by Gina LaManna
“This is Eddie’s?” I asked, once Cooper came to a stop outside of the huge structure. “If it weren’t so sunny outside, I’d feel like I’d stepped into a horror flick.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Cooper said. “You can hold my hand if you’re nervous.”
“Oh, shove it.” I’d finished my to-go mug of coffee in the car and was thinking how I could really use a bathroom. But there was no way I was wandering away from Cooper at Eddie’s. I should really have asked Cooper to stop in Sugarland Shores, but now it was far too late. “Let’s get this over with.”
We moved together toward the front of the barn. I raised a hand to knock, but Cooper just gave a shake of his head.
“It’s Eddie’s,” he said in explanation. “You just walk right in.”
So, we walked right in.
“Eddie,” Cooper said, walking up to a car and looking like he was addressing the windshield. “How’s it going?”
I was startled when a man rolled out from under the car and sat up with a huge grin on his face. It was easy to imagine that was Eddie. He had one bright and shiny gold tooth right in front, and a smile that was genuinely bursting with friendliness.
“Howdy, chief!” Eddie held out a hand and Cooper gave him an assist to his feet. “How’s it going? Who’s the pretty lady?”
Eddie turned a dirty face toward me. He had grease on his right cheek and dust in his hair. His nails were an oily black around the edges, and his jeans might have been blue in a former century. His shirt was open, revealing a tanned, muscular chest.
“I’m new around here,” I said. “Jenna McGovern. I’m looking for a car, but I’m afraid I don’t have much cash.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place.” Eddie gave a nod as his eyes skimmed me over from head to toe. “How much cash are we talking?”
I flicked my gaze to Cooper, feeling suddenly embarrassed. “It’s really probably not enough. I mean, maybe I could take out some sort of loan? I have a job, but moving to town has been a bit of an adjustment, and—”
“She’s got a grand to spend,” Cooper said finally, putting me out of my misery. “Just put it on my tab. I’ll settle up with her later... if you know what I mean.”
Cooper leaned in toward Eddie and gave him a sly wink. Eddie’s grin slid brighter.
“Ah, I see,” Eddie said, and he immediately withdrew his eyes from my cleavage, turning his attention to Cooper. “Congratulations. I always knew you’d find a pretty one. When are you getting married?”
“It’s not like that,” I said quickly. “And I only have three hundred dollars to spend. That’s if the chief will spot me three bucks.”
Eddie frowned. “I thought—”
“What can we get for a grand?” Cooper asked. “Why don’t you show us the selection, and then she can decide.”
Eddie seemed to think this was a fine idea. He gestured for us to follow him to the back of the barn and through the large, open doors into an expansive field. In the distance, corn stalks waved in the breeze. Dried grasses rustled beneath our feet.
“I can give you—” Eddie bit his lip in thought, studied a slightly less gruesome car graveyard before him. At least this part of the workshop had cars mostly in one piece. Eventually, Eddie waved his hand at a small selection of vehicles in the almost-crappiest part of the lot. “I’ll give you any one of these for a grand. Usually, this would be my two grand price range, but because you’re the chief’s gal—”
“It’s really not like that,” I said. “We’re not dating. He’s just a friend.”
Eddie nodded and gave the chief a salacious wink. “I see how it is.”
“It’s not like that either,” I said. “We really are just friends. What can I get for three hundred bucks?”
“Are you serious?” Eddie asked, looking first to me, then the chief. “I’m confused. Who should I believe?”
“Me,” I said, at the same time Cooper said, “Me.”
“I’ve got the money,” I said, digging in my purse to pull out my two hundred and ninety-seven dollars. I turned to Cooper. “Can you spot me three bucks?”
Cooper rolled his eyes. He pulled out his own wad of cash. “I’ve got the rest of it. Pick your car, Jenna.”
“Can I have a moment alone with the chief, please?” I turned to Eddie.
“You can have as many moments as you need, sweetheart,” Eddie said with a salute. “I got no place to be today.”
