12. Cammi
Chapter Twelve
CAMMI
“Thanks again for taking care of my tire,” I said for probably the twentieth time today.
Elias looked quickly in my direction before his eyes shifted back to the road in front of us. “It’s really no trouble.”
I almost said thank you again, but I actually managed to shut my mouth by biting the insides of my cheeks. “Did you have a good flight?” I asked after a moment.
“Sure did. Pretty day for a flight.”
“Are you back to your regular schedule?”
“Should be by next week. Gotta say, I’m relieved to be back in the air. It’s been a long few months. I’m just grateful my injury happened over the winter when things are slower anyway. Flynn would’ve been in a bind if the accident had happened during our busy season.”
“He would’ve figured it out. But yeah, I’m sure you’re relieved. I hate having time on my hands.”
“You have no idea,” Elias said firmly, just as the computerized dashboard lit up in front of him with a phone call. The sound of it filled his truck. He glanced at the dashboard screen quickly before casting me an apologetic look. “That’s my sister, I’m gonna need to take this.”
“Go ahead.”
He tapped a button on the screen, answering with, “Hey sis, you’re on speaker, and I’ve got a passenger in the truck.”
“Hey, who’s riding with you? Is it Diego? Because he owes me five dollars,” his sister said.
He chuckled. “No, it’s not. You can’t see her, but my passenger is Cammi. She runs Red Truck Coffee. I took you there last summer when you came to visit,” he replied.
His eyes bounced to mine briefly. “Cammi, this is my sister, Faith.”
“Hi, Faith. Elias is just giving me a ride. Sorry to eavesdrop on your conversation.”
Faith let out a quick laugh. “I don’t think it counts as eavesdropping when Elias put the call on speaker, but that’s okay. Nice to meet you.”
“What does Diego owe you five bucks for?” Elias prompted.
“We bet on a basketball game. My team won.”
“He’s ignoring my texts,” Faith explained.
Elias chuckled. “Smart man. I’ll get the five bucks from him, don’t you worry. Now what’s up?”
“Mom is driving me crazy. You know how the doctor told her she needs to take it easy? Well, she’s not taking it easy. She is still working full-time even though they told her she could cut her schedule back. Will you call her?”
He let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’ll call her. What makes you think she’s gonna listen to me?”
“Because she always listens to you better than me,” Faith returned.
“I’m not sure I agree, but I’ll definitely call. You doing okay?”
“Of course. I’m always okay.” Faith added, “Cammi, Elias is an obnoxious older brother. He’s always worried about us when he doesn’t need to be.”
“Okay, this phone call is over,” he interjected with a dry laugh.
“Love you,” Faith said quickly.
“Love you too. I’ll call mom soon.”
He tapped the screen to end the call. “That’s my sister. You might not remember, but I did bring her by last summer with my mother and my other sister.”
I riffled through my memory. “I think I remember. You stop by a lot with people when you guys are taking tourists around, so I’m not sure. It’s hard to keep track. I wouldn’t know her if I saw her.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to have everybody memorized. They’ll be here this summer again, so you can rest assured I’ll be bringing them by.”
“Good to know I count as a stop when you have family.”
Elias’s eyes slid to mine again, and the heat there sent butterflies twirling in circles in my belly. Dear God. This man.
A few minutes later, he pulled up beside my SUV at the ski lodge. With it being late afternoon, the parking lot wasn’t as full as it would be when dinner rolled around. Ever since the family who owned this lodge had it renovated, this place was hopping.
I glanced over to see a shiny new tire in place of the one that had been deflated last night. “What did you do with my old tire?” I asked as I climbed out.
“Dropped it off at the transfer station. You must’ve gotten a new set of tires recently because the treads aren’t too worn. You’ll want to stop by a mechanic and get your tires rebalanced soon though,” he offered. “I also put a spare in the back.”
“Elias,” I began as I looked up at him. I suddenly realized we were standing mighty close between his truck and my SUV. My pulse skittered off.
“Let’s not argue about that. Everybody needs a good spare,” he said.
“Let me pay you,” I started, moving to open my purse.
He reached out, curling his hand over my wrist. His touch was warm and firm and my pulse went absolutely insane then, my heart kicking against my ribs and butterflies going wild in my belly.
“It’s no big deal, okay,” he said, his tone easy.
I tried to take a breath, but my lungs were pretty useless. The moment felt hazy and hot. Before I’d quite absorbed what was happening, he stepped closer and dipped his head, brushing his lips across mine briefly.
Just that and nothing more, and my entire body felt electrified and shimmering with heat. I stared blankly up at him, trying to gather my scattered brain cells.
“I’ll text you about the fundraiser, okay?” Apparently, he hadn’t lost the ability to think and form words.
After too long of a pause, I managed two whole syllables. “Okay.” He stood there waiting, looking at me expectantly. “What?” I prompted.
“I was waiting until you got in,” he said, gesturing towards my driver’s side door.
“Oh!” I was finally galvanized to actually move instead of standing there like a brain-fogged, foolish girl. I climbed in my SUV and started it. I rolled down my window, calling once more, “Thank you. For both rides and for fixing my tire.”
He simply dipped his chin and then got in his truck, waiting until I drove away first.