Not Quite Fixed by Lyla Payne

Author:Lyla Payne [Payne, Lyla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I stretch an hour or so later, deciding to preheat the oven and pick out a movie in anticipation of our much-needed girls’ afternoon. With that done, I tug on the Sketchers by the door and traipse out to grab the newspaper, which neither of us has canceled—or paid for, incidentally—since Gramps died.

No doubt some ten-year-old collection agent on a bike will be around to collect his ten bucks eventually.

If I would have known that Cade Walters was wandering down the street toward our house, I might have put some actual clothes on, or brushed my teeth. Or hell, even just a bra. But I didn’t, and there’s always the small hope that my off-putting appearance might, well, put him off. I wouldn’t be sad.

“Graciela. Nice day.”

I squint up at the gray sky, then back at Cade. “Is it?”

He shrugs. “It’s February and forty-five degrees, and it’s not raining. Not too shabby.”

“I suppose.”

“Everything okay around here? I saw that your car was gone for a night and thought I’d offer my services. I’m a decent mechanic. That was my after-school job as a teenager.”

The realization that he’s watching so closely sends a tingling sensation down my spine. After having one scary event happen with my car, I sure as shootin’ don’t want his hands in her guts.

I clutch the newspaper tight to my chest, even though droplets of water cling to the transparent plastic. “Thanks for the offer but it was just a flat tire. Glory Jean got her fixed up and as good as new.”

He laughs, looking totally relaxed. He either doesn’t sense my nerves or they don’t bother him. “Just a flat, huh? Bad luck. Then again, that seems to be about the only kind of luck you have.”

“Seems to be. Well, I’m going to run back inside. Forty-five’s a little chilly for me.” The excuse is as good as any, and does its best to cover up the fact that I was already walking backward.

I don’t know what it is that bugs me about Cade Walters—he’s nosy, sure, but so is everyone else in town. Maybe it’s that he seems to want me to know he’s watching?

“Okay. Well, nice to see you.” He grins. “Oh, and you’re totally inspiring a character in my new book. I might even have to dedicate it to you.”

A thank you struggles loose from my lips before I stumble up the driveway and into the house, latching every single one of our locks before heading back to the couch.

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