Eddie wandered back into the barn and left me alone with Cooper. I turned toward the chief, my arms crossed over my chest.
“What was that all about?”
“Which part?” he asked, his eyes widening with innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The whole us being together thing,” I said dryly. “Oh, yeah. And the fact that I magically have a thousand dollars.”
“You don’t magically have anything,” Cooper said. “Neither do I. The thousand dollars is cold hard cash that comes from something I like to call a savings account.”
“Ha-ha,” I said. “I’m not taking your money.”
“Fine. I wasn’t planning on giving it to you anyway.”
“Well, good.” I pouted. “Then why’d you tell him that business about the grand?”
“Because I plan on giving the money to Eddie on your behalf.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not taking your money.”
“Then pay me back,” Cooper said. “I’m fine with a loan. I don’t need the money—no interest.”
“I’m not taking a loan either.”
“Fine,” Cooper said. “Then don’t pay me back. Your choice. I never offer money I can’t afford to lose.”
“What are you, Mister Moneybags?” I retorted. “Eight hundred bucks last night, a thousand today. Where’s your money tree?”
He laughed. “Come on, Jenna. I’m a single guy in my thirties—”
“You’re thirty?”
“Thirty-four,” he said. “House is paid off. I have a job and no social life. I’m not rich, but I’ve got more than three hundred bucks to my name.”
“Yeah, well, good for you.” I stubbed my toe into the ground. “I’ve never taken money from anyone, and I don’t plan on starting now. I’m not the sort of person who can handle being in debt to a friend.”
“Look, Jenna, I’m spotting you seven hundred bucks. Pay me back if you want. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I’m not going to starve because I loaned you a bit of cash.”
I gave a huge sigh. “It’s kind of you to offer, really. I appreciate it. But I can’t. It’s not in my DNA.”
“Bull,” Cooper said. “You’re just too proud.”
“Sure. Call it whatever you want—it’s still in my DNA.”
Cooper gave a shake of his head, exhaled a huge sigh. “I worried you’d be difficult.”
“Difficult? I came down here to buy a car with my money. I wasn’t aware we’d agreed to anything else.”
“Fine. If I can’t convince you, then let’s just get this over with. Eddie?” Cooper called toward the barn. “I think we’re ready. Where are your junkers?”
I cleared my throat. “The least junky thing you have for three hundred dollars.”
Cooper leaned toward me, murmured in my ear. “I thought you didn’t like to borrow money.”
“I don’t borrow money.”
“Then you’ve got two hundred and ninety-seven dollars, sweetheart.”
I glared at Cooper. “I’ll buy you a coffee on the way back if you spot me three bucks.”
Cooper’s eyes twinkled as he shook his head and handed over three crisp dollar bills. “It’s a date.”
“Here you are, sweet pea,” Eddie said. “Take your pick. This bad boy right here is probably your best bet. The rest in your price range, you probably wouldn’t be able to drive them off the lot.”
Cooper just raised his eyebrows as Eddie pointed out my selection of vehicles, including the primo candidate for m
y purchase. I cleared my throat and tilted my shoulders back.
As I stepped forward, I extended a hand. I was planning to rest my palm against the hood of the bright red car (or, at least, a car that should have been bright red) and feel around a bit. I could at least pretend I knew something about cars.
However, at the last second, I pulled my palm back. I wasn’t exactly sure if I was up to date on my tetanus shots, and I didn’t want to risk contracting a disease. The amount of rust on the vehicle was somewhat astounding.
“What is it?” I asked finally. When Eddie and Cooper exchanged a look, I scowled. “I’m not a car person.”
“Ford Pinto,” Eddie said. “She runs. That’s about all I can say for her.”
“Great,” I said. “I’ll, uh—take her.”
“Jenna.” Cooper’s hand reached out and fixed around my wrist. He tugged me back from the vehicle. “These cars explode if they’re rear ended.”
