“Yeah. I pulled off the highway just after the Ward Road exit. I’m really sorry about this. I can’t believe this is happening. My car is basically brand new.”
“It’s all right. I can have Mr. Austin pick you up.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want him to come get me. I swear I can find a friend to help me out.”
“It’s no bother. He just left and will be driving right by you. I’ll give him your location and he should be there very soon.”
“Okay. Thanks a lot.” Kylie placed her phone in her tote and leaned against her car. The heat from the sun was starting to warm everything up, even though it was fairly early in the morning. Soon she heard the crunch of tires over dirt; she looked down the road and saw a dark blue SUV headed toward her. She smoothed down her hair and stood away from her car.
The SUV stopped in front of her and a young man she’d guess to be in his late twenties stepped out. He had blond hair and brown eyes and wore cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a western-style shirt.
“You must be Kylie. I’m Steven Austin,” he said in a heavy accent. It sounded Southern to her, but she wasn’t quite sure from which region.
“Hi. I’m so embarrassed about all this. I was just driving down the highway on my way to the reserve when all this steam started coming out of the hood of my car. I pulled over, took a look, and I think it’s the radiator.”
“Let me see.” He bent under her hood, looking inside. “Yep, it’s the radiator all right. Looks like it sprung a leak or something. Your coolant is all over the place, except where you want it to be.” He flashed a big smile.
“I can’t believe this. I’ve only had the car since last September. This is insane.”
“It happens. We’ll leave it here and I’ll take you to work. You can call someone to deal with this.”
“Okay, great. My dad will know what to do. He’s in a meeting, but I’ll call him during my lunch hour.” Mr. Austin opened the door for her and she swung her legs in then settled on the seat. “You have a nice car,” she said when he slammed the car door shut.
“Thanks. You from Pinewood Springs?”
“Yeah. I know you’re not. You have an accent, but I don’t know from which state.”
“Texas.” He smiled widely, his brown eyes piercing hers.
“I love Texas barbecue.”
“Me too.” He laughed.
As the car rambled on, they chatted about music, and she told him about the best restaurants in town, the tourist places he couldn’t miss, and the best hiking trails in the area. Then, out of the blue, he asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?”
Taken aback, she nodded.
“He’s a lucky man. I have a girlfriend, but she’s not as pretty as you are.” He glanced at her, his eyes lingering on her chest, making Kylie extremely uncomfortable.
She looked around and noticed they hadn’t jumped back on the highway. “Are you taking a shortcut?”
He nodded. “There’s major construction going on the highway, so I found this detour. It beats just sitting and waiting in the snail-paced traffic.”
“I’ll have to remember that for tomorrow.” She glanced out the window as the dust from the road seeped in through the vents, sticking in her throat. After swallowing several times, the dry spot was still there. She coughed, hoping that would work, but it didn’t. She coughed again, and soon she had a coughing fit. She rummaged through her tote, cursing for having forgotten to bring a couple bottled waters.
“You okay?” he asked in a long drawl.
Shaking her head, tears running down her cheeks, she choked out, “Do you have any water?”
“I don’t. I have cough drops in the glove box.” He leaned over to open it, but Kylie had beaten him to it.
She saw a bag of cherry-flavored drops and took it out, hurriedly unwrapping one of the candies and popping it in her mouth. The cool menthol calmed her throat, and she sniffled as she tried to keep her nose from running. She placed the bag back in the glove box. And then she saw them: a pair of gold-framed sunglasses with mirrored lenses.
As she stared at them, time froze, and the only thing she was conscious of was the roar of her blood as it rushed to her head. Kylie looked out the window and realized the road Mr. Austin just turned on was in the opposite direction of the wildlife rescue. Slowly, she turned to face him, her heart thumping. His eyes were cold and dead, and ice ran through her veins.It’shim.Fuck! Don’t you dare panic.
He reached over her, his hand brushing her knee, and grabbed the sunglasses. He put them on, and memories of him watching her, trying to seduce her into his car, and hurting Ricky pierced her brain like jagged pieces of glass.
“This is better, isn’t it, Kylie?” His Texan accent was gone.
