He settled back into the driver's seat with Eden beside him, grateful tonight's bad luck didn't require a trip to the ER. Eager to get Eden home so he could give her a goodnight kiss, he turned the key in the ignition.
Click.
Stomach sinking, he turned it off and back on again.
Click.
No. No. No.
He tried again. Nothing but a click.
"Oh snap!" In his head he said much worse words.
"What's wrong with your truck?" Eden spoke slowly as though afraid to hear the answer.
"It won't start." He spoke through clenched teeth.
"Why?"
"I don't know. It could be a dozen different things." He pulled the handle to pop the hood. "Stay here and try starting it again when I tell you to."
Rudy lifted the hood and stared into the dark. He fished his phone out again for a flashlight and wiggled the battery cables.
"Okay, try it now."
Click.
He studied the area where the sound came from but couldn't discern any issues. However, he had a sinking feeling it was the alternator.
I should have paid better attention when Scott talked about cars.
Not that knowledge would do him any good out here in the middle of nowhere with no tools.
He braced himself for Eden's anger and possible refusal to have anything more to do with him before he slammed the hood closed.
He tried to force a smile as he climbed back in the truck, but he must not have been convincing, because she said, "It's not fixable, is it?"
"Not at the moment."
She sank back against the seat and sighed. He expected her to shout or burst into tears. But she didn't. From what little he could see of her face in the moonlight, she didn't even look angry.
"It's okay, you can say it," he said.
"Say what?"
"I know we're both thinking it."
"I'm trying not to, because I don't want to believe that God is against us being together. If that was the case, then why did he allow you to save my life when I got stung by the bee?"
Rudy took her hand. "You're not angry?"
"Being angry at God won't help. It only hurts me. Helen taught me that after my mom died." Eden flipped her hair from one side of her head to the other. "So, what do we do now?"
He pulled out his phone yet again. "I'll call Scott to come tow my tru—" Rudy's mind shut down when he saw zero bars of service on his phone. His battery was almost dead, to boot, and of course he hadn't thought to bring a charger with him.
"Let me guess. No service."
"Yep."
