Have Bouquet, Need Boyfriend (3 page)

She nodded dumbly, her expression lost. “I…your car.”

“Forget about the damn car, just tell me if you’re hurting somewhere.”

He reached for the front of her billowy bridesmaid dress to check for

injuries to her chest, but she pushed his hands away in horror.

“Rebecca, I’m just trying to examine you.”

“I’m fine.” She sniffled, her body shaking. “But I ruined your… your

Porsche. I meant to go forward, but I forgot to shift gears and then the

car shot back so

fast-“

“I said to forget the car. Now if you won’t let me check you here, I’ll

call an ambulance.”

“No.” She grabbed his hands and clung to him. “I’m okay, but I feel so

stupid…” A wail escaped her, long and quavery.

His heart squeezed at the misery in her voice, so he cupped her face in

his hands. “Stop worrying. I have insurance.”

That luscious lower lip of hers trembled again, the color draining from

her face. He couldn’t stand it, he pulled her against the crook of his

neck and rocked her, murmuring soft words of comfort. She felt fragile

and small and more womanly than he’d expected. Protective instincts

kicked in, warring with a sudden realization that her minty breath was

tickling his neck, and the subtle scent of her feminine perfume was

awakening sensations better left dormant.

“What was that noise?” Shouts erupted behind them and he could hear

footsteps beating a path down the graveled drive. He pulled away,

standing by the car and turning to face Rebecca’s relatives. Hannah,

Jake, and Wiley Hartwell jogged down the path, Wiley heaving as he

pushed his way to the front.

“Everyone okay?” Wiley yelled.

“I think so.” Thomas frowned at Wiley’s taxed breathing. The last thing

he needed was the man to have a heart attack and send Rebecca into full

shock.

“Rebecca, baby, are you all right?” Wiley leaned his hands on his pudgy

knees, peering into the car. Jake and Hannah approached, Mimi, Seth, and

Grammy Rose behind them, their faces full of concern.

“Mercy me,” Grammy Rose murmured.

“Becca, are you all right?” Hannah and Mimi both asked at once.

“Yes.” Rebecca wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, slipped her

wire-rimmed spectacles back on her nose and grabbed the door to pull

herself out. Thomas slid a hand in to help her. She was still shaking

but managed to get out of the car, not meeting his gaze.

He silently surveyed her again and was thankful not to see any blood.

“But I ruined Thomas’s car.”

The entire family pivoted, each gaping at the mangled metal with various

stunned looks. She had collided with the driver’s side, smashing the

front door like a piece of cardboard. The windshield and windows had

imploded with the impact, and glass pellets covered the beige leather.

Her own station wagon had suffered as well. The bumper was warped, the

tailpipe bent at an odd angle. But the clunker had already seen its

better days; the faded green paint was chipped and peeling off in strips.

“It is kind of dented,” Mimi said in a low voice.

“The passenger side is still intact,” Hannah added cheerfully.

As if to mock her, the hub cap from the right-front tire fell off,

rolled toward her and settled into a spin at her feet.

“Mercy me,” Grammy Rose whispered.

“You can still open the door,” Jake offered, obviously trying to be

optimistic.

But when he yanked on the door handle to prove his point, the wretched

metal came off in his hands with a crunch. The left tire let out a

whooshing sound, then popped and the tire deflated right in front of

their eyes.

Rebecca’s sob caught in horror.

“But you’re all right?” Hannah inched forward as if to emphasize that

Rebecca’s safety was more important than the automobile.

Mortification stung her face as she pointed to the broken piece of

metal. “I can’t believe I did all that.”

“Shh, now, don’t fret.” Grammy Rose patted Rebecca’s back. “We all have

accidents, sweetie. I’ll never forget the time I ran my car into the

front porch. Broke up a hornets’ nest. Those dad-gummed bees attacked

me, almost bit me in the behind.”

“Yeah, I’ve had some fender-benders myself,” Mimi chimed in. “Even worse

than this. Right in our own driveway.”

“I can vouch for that,” Seth added.

