Chapter Ten #2
Dominic might have been there, but she wasn’t going to see him.
Not yet. She needed to take care of this alternator business first, but that didn’t stop her from feeling so much at the sight of the store’s sign.
She angled herself to keep her eyes on the darkened windows just in case she saw his figure.
As if Officer Spradley could read her mind, he said, “Dominic told me you’re from Decatur.”
Erica nodded as they made their way around the fountain and turned onto First Street by the courthouse. “That’s right.” She gazed up at the tall red-brick building, its front lined with gleaming white columns. “I was actually coming back from there when the car stopped working.”
“Visiting family?”
There was a bit of a waver in his voice, but Erica couldn’t begin to guess why.
“Sort of,” she replied with a frown. “Well … Yes, I went to see my mom.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. “And how is she?”
The whole town was going to know about it eventually, so she didn’t hold back this time like she had with Dominic. “She passed away last year. Cancer. I was going to see her grave. Sorry, I guess it’s kind of morbid to be talking like I’m visiting her when she’s not really there, you know?”
Officer Spradley didn’t say anything for a while as they eased up to a red light at an intersection, but Erica could feel a difference in the car. She couldn’t name it, but when she looked at the cop, he was focused on something out the driver’s side window, his face turned away.
Conway Twitty continued to serenade them with another song, this one a little bouncier with a more prominent drumbeat. She didn’t recognize it at all, especially when a female’s voice joined in.
The cop’s sad tone interrupted the song. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Erica gave her thanks, but didn’t say much beyond that, even after the light turned green and they rolled through the intersection.
She had never liked these long moments of silence.
They were awkward, but with Officer Spradley, she didn’t mind it so much, and she hoped that he didn’t perceive her as being angry or rude.
It was just so comfortable to sit in his squad car with him at the wheel.
Officer Spradley projected this impression of absolute safety, just like Dominic, despite his momentary gruffness on the side of the road.
It was as if she could breathe for what seemed like the first time since last night.
She didn’t even know him, but she didn’t want to get out of this car.
Taking a risk, she asked, “What did you need Dominic for the other night, if you don’t mind me asking? You know, the night when you came to my house.”
“Just needed to talk to him about something. Nothing serious.”
That wasn’t good enough. “He said he tends to help people a lot in Tolstone.”
A strange, knowing smile curved over his lips. “Yes, he does. A true Samaritan.”
“He doesn’t seem to think so.” She crossed her fingers that she wasn’t about to stir a hornet’s nest. “We were talking yesterday, and he mentioned he was pretty fed up with all of it. I hate to say it, but aren’t the police supposed to help with some of those things?
I mean, he makes it sound like he’s the mayor or something. ”
Officer Spradley’s smile wilted. “His particular … brand of help is more than what I or the rest of the department can do. He’s kind of an honorary deputy, but it’s hard to explain.”
Did this special “brand” of help have anything to do with the golden eyes?
Erica still wasn’t satisfied with his answer, and a bit of righteous indignation came up to rear its ugly head in defense of a guy she shouldn’t have cared so deeply for.
“Maybe you and your department need to step up your game instead of relying on a civilian, honorary or not, to solve your problems.”
Much to her surprise, Officer Spradley laughed. A booming, warm sound that, just like the song, seemed familiar and yet totally new.
As they pulled into Tolstone Auto Repair, he said, “I’ll see what I can do. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Dominic lately?”
Erica shrugged. “He’s come over to the house a couple of times and helped out with my business a bit. That’s all …”
“Are you two seeing each other?”
Shocked by his question, she turned to him with her head tipped. “What?”
He fumbled with his words, as if he had said too much. “It’s none of my business. I’m sorry.”
Officer Spradley parked the car and climbed out after snatching up the alternator from the floorboards in front of his seat. Too stunned to move right away, she watched him step around to the curb.
Had someone seen them last night? Did they do something at the festival to make everyone think they were dating? Or was it just a rumor spreading around? Erica forced herself back into the present and hurried to catch up with the cop.
“I’m sorry for snapping,” she said as they approached the front door to the office. “That was just a pretty left-field question.”
