“I carry a spare tube.”
She rolled the tire around to the side while he set up the jack. He worked with the ease of someone who’d done this a few times.
“How do you know so much about changing tires?”
He cranked up the car. “My dad taught me. And my grandpa went over it with me again when I was sixteen. Wouldn’t let me get my license until I could change the oil, a tire, and knew a few mechanical basics.”
“If something went wrong with our vehicles, my dad took them to the garage. But we had to learn how to change a flat in driver’s ed. It’s been a few years, though, and they didn’t show us that leverage trick.”
Once the rear of the vehicle was lifted, Charlotte removed the loosened lug nuts. When she was finished she moved out of his way. “I’ll watch for traffic.”
“Good idea.”
Did her biological father know how to do this sort of thing? She stared south, down the road that would’ve taken her to Weaverville. Between the ranch and her schedule at the Trailhead, she wouldn’t have a chance to check the man out until Sunday, and the station was closed that day. That meant she wouldn’t be able to make another trip until Monday.
Only four days away. She’d been waiting so long to meet him, and the setback hit her like a rogue wave. Why was she in this position to begin with? Why hadn’t her mother just told her the truth when Charlotte had asked all those years ago? Even if she couldn’t barge into her siblings’ lives, she could’ve gotten to know her biological father. Even with Dad there to fill the spot in her life, a hole had remained in her heart. A knowledge that the man who’d helped create her was out there somewhere, living his life, possibly unaware she even existed.
She blinked back tears.
Gunner stood to roll the flat tire away, but he stopped at her expression. And maybe the tears sparkling in her eyes. “Hey, you all right?”
She nodded, her throat too choked up to speak.
“That guy say something to you?”
She swallowed hard and dashed away a tear. “No, nothing like that. It’s stupid, really. I’d hoped to meet my biological father tonight in Weaverville, but...” She gestured toward the truck.
“You found him already?”
“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know.” She told him about discovering his name and about the newspaper article she’d found. “I was headed there tonight, and I was planning to strike up a conversation if he was working.”
His eyes softened. “You could still go. I’ll go with you if you want.”
“That’s very kind of you. But the gas station is closed now, and I won’t have a chance to go again till Monday. I’m being silly. It’s only a few days. I’d just had my hopes up, I guess.”
“It’s not silly. Let’s go Monday night then.”
She raised her brows. Why would he want to do that on a night off? “Really?”
“Why not? I’ll be your moral support.”
“Craig Burton might not even be there.” She gave her head a sharp shake. “It might not even be my dad at all.”
“Then we’ll grab a pizza or something and make the best of it.”
***
Gunner rolled the flat to the back and set it inside the truck. Then he hoisted the spare and pushed it into place on the axle. What was he doing? Where were those boundaries he’d always kept in place?
Of course, he enjoyed female companionship as much as the next man. But he strove to keep things light and uncomplicated. Charlotte was his boss, and getting involved in her personal business was the opposite of uncomplicated.
But the sight of those tears swimming in her eyes had turned his insides to pulp. This whole thing with her biological family had her twisted up in knots, and he couldn’t stand to see her going through it alone.
“That’s really nice of you,” Charlotte said. “I’d like the company if you’re sure it’s not an imposition.”
He couldn’t quell the bolt of excitement that seared through him. If that wasn’t a warning flag, he didn’t know what was. He began turning the lug nut. “No problem at all.”
Except he was starting to get a little too involved. Starting to care just a little too much. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to rescind the offer.
