Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
My thoughts started to take a turn for the worse, but I chose to completely cut off every single thought but one.
“Everything he just taught you, forget it,” I started.
She looked at me with those jewel-green eyes and grinned.
“Turn the car on.”
She did, putting her foot into the clutch and starting it up.
“Now, where’s first?”
I made her do this for all the gears, making sure that she knew where every single one was.
We were in her dad’s eighties model Chevrolet, so it should be fairly easy for her to get the thing going.
“Now, the key here is to give it gas,” I started.
Within fifteen minutes, she was driving it smoothly around the parking lot.
Well, as smoothly as you could with what little area we were allotted.
“Drive over there to the boat launch area,” I suggested.
She looked at me in alarm.
“Trust me,” I ordered.
She did, reluctantly pulling into the boat launch area where she easily turned around and faced forward up the hill, correctly guessing what I was going to make her do next.
“Now,” I said as I pulled up the emergency brake. “This is the key to getting up a hill without dying. You won’t always need it, but it’s a cheat until you don’t anymore.”
Within forty-five minutes, we were parking in front of The Marina, and I was getting out.
I didn’t say goodbye. I didn’t say a word to her, actually. I walked away, gave her dad a punch to the shoulder, and laughed when I heard Silvain say, “Well, I’ll be fuckin’ damned. You’re not stupid after all.”
• • •
“I never told you thank you for helping me that day,” she said softly.
We were sitting at the stoplight that would lead us to Big Five Tire and Auto. A small-town store that had been serving the community for what felt like forever.
They were great—slow, since the old man did it by himself, and we’d be waiting a while for my tire to be fixed.
But, seeing as they were the only company around…
“You’re welcome,” I replied. “I couldn’t let you stay out there and suffer.”
She started to laugh quietly.
The light turned green, she started off but died.
I waited patiently for her to get the Jeep started again.
“Okay, sometimes I still die,” she grumbled. “But I only do that like twice a week, max.”
My lips tipped up as she got started again, this time without dying, and pulled right into a parking spot on the front row.
I was out of the car and into the store with my tire in about half a minute.
“I can get this done in about an hour.” The old man looked like he’d aged about a million years since I’d seen him last. “Do you possibly have a ride? I can do it better for you in the morning.”
I wasn’t sure why the quality of work would be better in the morning, but I had another vehicle I could drive until then.
“How about, if you can’t get it done before closing, you just call me. I’ll head home and come back in the morning,” I offered.
I didn’t want to have to force her to take me all the way home.
I knew she would, too.
But the docks got busy at this time of day with everyone getting in from fishing charters or heading home for the night. And I didn’t want her alone out there with all of those people…
“I’ll be over at the diner if you happen to get it done in time,” I offered.
The old man gave a thumbs up and headed into the shop with my tire.
I walked out to find Alice on her phone, flipping through what looked like social media, with her head down and not paying attention to a damn thing.
I got up and hopped into her Jeep, causing her to squeak in surprise.
“Great observation skills you have going on there,” I found myself sniping. “He said he might get it done in an hour. Or, he might get it done in the morning. I’m choosing to think that he will get it done today if we go over to that diner and eat and wait.”
She started the Jeep up, not commenting on my rude comment.
We arrived at the diner shortly thereafter.
It was torture, too, because since we were going so slow, I could smell her.
All sweet, ocean breeze and cotton candy.
It was the weirdest combination of smells, but it was intoxicating.
I wanted to bottle it up and carry it around with me, smelling it anytime she entered my mind.
Which, admittedly, would be a lot.
I’d look like a goddamn weirdo.
We fortunately arrived, pulling over into a shaded spot at the edge of the parking lot instead of at the front.
“Why’d you park here?” I wondered as I got out. “Not that I have a problem with it at all.”
“About two years into driving this thing, I learned to park places where I could pop the clutch and get the damn thing started. I was always leaving something on, which inevitably caused the battery to drain. After the third time of coming to drop me off, my dad told me to either stop being so forgetful or start walking home. I, instead, got better at strategizing. I still pop the clutch at least once every few months,” she admitted.