Officer Spradley wouldn’t even look at her as he opened the glass door for her, letting out a gust of cold air conditioning. “And like I said, it’s none of my business.”
“We’re not dating. So, if anyone is going around saying that we are, can you tell them otherwise?”
At this, the cop froze again, door in one hand as he took off his sunglasses with the other and stared at her with such concentration as if he were searching for the truth in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
She barked a laugh. “I would know if I was dating anyone.”
Erica walked into the empty waiting area of the office.
No attendant stood behind the counter to greet them.
All over the walls were posters of car models, tire rim sizing charts, and cautionary warnings about keeping up with regular maintenance of a vehicle before something catastrophic happened to a customer’s engine.
When the door closed behind them, another door that led out to the garage bays opened.
The sound of a growling air compressor followed a man dressed in a blue button-down shirt that was undone to show a stained white tank top.
The sewn-on name tag on his uniform shirt read Gage, and he was just as muscled as Dominic, but in her opinion, not nearly as handsome, especially with his stubbled cheeks marked by dark oil.
A paisley bandana held back his dark hair and offset a pair of light green eyes.
This mechanic looked like a total bad boy.
Everything from the devilish spark in his eye to the tribal tattoos on his forearms to the way he swaggered toward them would have made her sixteen-year-old self turn into a squealing pile of mush.
Good thing she wasn’t so immature not to see that wild didn’t always mean fun.
He grinned at the sight of her, but that smile dropped when he saw Officer Spradley.
“Hey, Cole. Alternator trouble?”
Officer Spradley set the part on the counter with a heavy thud, and Gage came over to inspect it. “Miss Barrett’s car just quit on her outside of town. We tried to jump it, but it wouldn’t turn over.”
The mechanic picked up the alternator with one hand as easily as the cop had. He looked it over and nodded. “Yeah, it could be dead. Let me go run a check on it. Shouldn’t take too long.”
Erica stepped up, seeing that she needed to take some initiative before it was too late. “If it is dead, how much for a new one?”
Gage was about to reply when Officer Spradley interrupted. “Don’t you worry about the costs. I’ve got it.”
Just like when Dominic tried to give her that sofa, she squirmed. “I can pay for my own car repairs.”
Gage chuckled as if he found what she said highly amusing, but one look from Officer Spradley shut him up quickly.
“I’m sure you can, but let this be my way of welcoming you to town.”
He jerked his chin at Gage, and the mechanic pulled out a tester kit from under the counter.
Defeated, Erica gave in again, but a deep, unwarranted feeling of shame clenched her guts. She’d find some way to repay him back. Maybe she could give some money to Gwen and tell her to pay for the man’s coffee for the next three months or something. Alternators couldn’t be cheap.
“I’m guessing you two are related?” Gage questioned as he hooked everything up.
Both Erica and Officer Spradley gave him the same startled look. “What?” they asked in unison.
Gage’s mischievous eyes twinkled. “You two look so much alike. I just thought maybe you were related. But if—”
“No,” they both barked.
Erica looked up at the cop and tried to see what Gage saw. There was no resemblance, except that they shared an eye color, but nothing more. Plenty of people had hazel eyes, so it couldn’t have been just that.
The little machine hooked up to the alternator beeped to let them know the test was complete. “Yup. It’s dead as roadkill. You’ll need a new one. Probably a new battery too if jumping it didn’t do shit.”
Erica’s heart sank deep into her shoes. “Will you have to order a new one?”
“What’s the model?”
“A 2003 Jeep Wrangler X.”
Under Officer Spradley’s stare, Gage went to the old computer at the far end of the counter, punched in a few keys, and shook his head. “I don’t have one in stock, but I can get one here tomorrow morning.”
Erica frowned. “Tomorrow morning?”
“The jeep’s just off the main road coming into town,” Officer Spradley told Gage. “See that a tow brings it in, and you get it changed out as soon as you can.”
The mechanic grabbed a notepad and took down some notes from the bulky computer monitor before giving the thumbs up that he understood the directions.
“At least let me pay for the tow truck, Officer Spradley,” Erica insisted.
“No need to be so formal. Call me Cole.”
“You can also call him a jackass, but I don’t think he’d take kindly to it,” Gage quipped with a clever grin.