He popped the hood and checked inside, knowing it’d been too long since he’d looked at anything in his car. He expected to see corrosion but the battery connections looked okay.
Ashley pulled in next to him and popped her hood. She got out and watched him connect his jumper cables from his car to hers. Man, he hoped this worked. His dad had been able to fix anything on a car, but Chase hadn’t been interested in learning until it was too late. Beyond changing a tire or battery, he was clueless.
His car turned over, teasing him with almost starting, but immediately died again. He tried again and the same thing happened.
“What do you think it is?” Ashley leaned in, resting her arms across his window casing. Her brown eyes were so beautiful. He got lost in them for a few seconds before registering what she’d said.
“Probably the alternator.”
She pulled out her phone and made a call, her eyes never leaving his. “Hey, Paige. Could you or that handy husband of yours come to my work and tow a sedan to a mechanic’s shop for me? My friend’s car won’t start.”
“What?” He waved her off but she only backed up and ignored him.
“Yeah, you can tell Shaun I called him handy. Make sure to add annoying and vain.” She hung up and smiled. “My sister is calling her husband right now. She’s fairly handy herself, but she’s not as familiar with towing a car.”
He should have let her go and figured this out on his own. Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as a dead battery. He didn’t want her feeling obligated to wait with him. “Ashley, you didn’t have to do that. I’m sure you have places to be.”
She shrugged. “Not really. Though I bet you do. Do you need to call home so your family doesn’t worry?”
“They’ll be fine.” Beth didn’t expect him home for another hour or two because of the job interview. But he couldn’t tell Ashley that, and talking about his home life had always been uncomfortable anyway. People either hailed him as some kind of hero or oozed pity, asking personal questions he didn’t want to answer. He’d avoided it long enough with Ashley that he didn’t know how to start telling her about it now.
Ashley’s phone buzzed and she checked it. “Shaun’s on his way. It’ll be about a half-hour.”
“Your brother-in-law?” he asked, getting out. If they were going to be waiting, it didn’t make sense to leave her standing outside his car while he sat here.
“Yep. He’s super annoying, but he’s good to my sister.”
“And to you, apparently—since he’s on his way here.”
Ashley studied her nails. “Yeah. He definitely will come to a girl’s rescue. He’s the one who helped me give Reid the heave-ho.”
“Oh, wow.”
The parking lot was next to a medical complex with grass and trees and a few benches, so they walked together to an available bench, taking it back from the birds who were fighting over an empty chip bag.
Chase brushed off the chip crumbs and threw the wrapper in the trash.
“Why, thank you.” Ashley sat down and began digging through her purse, obviously not finding whatever she was looking for.
“What is it?”
“I need gum.” She pulled out a wad of receipts and crumpled them up before throwing them in the nearby trash. “I hate this purse. It’s like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. You could hide an anchor in here.”
“Except Mary Poppins would be able to locate the gum under the anchor, wouldn’t she?”
He expected the whack she gave him.
“I’m surprised you got the reference, Chase.”
He reached down and pulled a pack of gum from his backpack, offering her a piece.
She looked at it and shook her head. “No, thank you. I hate cinnamon gum.”
He dug back into his backpack and found a pack of mint and half a pack of bubble gum. “Either of these work?”
She took a piece of mint and looked him over curiously. “Thank you, candy man.”
“The bubble gum is my little brother’s favorite. I chew cinnamon gum because it’s what my dad gave us as kids. Gabby likes mint.” All this random information wouldn’t feel as weird coming out of his mouth if she knew anything about his family. “Gabby also happens to like Mary Poppins. She watched it almost every day when she was five. It was the year our parents died. I would have let her watch The Matrix on repeat if that’s what she wanted.” He looked down at his hands.