My lips cracked open in surprise. “Are you serious?”
Cooper nodded.
I turned to Eddie. “Is that true?”
Eddie had unearthed a toothpick from somewhere and dug around in his teeth for a surprise meal. “It ain’t un-true, let’s put it that way.”
I held my breath. “Well, then, I guess I just will have to avoid getting rear ended.”
Cooper’s breath hissed out between his teeth, sounding like a leaky tire. Either that, or it was the car. Hard to say.
“That’s not exactly how it works,” Eddie chirped, looking pleased with himself. “Usually when people get rear ended, they don’t see it coming.”
“Usually, it just results in a mild fender bender,” Cooper added. “Nothing an insurance claim won’t easily cover. But with a Pinto...”
Cooper turned his gaze to Eddie who’d begun to make explosive sounds with his mouth. Then, as if I hadn’t gotten the picture, Eddie added a gesture with his hands.
“Explosion,” Eddie said finally, in case I really, really hadn’t gotten it. “Kaboom.”
“Right, thanks,” I said. “I’ll take it and try really, really hard not to explode. Coop, I owe you three bucks.”
“Jenna.” Cooper walked across the field and stopped in front of the ugliest car I’d ever seen. “Can’t you please take this one? I’ll spot you the money. I will rest easier at night knowing you’re not going up in flames the first time Crazy Carl taps your bumper with his Hummer.”
“I’ll stay away from Crazy Carl,” I said. “He only drives to bingo and back. I’ll just stay home on Sundays. Plus, that car is butt-ugly.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Cooper turned his gaze to the misshapen lump of metal before us. “I mean, it’s not gorgeous, but at least it works.”
“There’s wood paneling on the side,” I said. “It looks like someone started to build a wall around it and gave up halfway through.”
“It don’t explode though,” Eddie contributed unhelpfully. “It’s one of them PT Cruisers. It’s got character. You know, some personal touches added on after-market.”
“I see that,” I said through gritted teeth. “Cooper—”
“Jenna, it’s not a loan. It’s not charity. I’m investing in you,” Cooper said. “If you’re going to want to redo that greenhouse of your Gran’s, you’ll need a car that can haul tools, plants, the works. And the amount of shopping bags you could fit in here—just think about it.”
“Shopping bags?” I mused. “That would be pretty awful if I drove all the way to Target, loaded up, and my goodies exploded on the ride home.”
“It would,” Cooper agreed. “Let me spot you the cash. You can pay me back. I swear.”
I heaved a sigh. “Which car would you buy, Eddie?”
“Well,” Eddie said, surveying both. “If you don’t want to die, I’d probably go with the wood paneling.”
I sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Fine. We’ll take it. I mean, I’ll take it.”
Eddie gave a wink toward Cooper. “You got it, my friends. Let me try to scrounge up a title or something of the sort.”
“Something of the sort?” I asked weakly.
“It’s okay,” Cooper said. “You might be driving a stolen car, but at least it won’t be on fire.”
Chapter 14
With a title in hand that resembled a napkin with scribbles on it, I climbed behind the wheel of a car that smelled like crumpled up Sun Chips.
Cooper had offered to lead the way home in his car and insisted I follow him closely to make sure I made it. Well, to make sure my car made it in one piece, and me along with it. I was grateful for the offer after hearing the grunts and wheezes my new wood-paneled vehicle was making on the way down Eddie’s driveway.
We wound out of the car shop and made our way toward the highway, but instead of jumping on where I suspected we should have, Cooper made a right turn and took us back along the lakeside shore.
He pulled to a stop in front of a small cafe that was painted pink on the outside. Through the window, I could see a light-blue color scheme and bright yellow stools pulled up to a bar. It looked like an explosion of cotton candy turned into an ice cream shop.
I climbed out of the car as Cooper did the same. Over the hood of my new vehicle, I raised an eyebrow. “This doesn’t look like Blueberry Lake.”
“One doesn’t buy a new car and not celebrate with ice cream.”
