He gently steadied me on my feet, his hands lingering long enough to make me acutely aware of where they’d been. “Sorry,” he added. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
My heart was racing like I’d sprinted a mile. I kept my hands on his forearms, partly for balance, partly because I wasn’t ready to let go. “Did you really have to show up while I was in the middle of a full-blown temper tantrum?” I asked weakly. “As if I don’t have enough to be embarrassed about.”
“Nothing embarrassing here.” His brow furrowed with concern. “Is something wrong with your car?”
“Yes.” I let go of his arms to shove my hair off my face, and he released my waist slowly, like he didn’t trust me to stand on my own two feet. Fair, since I’d almost toppled only a minute ago. “It’s not starting.”
“Hmmm.” Hands on his hips, he peered under the hood. I wasn’t sure he knew more about cars than I did, but his confident stance and serious expression as he examined its inner workings made him look incredibly competent. “I’m not seeing anything glaring. Did it make a sound when you tried to start it?”
“Silence.” I stepped beside him, my arms folded. “That can’t be good, right?”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Usually, yeah. Could be a dead battery. Could be the ignition.” He pulled his phone from hispocket. “I’ll call Scott. He’s closed today, but he can tow it to his shop and take a look tomorrow.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can find someone.”
His eyes flicked to mine, narrowing a touch. “Someone other than Scott, the guy who owns the only shop in town?”
“I—” My stubbornness flared then fizzled just as quickly. He was helping. There was no reason to fight it. I exhaled. “Thank you for helping me, Maccie.”
“Anything you need, Zara.” He looked down at his phone, thumb moving over the screen. “You don’t even have to ask.”
He sounded like he really meant it. And there was a time when I’d believe it with my whole heart.
That may have been a long time ago, but here we were. All grown up, standing toe-to-toe, and Cormac was holding out his hand, just like he used to do.
I still couldn’t make sense of this man and the man I’d overheard on the night of my wedding, and looking at my dead car, I wasn’t going to be able to solve the mystery today.
I had the rest of the summer for that.
Even as I hoped that would be long enough, I already knew it wouldn’t be.
Chapter Eleven
Cormac
Zarasatinmytruck, a sullen expression on her face and a box from Sugar Rush in her lap. I twisted in my seat, looking at her. The freckle on her cheek. The point of her chin. Her eyebrows were different now. Sharper. But her hair still swirled around her face the way she’d always hated and I’d once studied like a treasure map.
Finally, she turned toward me.
“I’m grumpy.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. I see that. It sucks your car is making trouble, but Scott’ll get it working in no time. Fortunately, you don’t need it most of the week.”
She wrinkled her nose, blowing out a heavy breath. “I don’t need it most days, but Ididneed it today.”
I drummed my thumbs on my steering wheel. “Okay. I’ve got time. Where else do you need to go? I’m glad to take you.”
“No.” She shook her head. “That’s okay. You’ve already done more than enough.”
“All I did was make a phone call. No skin off my back.”
A soft laugh puffed from her lips. “You sounded like your dad there.”
“That seems to be happening more and more often lately.” I shrugged. “There are worse things, right?”
“Your dad is wonderful, so yes, there are far worse things.” She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and looked down as she stacked her hands on top of the box. “I’d planned to hit Grocery Barn on the way back to the ranch, but I can ask Javier or Henrik to drive me another day.”
“Why?”
