Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“There is literally nothing on this road…”
Going the posted speed limit of thirty-five gave MacKenzie plenty of time to look at the trees.
And not much else.
The road had some bends and curves, but other than some trees and the view of the mountains in the distance, there wasn’t a thing on it. She’d passed all the houses and there wasn’t another car in sight.
“Two miles in and I’m already bored,” she murmured.
Having gotten on the road rather quickly, she hadn’t had any time to text her mother that she was on her way.
With a weary sigh, she decided that whenever she stopped for gas or a snack, she’d do it then.
Hell, she’d barely had time to type “Oregon” into her GPS app before pulling away from the garage.
And tears stung her eyes again.
“Stop crying, you idiot. There may not be any other cars on the road, but if you don’t pay attention, you’ll be down in a ditch.”
It wasn’t a completely horrible idea. If she went off the road, she’d have to call for a tow truck, and then Devin would…
“Oh, my God! Stop concocting these scenarios! You already messed with the car once. It’s too old to keep screwing around with it. And bodywork would be even more expensive to repair, so…stop crying and just drive!”
Deciding that maybe a little music would help, she was just about to turn on the radio when something up ahead caught her eye.
A truck.
Not that it was so unusual, except it was stopped in the middle of the road with its hood up. Was this possibly the tow call Devin was on? Could her luck be that good that she was going to get to see him after all?
As she pulled closer, her smile grew. This wasn’t just any truck stuck in the road.
It was Devin’s truck stuck in the road.
Slowly, she pulled over and walked around to the front of the truck and almost let out a laugh. Devin was bent over the hood and he had the finest ass she had ever seen in a pair of faded blue jeans.
She loved him in blue jeans.
“Um…excuse me?” she called out.
He didn’t move.
“Sir? Are you all right?” she asked. “Sir?”
“Could you quit calling me that?” he said as he turned around and straightened.
She fought the urge to throw herself into his arms. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Can you quit calling me sir? I’m not that old, for crying out loud.”
A bark of laughter came out before she could stop it. The look of indignation on his face kept her laughing a bit longer before she forced herself to stop.
“Are you done?” he asked.
MacKenzie did her best to stifle the giggle that was itching to come out.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed like that, but you kind of caught me off guard.
” He crossed his arms over his chest as he simply stared at her, and MacKenzie knew he was struggling to keep a straight face.
“So…um…what’s the problem with the truck? ”
Shrugging, he looked over his shoulder at it. “No idea. It sort of sputtered a bit and made some clanking sound, so I pulled over.”
“Hmm…that doesn’t sound good. Listen, why don’t you go and wait in my car and I’ll take a quick look under the hood?”
Now he was definitely smirking. “Thanks but…I’ll stay out here.”
“Why?” she asked, feigning confusion.
“Do you know anything about cars?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” she said proudly. “I work for one of the best mechanics in Sweetbriar Ridge.”
“ One of the best?” he asked incredulously before he started to laugh.
“Okay…he’s the only mechanic in Sweetbriar Ridge, but trust me, he is the best.”
“Oh, yeah? And why should I take your word for it?”
She shrugged and took a step closer to him. “Well…let’s see. Why is he the best mechanic or why is he simply the best?”
Now he took a step closer. “Let’s go with option number two.”
“Good choice,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “For starters, he’s extremely trustworthy.”
“Oh, yeah?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I can honestly say I trust him with my life.”
His smile softened. “Go on.”
“He’s incredibly giving.” She paused. “When I had nothing and no place to go, he took me in. He gave me a job, a place to stay, and fixed my car.”
“That seems very generous.”
“You have no idea,” she replied. “And through it all, he never asked for anything in return. He constantly gave and gave and gave. And I don’t know if I ever told him how much I appreciate him or how incredibly thankful I am for him.”
“Maybe you should tell him,” Devin said, his voice gruff with emotion.
“I don’t know,” she said quietly, stepping in closer until they were toe to toe. Then she looked up at him. “There are so many things I want to say to him, but…I’m not good with words. Not like he is.”
“Maybe you could practice on me.”
She took a steadying breath. “Okay. I’d say…
I love you. I know it’s soon and it scares the hell out of me.
