Learning to Drive... Him Crazy (3 page)

"Kind of. He said he took off for a couple
of my turns, and the distance between me and another car."

"Were you too close to it?"

"I'm not sure. That's all he said. I was so
nervous I didn't even think to ask him."

John laid his hand over one of hers and
asked, "Would you let me help you? We can take my car out and I can
work with you."

"You would do that?"


"If you'll let me."

She grinned. "I guess a police officer that
moonlights as a driver's license examiner should be qualified to
teach me how to drive."

He laughed and assured her, "I think I have
the qualifications, if you'll trust me and let me help you."

She looked at him, at the kindness she saw
in his eyes and said, "I would very much appreciate your help."

"Good. We'll set a time before I leave
tonight."

Two days after
John and Alana met, he went to her apartment for her first driving
lesson. It had been two long days! His thoughts kept returning to
the saucy redhead, which wasn't really a safe idea, given the line
of work he was in. Something about her had captured his attention.
He knocked on her door and was surprised when he heard her yell,
"Come on in."

He tried the door and sure enough, it was
unlocked. He opened it and went in. She peaked her head around the
corner and smiled. "Sorry, I'm not quite ready. Make yourself at
home. There's water or iced tea in the fridge if you want some.
I'll hurry."

"Take your time," he said patiently. "We're
not in any hurry." He went into her living room and sat down on the
couch. "Do you always leave your door unlocked, Alana?"

"I lock it at night when I go to bed," she
assured him. "Why?"

"I want you to start locking it all the
time, not just when you go to bed."

She stuck her head around the corner again
and looked at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I most certainly am," he assured her.

"I'll be right back," she said as she ducked
back into her bathroom.

She emerged less than a minute later,
wearing blue jeans and a pretty baby blue shirt that made her blue
eyes sparkle. It was a very feminine shirt with lace trim, and he
couldn't resist saying, "You look very pretty, Alana," he said,
standing as she entered the room. "In my opinion too many women try
hard not to look like a lady, and that's a shame. That's a pretty
shirt and you look very nice in it."

Alana's eyes grew, and she momentarily
froze.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That probably sounded
very sexist, but I meant it as a compliment."

She smiled. "Please, don't apologize. I took
it as a compliment, and I agree with you. I'm a female and I like
to dress like one. But it seems like these days women are supposed
to either dress in some unisex type clothes, or slutty. I'm not too
fond of either."

"I could not agree more."

"You are an old-fashioned man, aren't
you?"

"I am. I don't try to hide it. But I think
you have some similar ideas and values, as well, don't you?"

She blushed a bit, but admitted, "I do. I
like how you open doors for me and things like that, and that's
kind of old-fashioned these days."

"Are you ready for an old-fashioned driving
lesson?"

"I am," she said, returning his grin. "Are
your nerves ready?"

"Absolutely. I've already ridden with you,
you know."

"I know. And you failed me."

John chuckled as he led her out the door.
"Let's see if we can't get you ready to take that test again and
pass it."

He helped her in the passenger's seat and
started down the road. "Let's go out of town where there's not as
much traffic to start off. We can go over some of the things you
need to practice." He pulled over at an abandoned house and turned
the car around for her before stopping and getting out so they
could change seats. He made sure she knew where things were on his
car, then talked to her about a few things she should try to
remember. He then encouraged her to pull out onto the road, and she
drove for about an hour.

Finally he suggested she turn into a
driveway just outside of town. When she'd shut the car off, he got
out and was quickly at her door, helping her out.

"Is this your house?" she asked.

"No, it's my brother's. I borrowed his drill
a couple days ago and I thought we could return it tonight, if
that's okay with you?"

"Sure. I'd like to meet your brother.
Especially if he's as good looking as you." As soon as the words
were out of her mouth, she must have realized what she'd said, and
stopped, standing still and hiding her face in her hands.

He chuckled. "Honey, it's okay, you don't
need to be embarrassed about that. I do thank you for the
compliment. The bad news is no, he isn't as good-looking as me.
Which is good," he added quickly, "because he's not seeing anyone
right now, so if he were as good looking as me I'd have to worry
about him trying to steal my pretty little lady."

His words did exactly as he'd hoped and she
looked up at him, smiling. He held her by her shoulders and leaned
down and kissed her softly. He smiled at the startled look on her
face, but was glad she didn't seem to object. "Let me get his drill
out of the trunk and I'll introduce you to him," he said.

John introduced Alana to Cal and the three
visited for half an hour before John suggested they head back to
her apartment before it got dark.

John let Alana drive them back to her
apartment, patiently telling her to move up a little at stop signs,
or telling her when to turn her turn signals on. When she parked
his car, they both felt good about their first driving lesson.

As he opened her door and helped her out he
said, "You did real well today, Alana. We'll have you ready to take
your test soon if you keep this up."

"Thank you, John. You told me things today I
wasn't aware I was doing wrong."

"Good. Now that you know, you can work on
changing them." Once they were in her apartment he asked, "I don't
want to rush things, but are you busy Friday night?"

"No, I'm not."

"How about dinner?"

"That sounds good. It's supposed to be nice
Friday."

"Do you like mini golf?"

"I've only done it a couple times, but I had
a blast."

"If it's going to be nice Friday, let's have
dinner and then try our hand at mini golfing."

"Ooh, I love it. What time?"

"How about 6:00. Is that too early?"

"No, that'll be fine."

"We'll go somewhere casual for dinner, so
dress to golf."

"I'll be ready. I can't wait."

He loved her eagerness. He told her
goodnight and gave her another kiss, reminding her to lock her door
when he left.

The next night, Thursday, Cal stopped by
John's house with a pizza, which they ate while watching a baseball
game. When John's phone rang he glanced at it and said, "It's
Alana. I'll be right back."

