Chapter 2
ABIGAIL
I jerked awake, disoriented, and felt like I slept in my car. News flash: I did. My eyes were lightly crusted over, and my messy hair nested around my puffy face. My rearview mirror wasn”t kind to me this morning, and no amount of finger-combing would fix this look. The sun began its ascent as I reached behind me to dig out my purse when I noticed a young kid staring at me through my windshield. I collected a clean shirt, deodorant, purse, and phone charger and exited the vehicle carefully to use the hotel bathroom. My luck, I”d trip over my feet and create another embarrassing moment for all to enjoy.
As I stepped onto the curb, I looked at the boy and said, ”Stay in school, kid, or this could be your life.” His mother grabbed him by the collar and gave me a pained look like I was some creeper. Truth be told, I creeped myself out most mornings. I needed a new life, a new look, and a guardian angel to turn my ship around.
A polite society would have been disgusted by the sink shower I completed before anyone could walk in on me. Thank goodness the braid I locked into place suggested I was a sweet girl; however, the bright red lipstick I applied said otherwise. My dark raven hair and fair skin implied one of two things: with makeup—a vampire; without makeup—a starving orphan. I went with option ”C” today and added some demure eye color, no liner or mascara, and some tinted moisturizer, minimizing my opaque skin to appear ”alive.”
In case anyone cared to reach me, I turned my phone back on, continued to charge it for a few more minutes, and opened the email from Mr. Brickner, the attorney, confirming the address to my new abode. I reset my navigation and calculated I was approximately six hours from my final destination. Sadly, there weren”t any messages, texts, or shared memes. Even junk mail missed my box. With any luck, I”ll arrive mid-afternoon and be able to sleep in my new bed shortly after that. Wish me luck.
As I traveled through the highways and byways of our great nation, I saluted each bridge emblazoned with a general”s name and slowed down to enjoy the hills and plains springing to life. Small purple and yellow flowers pushed their way to the sun, reminding me that we get a chance to start a new cycle of life every year. This spring was going to be my best cycle of life yet. I wished I had someone to share it with.
Two hours into my inspirational morning, my engine light went on. The last time that happened, my gas cap wasn”t on right, so I pulled off on the side of the road to double-check I put it on correctly when I filled it up this morning. Careful of traffic coming up behind me, I slid out of the car and inspected the cap, noting that everything was in order. I calculated the chances of how far I could push my limits and get to Mystic without the engine exploding; then I hatched a new plan. First, I”ll drive fifty-five miles per hour not to tax the engine too much. I”ll top off my windshield wiper solution. I vowed not to use the heater or air conditioning. Perfect. I can do this!
I looked carefully, pulled back into traffic at the slower pace my plan called for, and added my hazard lights to my plan, just in case. A moan cried out from under my seat like a ghost, ready to re-enter this plane. Then, a crunching sound erupted under the hood. Jesus Christ! What the hell was happening? An exit appeared, and I didn”t think twice about taking it. I threw the gear shift into Neutral and coasted up the exit ramp. More groans and a popping sound emanated under the hood, then smoke! Oh shit, smoke! Swiveling my head, I looked for a gas station. I prayed for my mother”s intervention and aimed Little Red into the driveway of ”Elias”s Fixer Upper.” What the hell kind of name was that?
Smoke plumed from under the hood as I pushed in the clutch, threw the gear shift into Neutral, and cut the engine. Like a cheetah on the prowl, I leaped out of the car and ran into the building for help.
”Help! Help! My car is going to explode!”
ELIAS
A wild creature barged into my garage screaming at the top of her lungs, and my first instinct was to yell at her to calm down. After eyeing her appearance and the desperation on her hysterical face, I thought better of chastising her and looked where she pointed. She was correct; her car looked like Vesuvius, ready to blow. I grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and marched over to her vehicle as she ran behind me, wailing about Little Red. Who the fuck was Little Red?
I hosed the smoke, pulled my work gloves from my jumpsuit, and unlatched the hood. The sickening smell of oil cooking on the engine led me to believe this girl got lucky. Three more minutes running, and it would have caught fire. Hosing the whole compartment down gave me a minute to look off in my periphery to this young woman folded over at the waist and bawling into her hands. Once I was sure the car was no longer alive, I put down the extinguisher and walked back over to explain what options she had regarding the disposal of her vehicle.