Everything I own is packed up in my car and my life is kind of a mess, but…
when I’m with you, everything seems right.
Good. Better than good. That day on the side of the road, you did more than just rescue a person with a broken-down car.
You rescued a person with a broken-down life.
You gave me hope. And the time we spent together was the best in my life.
And…I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to go to Oregon. ”
“And what do you want?” he asked seriously.
“I want to stay,” she said, her voice trembling, her heart hammering in her chest. “With you. In Sweetbriar Ridge.”
“I never wanted you to leave. It was killing me watching you pack up your stuff.”
“You didn’t say anything!” she cried.
“It had to be your decision,” he countered. “I didn’t want to sway you–I mean, I did . But I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. So I had to wait and hope and pray you’d change your mind.”
MacKenzie let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Wow.”
“I think you’re better with words than you think you are.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.” Grinning, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and then one of his business cards.
Handing it to her, he said, “Devin Maxwell. And I’m hoping you meant what you said about staying.
Because there’s nothing I want more than to be with you and get to know you more and…
make a life with you in Sweetbriar Ridge. ”
She had never been much of a crier, but her emotions were too raw today and she couldn’t help the flow of tears that started up again.
“MacKenzie Holland,” she replied, slipping his card into her back pocket.
“And I was very serious about what I said. The thought of staying here with you makes me happy. And…and…”
He didn’t let her say anything else. He swept her up into his arms and claimed her lips with his in a kiss that promised a whole lot of everything–love, passion…and forever.
A minute later, he lifted his head and smiled down at her. “Welcome home, MacKenzie.”
Those were the second sweetest words she’d heard all day.
It was after dark and they were lying on a blanket in Devin’s backyard, watching the starry sky. They had made love out there after the sun had gone down and now–with minimal clothing on–they were simply enjoying the night.
Devin couldn’t believe how happy he was. He had the woman he loved in his arms and she was staying. They had unpacked her car as soon as they had gotten back to the house and, just like that, his world had righted itself.
“Why did you have those suitcases in your truck?” she asked, running her hand over his chest.
“I was prepared to go with you if you really felt like you still had to leave.”
“What about the garage? Your life here? You couldn’t just abandon all of it!”
Holding her close, he explained. “I was going to leave the truck there and Will and the guys would have picked it up. I planned on going to Oregon with you and making sure you got there okay and that things were going well with your mom. Then I was going to fly home. I was going to be gone for two weeks, tops. And before I flew home, I was going to make arrangements to come back and drive home with you.”
She let out a soft breath. “You are truly the most amazing man in the world. I can’t believe you were willing to do all that for me. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say you love me.”
“I do,” she whispered. “I really do.” They lay there in companionable silence for several minutes before she spoke again.
“I have a confession to make,” MacKenzie said softly beside him.
“What’s that?” He kept his gaze on the sky.
“I sort of…played around with the Mustang the first time you had it fixed.”
He chuckled. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t ready to leave and I thought I needed to do something to guarantee you wouldn’t kick me out.”
He turned onto his side and faced her. “I never would have kicked you out, MacKenzie. Ever.” Then he laughed again.
“You have no idea how crazy it made me that the car broke down! I have always prided myself on my ability to fix anything, so when you called me and said it was running hot? I kind of freaked out.”
That made her laugh. “That’s hysterical! And I really am sorry for freaking you out. I just felt like I had to do…you know…something!”
“How did you figure out how to mess with the car? I didn’t think you knew anything about cars.”
“I Googled it,” she said sheepishly. “I loosened some wires. I was prepared to do it again–or something like it–after you fixed it the second time, but it broke down on its own.”
He nodded and got comfortable again, kissing the top of her head. “Okay, if we’re going for confessions…I have one. Well…two.”
Turning her head toward him, her eyes went wide.
“Your car was actually done sooner. But I told you it wasn’t because I didn’t want you to leave.”
Her immediate response was laughter. “Really? That’s awesome! I love that you did that!”
“I felt really guilty about it!” he admitted. “It was killing me that I was being so childish!” He paused. “And as for the second time it broke down…well…”
“No!” she cried and broke into a fit of giggles again.