“There’s no way I’m letting anyone get wind of this,” she told herself aloud. She patted the dashboard. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you fixed, keep avoiding reporters, and eventually everything will die back down. They’ll find another story more exciting than me, and we can keep on living our lives without the world caring.”
The car didn’t talk back but it did shudder here and there as she changed direction toward the only mechanic in town.
Rose didn’t blame it one bit.
She should have taken it to the shop after everything had happened.
However, life had become…a lot after what she had done. Not just from reporters. The town of Seven Roads held gossip longer than grudges. Five months later, she still was stopped on occasion at the grocery store to chat about it.
Sure, Rose could admit what she had done was a little more than what some might have. And yeah, she had potentially saved several people by putting her own life on the line.
But…she hadn’t been able to save everyone.
It was a fact that so many seemed to gloss over from the word jump.
Rose’s hand tightened around the steering wheel.
She knew the truth, no matter how indifferent the rest of the world seemed to be about it.
A world hadn’t ended with a bang but a whimper.
And she seemed to be the only one who had remembered the sound.
Now all she could do was hope for the quiet again.
* * *
JAMESKELLER WAShaving a pretty decent day so far.
The old Maxima he had been having trouble with was done, fixed, paid for and gone. The same went for the engine issues with an even older Buick and Mrs. Jones’s usual oil change and tire rotation. James had even dealt with Mr. Donahue’s impromptu drop-in for a stay-and-chat session.
He had updated James on the neighborhood’s latest news, given his opinion on his grandkids’ current obsessions, and gone as far as to bring up his recently divorced daughter Layla again.
“Now that she’s dropped that baggage of that sorry husband of hers, I’m ready for her to get a nice, good guy who knows value when he sees it.” Mr. Donahue had given a pointed look over to James at this. “Someone who runs their own business because he’s a good son and an even harder worker.”
James had nodded along with the sentiment but hadn’t taken the bait. While he did indeed run Keller Auto, the only mechanic shop in Seven Roads, to help his father, he didn’t want that, his work ethic, or Mr. Donahue to be why he reentered the dating pool. He had exited it for good reason two years beforehand and wasn’t sure dating or marriage was in the cards in his immediate future. Something he had told the older man a few times before. But, as with a lot of folks in Seven Roads, James’s thoughts on the subject didn’t seem to matter much.
So, getting Mr. Donahue to leave the shop without much fuss had been a feat. One that, along with his shrinking to-do list, had contributed to his good mood.
A good mood that was still holding in place when an unscheduled job drove up into the dirt lot that surrounded Keller Auto.
A good mood that stayed mostly strong when he realized who was behind the wheel.
A good mood that only slightly wavered when the driver got out with an expression that looked ready to turn everyone else to stone.
Deputy Rose Little, the wild card of Seven Roads, walked up to James in the garage bay with absolute purpose. Her small frame was an odd contrast to the set of her brow and gaze. James wasn’t a longtime local, but he had been told quickly that Rose wasn’t someone you could judge by appearances.
And that was before what had happened outside of the hospital’s research annex a few months ago.
James reined in the urge to think Rose looked particularly cute today, with her dark hair done up messyand wearing a fluffy, colorful sweater, and instead put down his notebook to greet her.
Or, rather, listen to the greeting she threw his way.
“I would have called but my car started struggling a few minutes ago. The engine light came on too. I thought it would be easier to just drive it here while I still could.” She thumbed over her shoulder back at her car. “Do you have time to look at it?”
As far as James knew, Rose didn’t exactly know him. He’d never had a chance or need to talk to the deputy before. But that didn’t mean he didn’t know of her tendency to rush in first, ask questions later. The hospital annex situation was the most sensational story yet.
Not that it was just some story. One of the people she had saved had recorded the whole event and posted it online. Then it had gone viral.
