few men as warm and friendly as Adam.
“Embellish? That’s what you call it?” Adam checked the traffic to his right and changed lanes before going on. “Okay, Tavia. Let me tell you about this woman. She actually stalked me from the first time she saw me.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it stalking.” Jewel settled herself back into the seat. “But I did think you were adorable, and I wanted to meet you.”
“I hate to brag,” Adam went on, “but I’m a pretty good ice skater. I’ve been skating since I was in junior high. Though I didn’t skate much during my first three years at college, the apartment I moved into at the end of my junior year was just down the street from a skating rink. I figured, rather than go to the student union and bowl or work out, skating would be a great way to get some exercise, and I started going every Friday and Saturday night. One Friday night, as I was skating along, doing some fancy footwork and minding my own business, this pretty gal skates right across in front of me and falls down!” He gave Jewel a wink. “So? What’s a gentleman supposed to do? I stopped to make sure she was okay, then helped her up. She’d skinned her knee a bit, so I took her arm and skated her to the front of the rink and offered to buy her a cup of hot cocoa.”
“I took him up on it immediately!”
Tavia had to laugh at the look on Jewel’s face as she spoke.
“Anyway,” he went on, “after she finished her cocoa, I asked the lady at the concession stand for a little bandage to put on her knee and helped her to where she’d left her jacket and shoes.”
“Then what?” This was like a Cinderella story and Tavia was eager to hear the rest.
“I have to admit she was pretty cute, so I hung around until she came back out onto the ice, then asked her to skate with me when the rink’s announcer called for a couples-only skate. She hung on to my arm like she was afraid she was going to fall down again, and she kept telling me what a wonderful skater I was.”
Tavia clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s such a sweet story.”
“Hey, that’s not all of it. She showed up at the rink again the next night and batted those baby blues at me. Of course, I asked her to skate again, and again she clung tightly to my arm. I figured she must have just started skating and I wanted to do everything I could to help her, so I put my arm around her as we skated, to help steady her. By the end of the evening, she had me under her spell. From that moment on, I never even looked at another girl.”
Tavia leaned forward, placing her hand on his shoulder. “That is such a romantic story, Adam. Thank you for telling it to me.”
Adam caught her reflection in the mirror. “Hey, there’s more.”
“There’s more?”
“Yes. Six months later, Jewel confessed to me she’d learned to skate when she was in high school! That woman had been stalking me for several weeks, trying to figure out a way to meet me, before she came up with that idea of falling down in front of me! She was nearly as good a skater as me!”
Tavia turned to Jewel and gasped. “You didn’t!”
“Oh, but I did, and it worked. Look what happened! I’m engaged to the guy!”
“You are both lucky to have found each other. Adam, I’m sure your parents are going to love Jewel when they finally get to meet her.”
“Adam has told me so much about them. I think his mother and I must be a lot alike. Even though Adam and his father hate rhubarb, she’s as crazy about it as I am. We both hate scary movies and cry at sad ones and we both love to read in bed. He says his mother always has a stack of romance novels on her nightstand, waiting to be read.” Jewel brushed a lock of hair from her face and anchored it behind one ear. “How about your family, Tavia? You said that man back there was your boyfriend. Or should I say a new acquaintance? I guess that means you’re not married.”
“No, I’m not.” Tavia stared out the window, the pain of her past as vivid as if it were yesterday. “I—I don’t have a family, either. My mom died of cancer when I was two. I don’t remember her at all.”
“Your father raised you?”
“My dad drank himself to death when I was seven. I was sent to live with an aunt and uncle I’d never met. They really didn’t want me. When I was sixteen, I ran away. I’ve been on my own ever since. End of sad story.”
Jewel’s eyes grew round. “And now this has happened to you? You poor thing! And I thought I had it bad, losing my parents like I did.”
Adam smiled over the seat at Tavia. “Sorry. I had no idea what you’ve gone through. I’m glad we stopped to help you.”
“Me, too,” Tavia responded, wondering what would have happened to her if this nice couple hadn’t come along.
“Adam’s going to be a doctor, like his father,” Jewel announced proudly, as if wanting to change the subject for their passenger’s sake. “Only he’s going to be an ob/gyn. His father specializes in dermatology.”
“A doctor? That’ll be nice,” Tavia answered, not exactly sure what an ob/gyn did. She cast an embarrassed glance over her shabby jeans and her simple print shirt—clothes she’d bought at the Goodwill store. Rich parents, a new SUV, beautiful clothes. A good future ahead of them. This nice couple has it made and what do I have? Nothing. Absolutely nothing but bills I can’t pay and a lousy job I’m about to lose.
Adam flipped on the turn signal and moved back into the inside lane. “I sure hope you’ll be able to get someone to come after you soon.”
“I hope so, too.” Although Tavia was grateful for the ride, she knew she had no choice but to try to hitch another lift into Denver from wherever they’d leave her off. There really wasn’t anyone to call. Not anyone she trusted to show up, and she certainly didn’t have any money for a motel. The waitress she worked with at the café had three kids to support and didn’t even have a car. The woman who lived next door to her was probably too drunk to answer the phone. Her landlord was even less trustworthy than the man who’d let her out on the roadside. Her boss at the video store where she worked part-time was already on the verge of firing her. She’d never call him.
“You do have someone to call, don’t you?” Jewel prodded, noticing her hesitation.
“Ah—yeah. I’ll just keep calling that woman I tried to reach on your cell phone until she gets home. You can just drop me off anywhere. I’ll be fine.”
Jewel took off her seat belt to pick up her purse from the floor. She pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “Here, take this. You’ll need money for the pay phone and to get a bite to eat while you’re waiting.”
Tavia ignored her offer and turned her head away. “No, I couldn’t. You’ve already done more for me than most people would.”
“I insist.”
“Yeah,” Adam chimed in, “go ahead and take it. You’ll need it.”
Tavia was tempted to reach for it. She really did need it, but pulled her hand away. “Only if you’ll let me mail it back to you when I get my next paycheck.”
Jewel reached the money out to her