”Uh, miss?” I tempered my big voice so as not to frighten her. ”Are you going to be alright?”
She sniffed several times, then removed her hands from her face, and my jaw dropped. I didn”t notice it when she first ran into my shop, but she was a dream. Well, not a dream, like a blonde bombshell. No, she was actually in a dream I had last week. I dreamt of a fair, long-haired girl with dark hair and a small frame. She was in distress, and I was supposed to save her. That can”t be right. I”ve never had a premonition in my life. Why now? I couldn”t see her face exactly in my dream, yet everything else about her was the same.
I pulled myself together and reminded myself that she needed to know her options, so I began rather mechanically delivering the news.
”I”m sorry to inform you that your ride is dead.” Very eloquent. Nice job, dummy. ”Sorry. What I meant to say was that you need a casket for that heap.” Stop! Just stop. ”Okay, what I”m trying to say is . . .”
Her eyebrows narrowed, ”I get it! My car is long gone, and not a fucking thing can make it work again. Thank you for your assistance, but now I have to think.” She stormed away to sit under one of the maple trees lining my parking lot. Her hands returned to her face, and she started hitting her head. Nope! That”s not happening on my watch. I looked over at my other technician, who came out of the garage while this girl went ape-shit, I jutted my chin toward the girl; and quickly walked back over to see what I could do for her.
”Hey, listen,” I knelt before her, trying to get her attention. ”Please stop hitting yourself. It”s not your fault.”
She wouldn”t stop, and I began to get angry. Why would she do that to herself?
”Stop!” I grabbed both her wrists and pulled them down to her knees. She was surprisingly strong for such a small person. ”This isn”t your fault. Your car is old. Given how packed your car is, I”m not sure where you’re coming from, but you made it here safely. That”s all that matters.”
Big, hazel, watery eyes stared at me blankly. Her lashes were dewy, and the smudges of darkness under her eyes led me to believe she either hadn”t slept much or had a difficult past. It was her lips, though, that captivated me—the delicate ”o” between her pillowy, Cupid’s bow upper lip and the entire bottom one. They were stained red and so expressive even when they weren”t moving. She was fascinating.
”It”s not all that matters to me. It”s the only thing that matters to me. I can”t be stranded. I have to be somewhere tomorrow, and, if I don”t make it there, I don”t know what to do.” I let her wrists go and pulled a clean handkerchief out of my pocket. It was such an old-school thing to do, but I was an old-school kind of guy. Hankies weren”t just for runny noses. She dried her eyes and whimpered.
”Thank you. Although I have no idea what this is.”
”Hasn”t anyone taught you about hankies? It”s a standard gentleman”s accessory. It”s like a tissue you wash.” Her quizzical expression made me laugh, and then she hummed a pretty sound. ”There, that”s better.”
She dabbed her eyes and wiped her nose, then looked at me and extended my fluid-filled cloth. ”Did you want this back? It”s gross now.”
I chuckled. ”Keep it. You never know when you”ll need it again.” I smiled at her and stood up. ”Let me help you up.” I extended my hands, and she took both, laying her tiny palms in my giant, calloused ones. We both looked at them, perplexed. Tingles went down my spine when we touched. Her timid smile made me hard, and that was my cue to let her hands go and walk back to the garage.
I could hear her shuffling behind me, trying to keep up. I was a big man and no match for this little flower. This, whatever it was, wasn”t going to go anywhere. I needed to return to work, forget my stupid dream, and let this woman get on with her life.
”Hey, uh, mister!” She called after me. ”What do I do now?” Her expression was pathetic and needy.
Under my breath, I spoke to myself and finished with a sigh. ”I can help you dispose of your car, but that”s all I can do. I”m sorry, ma”am.” I”m an ass.
”I understand. Is there a bus station nearby? I saw one pass a few minutes ago,” she panted, swinging her arms toward the road.
I stopped, turned toward her, and consented, ”It”s a mile down the road. Where are you headed?” It couldn”t hurt to know.
”Mystic, Connecticut. I have to get there by tomorrow. Can a bus take me there?”
”Sure. That bus you just saw? You missed it.”
”Okay. I”ll get the next one. Could you drop me off at the station? I need to take my things.”
