A pair of headlights could be seen shining in the distance.Hope sprang as Lesley straightened and stepped into the middle of the street.When it looked as if the vehicle might turn, Lesley groaned and gave a shout.
“Here.I’m here.”She waved her arm high above her head.“Don’t leave, please don’t leave.”
The car seemed to hesitate, then came her way.Lesley heaved a giant sigh.As it approached, she saw that it was a tow truck.
The vehicle pulled up beside her.“Evening, miss, would you be needing help?”An older man was speaking with a soft southern drawl.He sounded like an angel.
“Yes, yes,” Lesley cried eagerly.“You don’t know how glad I am to see you.I was getting worried—there doesn’t seem to be anyone home around here.”
The gray-haired man climbed out of the truck’s cab, grinning widely.He tipped his hat back with one hand as he surveyed Lesley’s vehicle.“This doesn’t look like it’ll take much.”
“Oh, good.”Relief washed over her.
“I’ll just attach the cable and haul her out.No problem.”
“Wonderful,” Lesley murmured and stepped aside as he climbed into his truck and backed it up across the road to position it to the best advantage.
On the street again, he regarded Lesley with curious eyes.“You always dress like that?”
“These?No, I’m on my way to church.”
“Church,” he repeated with a laugh.“On Halloween?You’re likely to get mugged on a night like this.”
Her good mood rejuvenated, Lesley responded with a light laugh.“I think I’ll take my chances.But next year I’m not changing into my costume until I arrive at the church.I hadvisions of walking into town in this getup.Can you imagine the looks people would have given me?”
“Man said you’d be real eager to see me.”
“Man?”Lesley repeated, slow comprehension seeping into her thoughts.
“Yeah, the guy that pulled into the service station.He said he saw someone in trouble but thought they were dressed funny and that I should be careful.That’s why I came up real cautious like.”
Cole Daniels, Lesley seethed.Of all the nerve.“I don’t suppose this man was driving a new car.”
“That’s him,” the tow truck operator responded without looking up, his gaze fixed on the rear bumper of her car.“Real knowledgeable about cars, too.”He paused and wiped his hands on a greasy rag that hung from the back of his coveralls pocket.
“How do you mean?”
“Had this foreign job in the garage all week.Couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was wrong.Then this guy in the new car pulls up while I’m working on it and listens to the engine running.Next thing I know, he walks over and moves a couple of wires, and bingo, that baby was purring like a well-fed cat.”
“Nice of him,” Lesley muttered caustically under her breath.Cole had no difficulty lending a stranger a helping hand, but it didn’t seem to bother him to leave her helpless on a deserted street with an empty canister of salt hanging around her neck.Her neighbor was a real jewel, and when she saw him next she’d tell him exactly what she thought.
Lesley’s little car came out of the ditch without a problem.She wrote a check to the tow truck operator and thanked him again.
Within a couple of minutes they were both on their way.As much as Lesley tried to put the incident with Cole behind her,she couldn’t.He had left her like that on purpose.What kind of brute was he?
The church parking lot was full by the time Lesley arrived, which didn’t help cool her indignation.Hurriedly she delivered the cookies and lemonade to the kitchen and was on her way to the recreation hall when she bumped into Terry.
“Where have you been?”Terry asked in an anxious, high-pitched voice.“I was beginning to get worried.”
“Don’t ask.”Lesley responded with a half groan.“It’s a long story.”
“I love the costume.”Lesley’s sister took a step back to examine her.
“Thanks.What have I missed?”
“A few games.Bobbing for apples and the treasure hunt.Nothing much.”A brooding look came over Terry’s face.“Something’s wrong.I think you’d better tell me about it.”
“Not now,” Lesley said with a sigh.“I’m too angry.”
