Chapter Twenty-Two #2
She tightened her arm around him and didn’t tell him quite how much she loved the sound of that. He gave her a smile, but it wasn’t one of his real ones. It looked like it cost him something, and she loved him all the more for trying.
“We said we were gonna have fun, right?”
She nodded. Coming to buy herself a car had seemed like a sensible way to use the day, but at that moment she wished they were back at the house, curled up together and pretending tomorrow might never come.
Blane pointed toward a tiny city car, one of those little two-seater things that looked as though a passing bus might flatten it and not even notice. “That the kind of thing you’re looking for?”
She laughed and slapped his arm. “You know full well it isn’t.”
“I don’t know, darlin’. You think that little white thing we drive is too big, and to me it’s a tin can on wheels.”
She slapped him again. “Don’t you dare talk about our car like that. That little white thing, as you call it, is perfect.” She looked around. “I’ve read about Suzuki. They make smaller ones. That’s what I was thinking of looking at.”
He pointed toward another SUV, smaller than the Vitara but not by much, and steered them toward it. “One of those?”
“No, that’s still a bit too big.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Too big? Darlin’, I could park that in the bed of my truck.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you could, but that doesn’t mean I want to drive it through narrow village streets.”
He huffed out an exaggerated sigh. “All right, then. So, something in between.” He pointed back toward the tiny city car. “That.” Then toward the small SUV in front of them. “And that.”
“Yes. Somewhere in between those two.”
“And you want a car, not something pretending to be a little SUV?”
“I’d actually quite like a little SUV. I just don’t think they make them small enough.”
Blane stepped away from her but kept hold of her hand, switching it from one of his to the other as he turned to scan the whole lot, as though even a few inches between them was more than he wanted today.
Then he laughed. “Jesus Christ, Bea. You’re not gonna believe this.”
“Believe what?”
He set off toward the end of one of the rows, taking her with him, and when they rounded the corner, Bea’s hand came up to cover her mouth.
Four tiny, upright little cars sat together in a loose display, two white, one red and one blue, and they looked for all the world like someone had taken a proper SUV and shrunk it.
“Oh my goodness, Blane. I’ve never seen these before. What are they?”
He smiled through pursed lips. “You really don’t want me answering that question, darlin’.” He walked around the back of one and read the badge. “Ignis. You ever heard of one?”
“No, but look at it.” She laughed, delighted now. “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
Blane didn’t answer, at least not with words. His eyebrows made his opinion perfectly clear.
She slapped his arm. “Oh, don’t be like that.
I just told you I’d love an SUV, but I didn’t think they made them small enough for me.
” She walked around the little car, taking it in properly.
It was hardly bigger than a normal hatchback, but it sat higher and had enough of that chunky little SUV shape to make her grin.
He laughed at her expression. “Yeah, yeah. Little thing’s starting to make a better case for itself.”
She looked from the Ignis back toward their battered Vitara and laughed again. “It’s like our car’s little sister.”
Blane followed her gaze, then he looked back at the Ignis. “Damn. Now that you’ve said that, I’m never gonna unsee it.”
“I love it.”
“I noticed.”
She looked up into his eyes, and he rested one hand on her shoulder before leaning down to kiss her.
“You really like it, don’t you?”
“I really do.”
“All right then. Now we can go inside and find somebody.”
She blinked. “You didn’t want to do that before?”
“Nope. Didn’t want some salesman talking you into whatever he wanted to get rid of before you’d figured out what you wanted.”
Bea slipped her arms around his waist and held him tight, resting her cheek against his chest.
“Thank you, Blane.”
His hand settled around the back of her head, holding her there for a moment before he kissed the top of it. “Thank you, Bea.”
She tipped her head back. “What for?”
His expression changed, just for a second.
“For letting me be here for this.”
She swallowed hard, because there was no safe answer to that. So instead, she looked back at the little Ignis.
“Come on. We need to see whether you actually fit in it.”
Blane groaned. “Knew this was gonna turn into entertainment for you.”
“Oh, absolutely.”
And for the first time since he’d told her he was leaving tomorrow, she thought they might actually manage to have some fun.
The salesman, Manolis, turned out to be a rather sweet older gentleman, and he came outside with them carrying the keys to the blue Ignis.
