Part 8 (2/2)
”I have to get the car fixed first, then I want to take Damon into town so he can explore while I make the drive to the hospital.” Both Casey and B.B. fell into step behind her when she started back toward the room.
”Several questions come to mind.”
The day was already warming, and Emma knew that by ten o'clock, it would be sticky with humidity and heat. ”Yeah? Like?”
”How're you going to get your car fixed when you're here, the car is on the road, and the garage is in town?”
”I figured I'd call a tow truck.” She stopped right outside her door. She didn't want Casey in her room again. ”I can do the work myself, but it's not easy without my tools.”
”No kidding? You really know how to work on cars?”
Her feminist core insulted, Emma glared at him. ”Do you know how to change a water pump?”
”Sure. But that's because I helped Gabe work on our cars and trucks often enough. I learned, but I wouldn't say it's something I'd choose to do.”
Casey's uncle, Gabe Kasper, was known as a handy-man extraordinaire. He could build, repair or remodel just about anything. It made sense that Casey would have learned alongside him. ”I helped Damon and his father work on cars, and they helped me with my Mustang. I like it. Besides, I've done all the restoration myself, so I don't trust many other people to touch it.”
The smile he gave her looked almost...proud. Emma shook her head to clear it, refusing to disillusion herself.
”You baby your car.”
Emma's chin lifted. ”She's a seventy Boss in cherry condition. I rebuilt the 429 engine. Front and rear took me four years. After all that, of course I baby her.”
”d.a.m.n.” Casey laughed, but his expression was warm, amused. ”Ma.s.sage therapist, mechanic and beautiful to boot. A woman to steal a man's heart.” He touched her nose with a dose of playfulness. ”It was so dark, I didn't see your car that well last night, so I didn't notice...” He stopped, touched her cheek and sighed. ”Okay, truth is, it wasn't your car that held my attention.”
Emma had no idea what to say to that, so she just watched him and waited.
”Of course, now that I know it's a cla.s.sic Boss, I can understand why you'd want to oversee the work. One problem, though.”
”What?”
”It's the weekend and the garage won't open till Monday.”
Eyes closed, Emma dropped back against the door. ”d.a.m.n. I forgot about that.”
”Around here, almost all the trade businesses still close on the weekends. Only the grocery stores and restaurants stay open. Buckhorn never changes, Emma. No one really wants it to.”
”I told Damon as much when we drove in.” Now what could she do? Wait another day to see her father? She might not have any choice.
”Can I offer a solution?”
Emma opened one eye. ”What?”
”I'll give Gabe a call. He's got a tow truck and he can replace your water pump a I promise you can trust him. He'll treat your car with kid gloves. While he does that, I'll drive you to the hospital.”
”No.”
Casey crowded closer, blocking the sun with his wide hard shoulders, lowering his head closer to hers. ”Why not?”
With him invading her s.p.a.ce, Emma found it difficult to speak, but more difficult to move away. ”I might be at the hospital for a while. I don't want you to have to wait.”
”I've nothing else planned for the day.”
She widened her eyes in disbelief. ”It's Sat.u.r.day and you have nothing to do?” No dates with beautiful women?
”Nothing important.”
She found that very hard to swallow, knowing firsthand of Casey's popularity. ”Then you should just relax, not spend your time hanging out in a hospital.”
”You can pay me back by going boating with me. Do you still remember how to ski?”
Longing swelled up inside her. She missed being on the lake, missed the peacefulness of the water, the joy of skiing, the fresh air and suns.h.i.+ne. As a kid, she'd often escaped to the water, staying there late until it was safe to go home again. Sometimes Casey would hang out with her and they'd listen to the frogs croaking and the splash of gentle waves on the sh.o.r.e.
She'd also met plenty of other boys on the lake, and none of them had been interested in the frogs. In those days, s.e.x in a quiet cove had been as much of an escape for Emma as anything else. ”I haven't skied since I left here.”
”No kidding? The Devaughns weren't much for water?”
”It's not that. I was just...busy.”
Casey looked very unconvinced. ”It's like riding a bike a you never forget how. And I bet B.B. will love being in the boat too. I haven't met a dog yet who doesn't.”
”What about Damon?”
Casey lowered his lashes, hiding his expression. ”I thought he wanted to explore the town a little.”
”He might, but I'm not going to abandon him on his first day in town.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Casey muttered, ”So he'll come along-” he narrowed his eyes at her ”-if you insist.”
It was so tempting to give in to him, on all counts. She had missed the exhilaration of boating, the wind in her hair, the sun on her face. And accepting Casey's a.s.sistance would save her from the ha.s.sle of finding another ride to the hospital. ”Gabe doesn't mind working on a Sat.u.r.day?”
”He wouldn't schedule work, no. But this is different. He's always willing to help out. I doubt it'll take him that long.”
”Why would he want to help me out?”
Casey's voice gentled in reproach. ”You've forgotten how my family is if you have to ask that.”
She gave a short laugh. ”No one in her right mind would ever forget your family. I half wondered if Buckhorn would have sainted the bunch of them by now.”
Casey's unselfconscious smile made him more handsome than ever. ”We like to lend a helping hand. Most everyone in Buckhorn does.”
Emma didn't reply to that. She remembered all too well how most of the locals felt about her. She'd been shunned at best, a pariah at worst. But his family had been wonderful.
”Let me be helpful, Em.”
<script>