Page 25

“Mechanic-y?” You could hear the laughter in his voice.

“Yeah.”

“Are you nearby?” he asked, as if he was looking around.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to bother you. Can you just tell me who to call?” I reasoned.

“You could never bother me. Tell me where you are.” His voice was serious, mirroring the first time I met him.

“I had a little incident . . . with a rock, and I have a flat tire. I’m sure a mechanic can fix it.”

“Where are you?” His voice brooked no argument.

“I liked it better when you were talking nicely to me,” I replied.

“Well. I’ll like it better when I know that you’re safe.” I hated being a burden.

I didn’t know what to say. I desperately needed help, but I was hesitant to be around him again. I had turned down his two previous offers to get together, and I honestly didn’t know why. He made me feel safe even when he was grumpy, but it was the way he saw all of me that came across as unnerving.

“Drop me a pin of your location. Please.” He ground out that ‘please’ like it killed him to say it.

“Uh. Okay. I’m sorry.” I blew out a breath and sent the location pin.

“There’s no reason to be sorry, Pretty Girl. I’m on my way.” Click.

I spent the next ten minutes spiraling about how much I hated being a burden to people and lamenting the fact I didn’t know how to change a tire. How does one learn that as an adult if you never had someone teach you? I’d search for some YouTube videos tonight before bed. I heard the crunch of gravel and glanced in my rearview mirror to see Soren’s forest green mammoth of a truck pull in behind me. Well, here we go.

I unlocked my door and slid out. Soren’s long-legged denim-clad stride ate up the gravel between us, his eyes pinning me down. Concern was evident on his face.

“Are you okay?”

He wrapped me in a hug, and my body went ramrod straight. It wasn’t that I didn’t want a hug. It had completely shocked me. Sometimes I had to sit in a moment before I could make my body and brain get on the same page. He quickly pulled away, and I swore I saw hurt as one of the many emotions that rapidly crossed his face before he turned.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to stop what you’re doing to help me,” I supplied.

“I will always stop for you,” he stated matter-of-factly.

My fingers had already found my chain, and my thumb brushed against the raised words, processing his statement. “I’ve never learned how to change a tire, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Roll your sleeves up, Pretty Girl. I’m putting you to work.” My eyes jumped to his, and his eyes crinkled in the corners in a smile.

Over the next twenty minutes, Soren walked me through every step and answered every question as if it was the best question he’d ever heard. He even let me twist this metal tool that I now knew was a lug wrench. We put the replacement tire on before he went around one more time, pulling strenuously and making his biceps flex. I had changed my first tire! And this was way better than learning through an instructional online video. I would certainly be noting this in my journal tonight. Look out tires, Sawyer was here to save the day! I felt so independent and strong because he had taken the time to teach me, and he had a way of doing it where I didn’t feel dumb or small. I snapped a few photos as reminders throughout the various stages, in case I had to employ this newly learned skill again.

“You really lucked out with having a real spare tire and not just a donut. What are you doing for the rest of the day?” Soren asked while wiping his hands on a rag.

“Grocery shopping and then some baking.”

“What do you think about seeing some baby calves?” he asked with a grin.

Chapter

Sixteen

Sawyer

Seriously, who can’t turn down adorable baby animals? Me, apparently. I followed Soren back to his house, and we loaded up on his UTV with the promise of seeing multiple baby calves.

“How many will there be?” I asked as I sat on the UTV.