Mimi poked him with her elbow. “It wasn’t my fault that garbage can

jumped in the way. Or that you parked the minivan so close to my Miata.”

Seth opened his mouth to argue, but Mimi’s mutinous glare stopped him.

Thomas almost laughed at Jake and Wiley’s skeptical expressions.

Apparently Rebecca and Mimi had a reputation for freak crashes.

“Well, it’s just metal,” Grammy Rose said, smacking her lips.

“Pricy metal.” Jake whistled, propping the door against the side of the car.

This time Hannah’s glare cut across the crowd. “Fixable metal,” Hannah

added. “All it needs is a good body shop mechanic.”

“Or a miracle worker,” Rebecca muttered between sobs.

“Nah, baby, it’s fixable.” Wiley hugged her to his side. “It’s just not

drivable now.”

“He’s right.” Thomas’s gaze flickered to the customized paint chipping

off from the collision.

Mimi bounced the baby on her shoulder. “You want Seth to call a tow truck?”

Thomas nodded. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”

“Nonsense.” Wiley waved a beefy hand. “I’ll phone my service to tow it.

You can borrow a car from my used-car lot till yours is fixed. Now, pull

yourself together, Bee, darlin’.”

Rebecca sniffed as she accepted her uncle’s handkerchief and swiped at

her nose.

“That would be great, Mr. Hartwell.” Thomas cast another look at

Rebecca, grateful she’d stopped crying. What had she expected him to do?

Turn into a tyrant because she’d totaled his car?

Rebecca dabbed at her eyes with her uncle’s hankie. How could she have

done such a stupid thing?

And how could Thomas stand there so calmly when she had destroyed what

must have been his dream car, a Porsche that cost more money than she

earned in two years. Men usually obsessed about their automobiles. They

worshipped them more than their women, more than the remote control.

Worse, now her insurance would skyrocket, she’d probably have to take a

second job to pay her bills, and everyone in town would talk about her

klutzy ways, just as they had in high school years ago.

Thunder rumbled above, the darkening sky hinting at a winter storm. Rain

began to drizzle and chaos erupted, everyone suddenly racing for the house.

Grammy Rose hugged her one more time. “Don’t fret, everything will work

out all right. At least the hope chest wasn’t damaged.”

Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek. Great. She had a hope chest but no

man. And the only man she’d wanted since her dating disasters in high

school was

standing beside her, his car crunched like a tin can because she lost

control of her senses every time he was near.

For all she knew, the crash could have broken some of the things in her

chest, too. She was too afraid to look.

Lightning streaked through the cluster of pine trees, another clap of

thunder booming closer. “I’ll make sure the tow truck picks up the car,”

Wiley offered. “Bee, you wanna give the doc a ride back to town?”

Rebecca’s face blanched.

“Good idea,” Thomas said with a grin. “You don’t mind taking me home, do

you?”

Rebecca gaped at him in surprise. She couldn’t very well turn him down

when she was responsible for his dilemma.

“I…sure.”

Thomas pointed inside the station wagon. “It looks like some of your

stuff spilled out. We’d better put it back before we go.”

The bride’s book lay on the floor, a blue garter belt beside it.

“No, it’s all right.” She pushed Thomas toward the car. “Let’s go before

the storm gets any worse.”

And I do anything else stupid. Rebecca ran to the other side and jumped

in. Thomas took the passenger seat, buckled his seat belt, then

stretched his left arm along the back of the seat, calm as a cucumber.

Darn him.

Rebecca glanced at her clenched hands, then slowly met his gaze. “I’m

surprised you’d want to ride with me. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you on

the way home?”

Thomas chuckled. Hell, yeah he was, but he couldn’t admit it without

seeming like a coward. “No,

of course not.” He shifted, but the broken springs from the tattered

seat protested, then jabbed him in the behind. Rebecca glanced his way

and nearly ran off the road.

The deep drop-off on his side swam before his eyes. “Rebecca!”

