Page 20 of Edge of Steele
She nodded at Colin. “We should help clean up here and get going.”
She marched away from Finn and up to the table. She covered the sandwich platter while Colin consolidated several boxes of chips into one.
Maybe he could help with her lodging needs. She looked at him. “Do you live on the Maddox compound?”
He nodded. “All the staff does. Reid and his daughter Jessie have the main house. Russ and Ryan live in the two big cabins near the lake, and the rest of us are in smaller cabins. They recently built more cabins for paying guests too. Even with the added ones, they’re almost always full.”
“Are they occupied right now?”
“Yeah. Busy time of year, and the weekends are big for us.”
So if she wanted to hunker down on the Maddox property, she would have to ask one of the brothers to bunk with them. No way she would stay with Russ and his intensity. She wouldn’t mind asking Ryan but wouldn’t want to intrude on Reid and his daughter. Maybe it was just easier to take Finn up on his offer and hide out in her bedroom. She would have to decide soon.
She put her attention to her chores, and they finished the clean-up.
“See you at the meeting,” she said to Colin and Finn and headed for her SUV.
Inside, she sat for a moment and inhaled the coconut air freshener. Enjoyed being on her own and the lack of need to be on guard every second. Away from Finn. Away from her thoughts. Just sitting in the quiet. Alone.
Colin drove past and waved.
If she wanted to arrive at the meeting on time she had to get going. She took a cleansing breath and cranked her engine.
Click.
No response.
She turned the key again. Another click.
No. No. No. Not again.
She slammed a fist against the wheel. She’d had the same dead engine one morning last week, and her vehicle had been towed. The mechanic said he’d replaced the alternator, and the car was good to go.
Obviously not.
Argh!Today was a gift that just kept on giving. She couldn’t handle another stressor, could she?
She gripped the wheel and rested her head on her hands.
What did she do next? Pray for sure. Mostly for her attitude as it raced down a steep incline toward the pits.
A knock sounded on her window.
She startled and sat up.
Finn stood there. Of course he did. He would’ve waited until she got on the road to follow her and be sure she was safe. He’d done that often enough when they’d been together for that short month.
He was a protector. Something she was used to from her family of current and former law enforcement officers, and it had never bothered her in the past. Not so at the moment. Now she didn’t want to need him for anything. But it seemed like she might need him not only for lodging but transportation as well.
She lowered the window.
He leaned forward. “Car trouble?”
She explained about the repair.
He pointed at the front end of her vehicle. “Want me to look under the hood?”
“Not sure you can do anything. It just clicks like it did before.”