“Now you’re speaking my language,” I said, “but I sense there’s more to the picture. What am I missing?”
“Nothing. My treat.”
“I’m heavily skeptical. Why are you helping me out so much today?” I jangled my new set of keys, feeling excited to have a set to jangle at all. I jangled them again. It was a novelty.
Cooper looked at me jangling over the hood of my car. “Having fun?”
“Just enjoying my new freedom.”
“Ah.”
“I could leave right now if I wanted,” I said. “I could just hop in my car and drive away. I’m no longer dependent on you for rides.”
“True,” Cooper said, then glanced at the front door to the little shop. “But would you do that and risk losing out on a taste of the best ice cream in Minnesota?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don’t say? Those are some big shoes to fill, my friend. I’m an ice cream connoisseur. I’ve had gelato in Italy. Nitro-ice cream in Los Angeles. Street cones in New York.”
Cooper didn’t look all that impressed at my ice cream resume. He merely shrugged his shoulders. “Are you going to risk letting this one slip through your fingers?”
“You know I’m weak,” I said with one final jangle of my keys. “I can’t resist food.”
“Especially not when you’ve got a stable of men bringing it to your front door.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cooper just rolled his eyes. “Are you coming inside or not?”
We went inside. After a long time perusing the menu and sampling three (okay, more like seven) different flavors, Cooper put a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re going to have to pick one eventually,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll start asking me to pay for your samples.”
“It’s analysis paralysis,” I growled. “They are all equally good.”
“It’s okay,” the plump, smiling woman behind the counter said in a good-natured chirp. “It’s early. You’ve beat the lunch rush, so you’ve got time. But if you’d like my recommendation, you should each get different flavors, and you can share.”
I glanced at Cooper and gave a wrinkle of my nose. “I think she’s got the wrong idea.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman said. “Are you not together?”
“We’re together,” Cooper said. “Put us on one tab. What would you like, Jenna?”
“We’re not together,” I confirmed. “But I will take the cotton candy flavor and the monster cookie.”
“Those are the two strangest flavors,” Cooper said. “Not to mention the most colorful.”
“What are you having, if I’m so strange?”
“Vanilla,” Cooper said.
“What about your second flavor?” I pressed.
“Vanilla,” Cooper said. “I’m a simple man.”
The woman behind the counter watched our exchange with a pleased smile. Her dimples appeared to be half an inch deep. “Y’all are so cute. I’ll give you some little spoons since I’m sure you’ll be wanting to share.”
“That’s not necess—” I began.
“Perfect,” Cooper said, reaching for his wallet and handing over a credit card. “Thank you.”
“Let me get this,” I said, fumbling for my own credit card. “It’s the least I can do after—”
“Put it away,” Cooper said firmly. “I drove us here. I chose this place, and a man doesn’t ask a woman out and not pay.”
“Technically, I drove myself here,” I grumbled.
Cooper smiled as the woman handed his credit card back. She handed him a receipt along with it, and Cooper scribbled a tip on it. Once he returned it, she handed over two heaping cones. One that looked like the cotton candy monster had thrown up into a cone, and the other, the most plain, vanilla cone ever to be made in Sugarland Shores.
“For the record,” I said as Cooper held the door open for me, “I can open my own doors, and I can pay for my own food.”
“I don’t doubt you can,” Cooper said, then frowned. “Actually, I do doubt it, seeing as you just spent all of your money on that thing.”
He gestured to my new car which, I realized with surprise, was already weaseling its way into a fond spot in my heart despite its lack of aesthetic beauty. It symbolized a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt for months, and for that, I’d be forever grateful to my wood-paneled heap of metal.
Still, I elbowed Cooper while taking a lick of my cone. “That’s not the point. I have a credit card.”
“I knew what you meant,” Cooper said, leaning against me, steering me onto the walking path that lined the lake. “But it doesn’t matter. You could be the richest woman in the world, and I’d feel the same way.”
