirement. Of course I knew he was right. Bessie was a classic car, and both the repairs and replacement parts were getting more expensive and difficult to find. Every time she shuddered and died was a time my heart fell, knowing everyone would look at me again and internally roll their eyes.
And yet, I couldn’t do it. Maybe I was just too overly sentimental, but this car had seen me through everything. Through college and moving to Garnet Bend. Through opening up a coffee shop even though my family had said I was crazy for wanting to live in a town this small. Through meeting Jude and everything with Evelyn. Right now, besides Jude, Bessie was the only thing I had.
The idea of getting rid of her was like a knife in my heart.
Just a little while longer. Then maybe I could stomach it. After we figured out who was coming after me, and I got any shred of my life back.
“Lena?”
“Sorry.” I shook my head. “Got lost in my thoughts there for a second. You might be right, but for right now, just hit me with the damage. There’re only so many fires I can fight at once, you know?”
Ben smiled. “I understand. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be back with the paperwork.”
“Hey, Ben?”
“Yeah.” His voice was muffled in his office.
“Did Charlie come talk to you?”
He stuck his head out the door. “He did, yes. I’m really sorry about what happened. I told him I was there when you set up and I hadn’t seen anything strange. For what it’s worth, most people don’t think you did it.”
It wasn’t worth much, honestly. There were enough who did believe it, and that wasn’t something I could just wave a wand and fix.
Biting my lip, I wondered if I could push him to admit anything about Allison. Or maybe he didn’t know. “Did you guys eat the cupcakes you made?”
“Yeah. They were good, too.”
My phone rang in my pocket before I could ask him anything else, and I looked down at the screen. “Speak of the devil,” I muttered. “Ben, I have to take a call. I’m stepping outside.” It was cold, but I pulled my coat closer. If it went badly, I didn’t want this call overheard. “Hey, Charlie.”
“Lena, how are you?”
I laughed once. “I think that’s largely going to depend on why you’re calling.”