”Well, the problem isn”t getting another bus. The problem is that was the bus going that way until Saturday.” I pressed my lips together, seeing the irony of her situation.
This tiny person let out a litany of expletives that any marine would be proud of. ”Why does this shit always happen to me?” The waterworks continued to the point of her almost vomiting.
”Hey, hey. If you give me a minute, I might have another option for you. Hang on.” I held up my pointer finger, nodded my head encouragingly, and sprinted into the building.
”Paul!” I hollered at my tech under a hoist. ”Can you cover tomorrow for me? Sorry for the short notice, but this lady needs some help, and we were going to shut down for a long weekend anyway. What do you say?”
He placed a hose under the Chevy 250 engine, cranked open a valve, and emptied the oil into a splash pan. ”Helping a lady out in distress, huh?” He winked twice at me.
”Fuck off. Can you help me or not?” I stood with my chest out and my hands on my hips, trying to be as intimidating as I could.
”I”ve got you, boss. Go save your damsel in distress,” he smirked and slid back under the pickup.
I shook my head to clear my ridiculous thoughts of ”saving” this girl. I had a dream, not an epiphany. Maybe she was a girl in a dream and not my dream girl. I could feel my muscles tighten at my shoulders and neck, and I hadn”t even committed to asking her if she wanted my help. I could help her pack her crap up in boxes and UPS them to wherever she was going and dump her into a taxi. Provided our town had one—and they don”t. Her option, singular, was for me to drive her. Let”s hope she doesn”t cry again when I offer my hair-brained idea.
With hands in my pockets and a flush of heat coming on, I walked up to what”s her name and stopped in front of her. She had returned to the tree, with her shapely legs tucked under her chin, and waited for her to look up.
“So, I had an idea that would solve your problem. Do you want to hear it?” I toed the earth and hung my head down, enjoying how her hair cupped around her jaw when she lifted it. She was young, confused, and wary.
She picked at the ripped denim at her knee and looked back down after acknowledging me. ”What?”
I squatted down to get her attention and spoke quietly. ”I had planned to close my shop for a long weekend anyway, and I didn”t have any specific plans other than watching the hockey division playoffs and drinking beer. I could drive you where you need to go.”
The cock of her neck coupled with my being pushed to my ass with two rather strong palms should have been my red flag. She popped up and backed away from me like I was a snake ready to attack.
”What the fuck did you just say? Should a young girl get into a stranger”s vehicle and let him take her anywhere? What”s wrong with you?”
She didn”t wait for an answer and stalked again across the parking lot. She looked all around for what appeared like another human being to bear witness to my proposition. I wasn”t getting on her crazy train. Though now that I”m rehashing what I said, I did sound like a creeper.
I ran ahead and blocked her way, pressing my hands together and begging her to listen.
”Hey, come on. I”m sure that sounded bizarre, even to my ears. The reality is that you don”t have any other options. I promise I”m not a pedophile or a serial killer. I”ll even have our police chief come down and vouch for me. I only wanted to help.”
She stared at me, shifting her eyes from my mouth to my eyes, to my arms, then my chest. Now I was starting to feel violated. What was she doing? Sizing me up? I could crush her with one hand. Shit, I could shot-put her to the next county with one hand tied behind my back. It had to be my beard that scared her. It wasn”t long and scraggly, nor nice and tight like those city boys wear it. It looked manly, sexy. At least, that was what a few women said about me when they thought I wasn’t listening.
As she finished her inventory of my features, she dropped her hands to her sides and confessed, ”I”d be breaking every lesson I”ve been taught about not speaking to or going with strangers, but, if I do say yes, I want that police chief”s approval.”
I chuckled and extended my hand, saying, ”I”m Elias. Elias McGinnis. Proprietor of this here establishment.” I bowed slightly at the waist and gave her one of my signature smiles. She laughed back shyly, extending her tiny hand to mine. ”Abigail Farnsworth-Burton. Always Falling Behind.” I sensed her predicament and gave her a wry smile.
”Not today, sweetheart. Destiny may have brought you to my door, but your situation is temporary. Mark my words.” As we shook hands, that zing of electricity shot up my arm again. The look Abigail gave me took that jolt and sent it straight to my dick. She had to trust me. I wouldn”t let her down.