Flu, more than likely.
As for the depression she’d been fighting off, she couldn’t really blame it on a virus. A person would have to be crazy not to be depressed when, one right after another, like a row of dominoes, her marriage had fallen apart, her family had been rocked by scandal and death, her identity was stolen, her credit rating ruined, her job lost. Let’s not forget the crank caller who had insisted on making her life hell. And then, on top of all that, her car had broken down, which forced her to throw herself on the mercy of a stranger.
Being depressed only proved she was sane.
“I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.”
It was all she could do not to laugh. As if she’d had any other kind of news for the past few years. About the best thing that had happened to her lately was finding the owner of a stray cat that had shown up on her doorstep back in November. The last thing she’d needed was a cat.
But then, after it was gone, she’d cried for half a day. “Bad news? No thanks, I don’t care to hear it.”
He shrugged. “Your choice. Look, I’ve got to run out to check on a neighbor. Is there anything you need while I’m out?”
Only my car. Only my friend. Only my job and my life back. “I can’t think of a single thing, but thanks. If you’ll just give me the name of the garage where you had my car towed, I’ll see if it’s ready. It was probably only a clogged fuel line. It acted like it was out of gas, but I’m pretty sure...”
Her voice trailed off. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, not quite meeting her eyes. “You’re going to tell me it’s not a clogged fuel line, aren’t you? It’s something more serious. Something expensive.”
Ru tried to remember how much money she had left after filling up the gas tank. Three twenties. One fifty. A few fives and several ones. It would have to last her until she was working again. She didn’t owe anyone anything, thank goodness. She would never trust credit cards again; thankfully, she’d learned to get by on practically nothing.
The car had been a necessity. An expensive one, as it turned out—but she could hardly have walked from Atlanta to the Outer Banks. It had been the cheapest thing on the lot, and the dealer had assured her that aside from peeling vinyl and a few dents, it was basically sound. When she’d asked if he thought it would get her to the Outer Banks, he had assured her that it was just what she needed for a long trip. Plenty of trunk space and a comfortable ride.
“They tried to pull it out,” Trav was saying. “Your car? I’m talking about your car.” He had an earth-to-Ru look in his eyes, so she stopped silently damning the used-car dealer and mentally counting her money, and tried to look attentive.
“Like I said, they hooked her up. and tried to haul her out, but she started coming apart They tried digging, but you know how quicksand is.”
“No, I don’t. I’m not interested in learning about quicksand, I just want my car back. In good running condition. There was nothing wrong with it when we left it except that it wasn’t running.”
He said something about a yellow blob rising above the dunes that didn’t register. She stared at his hair. It was cut too short and turning gray. Prematurely, judging from the rest of him. He was weathered, whipcord tough, but he wasn’t old. She was still studying his irregular features when his words sunk in.
“That’s not possible,” she said flatly. “I left it parked on the highway. You were there—you saw where I left it. It couldn’t possibly sink right through the pavement.”
“Yeah, well—these things have a way of happening. First one wave cuts through the dunes, and then a few more pile in behind it, widening the gap. First thing you know, the road’s undermined and whatever happens to be there gets dislodged and starts sinking when the sand traps more water than it can absorb ”
“Well, do something! Cars can’t just disappear!”
“It didn’t disappear. Like I said, it’s still there, only it’s buried up to the rearview mirror. They’ll probably bulldoze it out once they start repairing the road. I’m sorry, Ru. I’ll be glad to drive you to Manteo to look for a new one once the road’s open again. Or you can wait and go with your friend. She might even be able to find you something down here, but I’d have it checked out by a mechanic first. This climate’s not too good on cars.”
Ru swallowed hard. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to panic. She’d already lost practically everything in the world she had to lose. What was one noisy, smelly, gas-swilling old junker in the grand scheme of things? At least she had her health back.
Trav watched the parade of emotions pass through those rainwater clear eyes of hers. The rims weren’t red now, they were only slightly pink. Her nose was no longer red, either. Pretty damned elegant, in fact, as noses went. As were the cheekbones. Sharon would have killed for cheekbones like that.
“You all right?” he ventured, after giving her tune to absorb the bad news.
She smiled. Actually smiled. He felt something shift inside him and chalked it up to the sugar toast. He wasn’t much for sweets. Now and then he might buy himself a cake or a pie when the ladies had a bake sale, but only to help out the cause. Basically he was a meat-and-potatoes man.
“It looks as if I’ll have to ask you for one more favor. Could you possibly drive me to wherever Moselle lives? If she’s still not there, I’ll camp out on her doorstep until she shows up. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to rain anymore.”
He wouldn’t bet on it. He wouldn’t bet on her hooking up with her friend anytime soon, either. With tourist season expanding at both ends, February was about the only month the business community had to take a break.
“What’d you say your friend did at the restaurant? She owns it?”
“Not yet, but she hopes to. Right now she’s only the assistant manager.”
Before he could comment on that, the phone rang. He happened to be looking at her at the time. She covered it well, but he’d seen panic before. That was pure panic he saw in her eyes before her lids came down and she took a deep breath.
He reached for the phone, never taking his eyes off the woman sitting tensely on the edge of one of his three chairs. “Holiday,” he said. “Yeah. Sure, I don’t mind. No, it’s no trouble. Who? Kelli, what difference does it make? No, it has nothing to do with Matthew. Look, I’ll take care of it for you, all right?”
He hung up the phone, waiting for the questions to begin. Women. Were they all like this? Curious as cats, wanting to know everything about a man’s private life?
He’d liked to think it was due to jealousy, but any illusions he’d had along those lines had evaporated a long time ago. Before she could be jealous, a woman had to care. The only thing Sharon had ever been jealous of was what other women had that she couldn’t afford.
As for Kelli, she was too pretty to be jealous of anyone. His ego had taken more of a beating than he’d expected when she’d dumped him a week before the wedding date. Not that he’d let on. He’d never been one to show his feelings. It had been a mistake right from the first, thinking a wife might make it easier to stake his claim on his son.
He’d told her right up front about Matthew, but he’d told her that wasn’t the only reason
