Hutchens let him out at the back entrance. “Have a good night, man.”
Randy stood there at the curb for a moment. Natalie’s voice toyed with his thoughts. As clearly as if she was standing next to him, he remembered her saying,If you can ever pull yourself away from your job long enough to get away, you should come up to Chestnut Ridge and experience it for yourself. The fishing is great.
Maybe he didn’t really need to go back into the office tonight. “Got to start somewhere.” He reached into his pocket and took out his keys. He flipped them in his hand as he walked over to the parking garage.
I can do this.
And he reminded himself that all the way to his car and halfway home.
It wasn’t like he got paid to work all the extra hours, and no one was pushing him to do it. Yeah, he was eager to prove himself, but he’d already done that.
It won’t kill me to live a little. Or go fishing up in Chestnut Ridge sometime. Soon.
Randy had just gotten home when his phone rang. It was David from Bay Area Automobile Gallery & Tap House returning his call. He’d left that message before Natalie said she wasn’t ready to let someone else take care of the Mustang.
“How’ve you been, David? You’re working late.”
“Yeah, we’re switching out inventory on the vehicles tonight, so I wanted to be here when we closed to get things moving.”
“That’s actually why I was calling you before.”
“You offering to come help?”
“I would.”
“I’m kidding. What’s up?”
Now that he was on the phone with David, he might as well get the additional details, in case she changed her mind. “I have a friend who has a classic Mustang in storage. It’s really nice. I thought maybe she could put it in your rotation so that your guys would make sure it got started. I know it’s not good for those older cars to sit around.”
“Not good for any of them. Yeah, sure. A Mustang. You know my weakness. A Shelby?”
“It’s not a high-dollar one, but it’s in great condition. A little sixty-six coupe.”
“I take it this is a lady friend.”
“Yeah. It was her husband’s car.”
“Divorce settlement.”
“No. She’s a widow.”
“Sorry to hear that. Yeah, sure. You just let me know when she’s ready to bring it down, and I’ll make room.”
“What’s the monthly charge?”
“Nothing for you, buddy.”
“Thanks, David.”
“Any time. Now bring your new friend and have dinner on me.”
“We just might take you up on that.” He hung up, hoping that he’d get the chance to take Natalie there one night.
Chapter Twenty
NATALIE HADbeen antsy since she got back to Chestnut Ridge from Richmond. The push and pull of her feelings around Randy had left her feeling unsettled. What if he just felt sorry for her? Did that happen with detectives and their—? She wasn’t even sure what she was. A case?
With her mind in overdrive over something that she knew shouldn’t matter, she busied herself by writing a list of to-dos that she hoped would take all day and maybe spill over to tomorrow if she was lucky.
