His face turns serious. “We’re not driving to get the car though.”
“Why?”
He looks at me funny. “Knowing Ken, your car is already at Justin’s.” My face must give away my confusion because he explains, “He would never let you go and get it yourself.”
“Let me?” I raise a brow.
Rolling his eyes, he mumbles, “Jesus Christ.” Then he adds louder, glancing at me with every carefully chosen word, “He’ll make sure you won’t have to go and get your car yourself. Is that better?”
I smile, biting my lip. “Much better.” For some reason, this town has made me revert to my old self. The woman who has zero filter and a sharp tongue. Needless to say, both got me into a lot of trouble, and that doesn’t seem to have changed here. But quite honestly? I’m kind of loving it.
At the traffic light, he takes a phone from his pocket and dials it. After a couple of rings through Bluetooth, a rich voice rumbles through the cabin.“Please, don’t fuckin’ tell me you got stuck too. I’ve had five of those this morning.”
How could I have forgotten how rough and masculine his voice was since yesterday? The roughness of it instantly settles on my skin, raising goosebumps.
Archie replies with a laugh. “New people don’t get along with Little Hope’s nature?” Then he gives me a wink.
A loud groan from the speaker makes my toes curl.“Yeah, it’s been a week. What’s up?”
“Do you know where Joz’s car is by any chance?” Archie shoots me a quick look and returns to the road.
“Why?”Even to my ears, he sounds a bit defensive.
Archie’s face turns devilish. “We just need to get a few things from it.”
The reply comes after a short pause.“We? Are you in the car together?”
“Yeah, we’re just trying to locate her possessions.” He can barely contain the laughter at this point, but for the love of everything, I don’t understand the game he’s playing. “Do you know where it is?”
A heavy, silent pause.“Yeah. I towed it to Justin’s.”
Archie gives me the I-told-you-so look. “Alright, we’ll get it there. Thanks, Ken!” And then he quickly presses the button on the dashboard.
“What was that?” I deadpan.
“What?” he asks innocently.
“Archie,” I say with warning in my voice.
“Ken is my really good friend, and I just—” he cuts himself off while I patiently wait for him to find his words again. “I want the best for him.”
“Are you sure?” I ask doubtfully.
He looks at me a little longer this time—as long as his driving allows it. “I’m sure,” he says with a warm smile.
* * *
Archie parks his Rover next to a bunch of trucks of all calibers and gestures for me to follow him. The auto shop looks like any other place I’ve taken my car too. I’m not talking about some fancy dealership service center—I always felt too bad spending more money there when I could find a better use for it. Plus, people in small shops like this one are usually the best. Sometimes they have crude humor (trust me, I know), but one just has to meet them with a crude humor of their own so there’s mutual respect.
A tall, fit guy with a backward, blue cap over his blond hair comes out, wiping his greasy hands on the even greasier rag clipped to his belt.
“Fucker, nice to see you,” he starts as he walks toward us. I shoot a curious look at Archie, expecting him to say something nasty in return, but he laughs and stretches his hand out to meet his.
“I’ve seen you treat my baby Kayla well, so I’ll let it slide, Grease Monkey.”
Justin clamps Archie’s hand in his in a tight handshake, and they both smack each other on their backs. Hard. I’m not quite sure what to make of their relationship, but it’s an interesting one for sure.
Once they’re done, Justin turns to me and stares at my face. “And you’re the one who our dutiful sheriff did his dirty morning activities with in the back of his neighbor’s car in the front yard?”