Of course Bea wanted the blue one. It seemed as though eighty percent of the vehicles she’d seen on Crete were white, and besides, she didn’t want another white car. One of those had already become far too important to her.
Blane walked around the blue one. “No four-wheel drive?”
Manolis shook his head.
Blane frowned.
Bea laughed. “I’m not planning to drive up a mountain.”
“You live on one.”
“I live near one.”
He gave her a look.
“Automatic matters more to me.”
He considered that, then nodded. “Okay.”
When Manolis opened the driver’s door and gestured for her to get in, she fell in love almost immediately.
The seat was comfortable and easy to adjust, she could see clearly out of every window, and although the little car sat higher than an ordinary hatchback, she didn’t feel like there was too much vehicle around her.
Everything seemed close enough to reach without stretching, the controls were simple, and when she looked over her shoulder she could actually see where the back of the car ended.
She looked up at Blane, who somehow seemed even taller from down here.
Manolis smiled. “You want to try drive it?”
“I’d love to.” She turned to Blane. “Wouldn’t we?”
He pressed his lips together.
She laughed. “Oh, come on. You have to.”
“I have to?”
“Yes. How else am I supposed to know whether I can take you anywhere in it?”
“Pretty sure that’s not one of the things you’re supposed to check when you buy a car.”
“It is today.”
Manolis looked up at Blane and then into the tiny passenger compartment, obviously wondering the same thing Bea was.
“You want to go?”
“Want?” Blane muttered. “Don’t know about that, but hell yeah, I’m going.”
It took some maneuvering, but he managed to fold himself into the passenger seat, moving it as far back as it would go before lowering himself in. Once he was settled, his knees still looked alarmingly close to the dashboard.
Bea bit her lip.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was only going to ask whether you’re comfortable.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Manolis was laughing openly now.
Bea looked at him. “Will you be coming with us?”
He shook his head and handed her the keys.
“We won’t go far,” she assured him.
“It’s good.” He gestured toward the building. “We have cameras everywhere.”
“Oh.” She smiled as she realized he’d answered the question she hadn’t quite known how to ask. “I see.”
Blane grunted beside her.
She glanced at him. “What?”
“Nothing. Just appreciating his security measures.”
That made Manolis laugh again.
Bea started the engine and adjusted the mirrors. “Don’t worry. We really won’t go far.”
Blane looked down at his knees. “Probably for the best. Not sure I’d survive a road trip in this thing.”
“You’re being very brave.”
“I’m suffering for you, darlin’.”
She laughed as she pulled carefully away.
Within a few minutes, she knew.
The little Ignis was easy. Not easy in a way that made her feel as though she needed something simplified for her, but easy in the way the Vitara had gradually become easy once she’d stopped thinking so hard about every movement.
She could place the car on the road without wondering where its edges were, the automatic gearbox meant there was one less thing demanding her attention, and when she turned onto a narrower street, she didn’t tense at all.
Blane noticed. “You like it.”
“I really do.”
She drove another few minutes before turning back toward the dealership.
“Well?” she asked.
He looked around the little interior as though giving the question serious consideration.
“I hate it.”
She stared at him, and he kept his expression straight for another second before his mouth twitched.
“Oh, you horrible man.”
He laughed. “It’s a good little car, Bea. You can see out of it, you’re comfortable driving it, and it’ll fit down narrow village roads.”
Her smile widened. “So you approve?”
“Didn’t know I got a vote.”
“You don’t.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
“Because I want you to approve.” The words slipped out before she could think about them.
His expression softened. “Well, I do.” That was all he said, but it was enough.
Back at the dealership, the practical part took less time than Bea had expected.
Manolis talked her through the paperwork, insurance, and registration arrangements, and although Blane stayed nearby, he didn’t hover over her shoulder or answer questions for her.
When she wanted his opinion, she asked for it, and when she didn’t, he let her get on with it.
By the time Manolis placed the keys in her hand, she still couldn’t quite believe she’d done it.
It was now her very own car. It wasn’t Simon’s choice for her, or something practical they had agreed on together because it made sense for their life.
This one was all hers. She looked through the showroom window toward the little blue Ignis waiting outside and smiled.
Blane came to stand beside her. “Happy?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him. “Very.”
“Good.”
Then she looked at the Ignis again, and a less pleasant realization followed. “We have two cars.”
“Yeah.”