He got up to answer it in the other room,
while Cal kidded him about needing privacy. John came back in the
room shortly, though, and said, "Come on, Cal, we have got to
go."

He picked up the remote and turned the
television off and headed for the door. Cal was right behind him.
"What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Alana's with her friend Kelli, and Kelli's
car won't start. They're over at the West End Shopping Center."

"We better hurry," Cal said. "That's not a
part of town I'd want a woman in after dark with a car that won't
start."

"My thoughts exactly. I wonder what they
were doing over there this late."

"My guess would be shopping," Cal said with
a grin. "They probably weren't counting on being there this late,
if the car would have started."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm glad you're here,
though. You're a better mechanic than I am, and two men in that
area is a safer situation than one."

"No argument there," Cal agreed. "Especially
that I'm the better mechanic."

John frowned over at his brother, who was
smirking. The two of them had always been close growing up. John
was only a year older than Cal, and although they kidded each other
mercilessly at times, they had always had each other's back, and
knew they always would.

They pulled into the shopping center and
found the girls. Both men straightened in their seats when they saw
two men with the ladies. Alana and Kelli were obviously not
comfortable with them. Cal pulled up close and both men quickly got
out of his car. They'd taken it because it was parked behind John's
car.

John went straight to Alana and asked, "Are
you two all right?"

Cal had gone over to stand next to Kelli. He
was a little concerned when she moved over even closer to him.
Sensing she was scared of the two men, he casually put an arm
around Kelli's shoulder, pulling her next to him.

Alana said, "I'm glad you got here, John.
The car won't start."

Looking at the two guys, who hadn't made any
move to leave yet, John reached out a hand toward one of them and
said, "Hi. I'm John Humphries. Thanks for keeping our ladies safe
until we got here. We can handle it now."

Both ladies looked at him like he was crazy,
but the two men looked at John and Cal, who were both big men, not
lacking for muscles, and the one shook hands with John and mumbled,
"No problem." They turned and walked off, much to the relief of all
four of them still standing by the car.

Once they were out of sight, Cal introduced
himself to Kelli. "I'm Cal Humphries, John's brother."

"Nice to meet you, Cal. I'm Kelli Anderson,
Alana's friend. Thanks for—"

She stumbled a bit, turning red. Cal quickly
said, "No problem. I'm glad they left easily."

"Me, too," she answered quickly.

Alana was explaining, "John, I'm glad you
guys got here when you did. But they sure weren't keeping us safe,
like you thought they were, though."

"I never thought they were, honey. I had a
pretty good idea what they were wanting when I first saw them and
you guys looking scared. I just wanted them to leave, and I hoped
that would get them to go without a problem."

She gave him a hug as she said, "It worked.
That was good thinking. Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome. But I have to ask, what
were you girls doing over here this time of night? This is not a
neighborhood you should be in now."

"There was a big shoe sale over here that we
had to come to," Alana explained. "We thought we'd come over quick,
then go back home before it got dark. Only the sale was better than
we thought it would be and it took longer than we planned. Then we
came out to leave and the car wouldn't start."

Cal looked at the bags they were both
carrying and said, "Well, it looks like you both found some shoes
anyway."

Kelli said, "Oh, these are all hers."

John's eyebrows rose. "Alana, these are all
yours?"

"I told you it was a really good sale," she
said, looking down at the ground.

"How many pairs did you buy?"

"Oh, I don't know. A few. So, what do you
think we should do about the car?"

Cal asked, "What's it doing? Will it turn
over at all?"

John offered, "I brought Cal along because
he's a better mechanic than me. We'll look at it."

Kelli had already given Cal the keys and he
was in trying to start it. He got out and told John, "Get in and
try it in a minute. Let me try one thing." He popped the hood and
started working while John got in the car. In a couple minutes Cal
said, "Okay, try it now." John tried, but it wouldn't start. Cal
worked a bit longer, and when John tried it again it started.

Kelli went to Cal and said, "Thank you, Cal.
What do I owe you?"

"Let me take you out for dinner sometime and
we'll be even," he said, surprising everyone there.

"That's a deal," she said, smiling.

"How about tomorrow night?"

Alana looked at John and quietly asked,
"Could they go with us?"

John nodded and suggested, "We're going for
a casual dinner and then to play some mini golf. Why don't you join
us? It'll be fun."

Cal looked at Kelli. "What do you
think?"

"It sounds like fun to me. Why don't I meet
you at Kelli's apartment?"

Cal frowned as he said, "I'll be happy to
pick you up at your home."

She quickly assured him, "It's okay. I live
in the same apartment complex. Hers is much easier to find. You can
walk me home afterward, then you'll know where mine is."

Looking much more relaxed, Cal said, "Okay,
that's a deal then. Thank you."

John moved Alana to the back of the car to
give Cal and Kelli a little privacy for a couple minutes. "How
about another driving lesson Saturday afternoon? Are you free?"

"That would be great."

"Okay, we'll count on it then. We're going
to talk a little bit then, too, when we have more privacy."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"About a couple things. Mostly about why you
two were in this neighborhood at night. I don't want you doing that
again, Alana. It's not safe for two women alone at night."

Alana stared at John a few moments. His
words surprised her, but not as much as his demeanor. He was
serious, and he wasn't happy with her. It was as if he were
scolding her.

"If you think you have to be in this area,
ask me to go with you, or at least go early enough that you're back
home before it even starts to get dark. Do you understand me, young
lady?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what?"

"There are a lot of buts. But I didn't think
it would take us so long in the shoe store. But we would have been
home if the car would have started. And but why does it matter to
you, or why is it any of your business if I'm over here? It's
perfectly legal for us to be here."