She snapped her eyes back to the highway, her mouth dropping open as she

jerked the wheel to the left.

“Are you sure you’re all right? I could drive if you’re feeling dizzy

from the accident.”

She pursed her lips. “No, I’m f-fine.”

Rain splattered the windshield, and the car windows fogged up, cocooning

the two of them inside the vehicle. He wondered if Rebecca had bought

this jalopy from her uncle; if so, he hoped Wiley had cut her a good

deal. It wasn’t worth a dime.

Was she was always this nervous around men or did her reaction have

something to do with him? He’d seen her conversing with customers in the

bookstore. She handled herself with grace, her knowledge about the book

market extraordinary. And she laughed and joked with her cousins as if

she were perfectly at ease.

Maybe she just didn’t find him attractive. The thought smarted.

Especially since most of the women in town seemed to like him.

“Rebecca, can I ask you something?”

She winced and slowed the car as if driving and talking weren’t

compatible activities. “If it’s about the insurance, I d-do have it. You

can get my card from my purse.”

“It’s not about the insurance.” He sighed. “I wish you’d relax and

forget about it. I’m not worried.”

“But how can I forget?” She glanced at her tiny silver purse, which lay

on the seat, the contents spilled, a tampon poking out of the top, then

jerked her attention back to the road, the oncoming lights of a truck

glaringly bright. “That car costs a fortune. And I destroyed it in less

than a minute.”

“Money isn’t the most important thing in the world,” he said with

conviction. Although he was frugal with his money. With good reason.

After all, he’d grown up in a fairly low-income family where money was

sparse and love even more so. But he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at

Rebecca when she was so upset herself.

A nervous flutter of her eyes followed. “I didn’t mean it like that,

Thomas. I’m not implying that you’re materialistic…” She let the

sentence trail off, obviously shaken by the turn of the conversation.

“I didn’t mean to imply you thought I was-“

“I didn’t think you were.”

His head was spinning. “Well, thanks for that. I was beginning to think

you didn’t like me.”

“What?” The shock in her voice surprised him.

“You run every time I get near you.” He pried his fingers off the door

handle, forcing his hand to relax on his thigh. “I thought maybe you’d

heard some bad things about me or something.”

“Bad things?” Her gaze found him again, her blue eyes luminous in the

foggy interior. “No, I’ve only heard good things about you. What bad

things would I hear?”

“None.” At least not that he knew of.

His gaze fell to her scalloped neckline, which revealed a hint of creamy

skin and rounded breasts. “I’ve heard nice things about you, too.”

She hit a pothole, and the car jerked sideways. An oncoming car blasted

its horn. He grabbed the dash, and she swung the car back in line just

in time to avoid a head-on collision. “I…good.”

“Well, now we’ve got that settled,” he said, finding the radio. “We can

relax.”

Like hell. Maybe some soft music would calm her. He certainly needed

something to steady his nerves, considering the way she kept courting

the embankment. And that sultry scent enveloping her was rattling other

nerves that had no business being awakened.

He simply wanted a friendship with Rebecca Hartwell. An uncomplicated,

platonic friendship with no feelings or commitments or expectations to

hinder him from his goal of leaving Sugar Hill.

“So, why did you go into medicine?”

His fingers tightened on the knob. “I like the challenge. And no matter

how many babies I deliver, the miracle of birth never ceases to astound me.”

“Babies are wonderful.” Rebecca’s voice softened. “I love watching Mimi

with Maggie Rose. That little girl is adorable.”

“Both her parents dote on her.”

Rebecca laughed. “I’m glad it worked out for them to be together. I

thought Mimi might raise the baby alone for a while.”

Thomas nodded. He’d heard something about that. Once again his thoughts

turned to his own mother and how difficult his teenage years had been.

“Being a

single mom is tough. I admire women who raise children alone these days.”

“Yeah, I miss my mom. She died when I was young,” Rebecca admitted.

Thomas placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rebecca. I lost my mom

a while back, but she was alive when I was little.”

A few moments of companionable silence stretched taut between them. Then