by Lola Gabriel
He watched her take her first bite of the skinny potatoes. Sasha’s eyes lit up.
“These are amazing!”
Diesel took a bite himself. “A restaurant chain couldn’t even come close.”
The two suspended their conversation long enough to eat. They’d managed to make it to the restaurant just before closing, and they didn’t want to overstay their welcome. The wait staff was already cleaning up inside and preparing to shut off the lights for the evening.
Sasha was nearing the end of her sweet tea when the sound of squealing tires snapped her head around. A red Corvette tore through the parking lot, headed right for their truck. Sasha shook Diesel’s arm to get his attention.
“Don’t worry.” His voice was completely unaffected, like they weren’t about to be hit by a speeding convertible. “She won’t hit us.”
He was right. At the last minute, the car swerved and parked on the cement path leading to the front door. A woman with long red hair jumped out, not bothering to open her car door. She was dressed in all black and wore boots, but no jacket, which revealed a tattoo on her left arm that Sasha couldn’t see clearly. The woman walked toward the door of the restaurant, and Sasha frowned.
“Aren’t they closing?”
“They’ll open for Chastity,” Diesel said.
Sasha watched a nervous teenager hurry over to unlock the door for the woman standing outside. The red-haired woman was inside for a few minutes before coming back out with a bag and an extra-large foam cup.
“She must be starving,” Diesel said nonchalantly as he started the truck.
The woman got back in her car, honked twice, and then peeled off.
“Why did you say they would open for her?” Sasha asked. “Why would they if they’re already closed?”
“It’s…” Diesel sighed. “It’s Chastity.”
He didn’t add anything else, and Sasha supposed it was a story she wasn’t meant to know. It didn’t matter. She would be out of this town soon enough.
They drove in silence until they reached the only motel in town. The lodge had six rooms and a sign that had seen better days. Sasha seriously considered asking to sleep in the bed of Diesel’s pick-up truck rather than spending the night there.
“It’s not so bad,” Diesel smiled. It was like he’d read her mind. He grabbed her bag out of the truck and walked her to the office front door. It was after normal business hours, so he knocked hard. An old woman answered.
“Ms. Hendry, this is Sasha.” Diesel spoke rather loudly for being so close to the woman. “Her car broke down. She needs a room for tonight.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Sasha said, once more holding her hand out. “I’m really sorry to bother you this late.” The woman adjusted her thick glasses and stepped out of the doorway. Rather than shaking her hand, she circled Sasha as if she were sniffing her.
“Diesel?” Ms. Hendry asked finally. “Is this your mate?”
Sasha’s mouth fell open, and when she turned to look at Diesel, she saw his expression was equally shocked, his eyes wide and his jaw tight.
“I—excuse me?” she questioned as the woman stood before her again.
“Just ignore her,” Diesel whispered to her. “I’m just fixing her car in the morning, Ms. Hendry,” he told the woman. “She’s going to Laredo.”
Ms. Hendry looked at Sasha and squinted at her, as if she were trying to see her better. “Laredo? There ain’t nothing in Laredo.”
Before Sasha could add that her reasons for going to Laredo were none of the woman’s business, Ms. Hendry went inside to grab a key.
“Come on,” she said to Sasha. “I’ll give you the nicest room we have.”
“Nice” was a relative term. The room was spacious and neat, but the brown and beige color scheme hadn’t changed since the ‘70s. Even the bedspread looked like it came from a time warp.
The old woman pressed the key into Diesel’s hand. “I don’t have any other tenants tonight, so be as loud as you want.”
There was a short, awkward silence as Sasha and Diesel watched Ms. Hendry shuffle off.
“Sorry about that.” Diesel’s laugh was nervous. “She’s… uh…”
It was obvious that he was at a loss for words.
“No… it’s fine,” Sasha said, but her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. No one had ever made such assumptions about her so openly before, much less an elderly woman like Ms. Hendry. “Are you staying here, too?”
“No, ah…” Diesel rubbed the back of his neck. “My place is at the shop.”
Sasha frowned. “You’re going to start working tonight?”
“Not quite,” he answered. “I live there. I have a loft above the garage.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, gotta get home and tuck in my boy. But I’ll come get you in the morning.” Diesel handed her the key and set her bags down. “Have a good night.”
“Yeah,” Sasha said, “goodnight.”
She sat on the edge of her bed, trying to collect her thoughts. She hadn’t gotten the chance to charge her phone at Diesel’s shop, and she had no way to contact Alejandro or to know if he had tried contacting her. She would just have to call him in the morning and explain that it might take her a little while to get to Laredo.
Sasha lay back on the bed and let out a sigh. She was exhausted. She didn’t want to think about her broken-down car or how long it would take to get it fixed or about the hours she still had to drive to Laredo. God, maybe it would be better if she just stayed here in Pine Bend.
Although she had never heard of the quiet little town, perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad as she had thought it would be when morning came.
3
The next morning, three soft knocks on the door woke Sasha up. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was six o’clock in the morning. Bleary-eyed, she got up and shuffled over to see who was outside her room, though she was sure it was Diesel.
But when she opened the door, she realized it wasn’t Diesel.
“Morning, sunshine!” a strange man greeted her. The smile on his face widened when he saw her. “Didn’t know such a pretty woman would be staying with us.” The man pushed past her and into the room. His arms were full of linens.
“Excuse me,” said Sasha, “but who are you?”
“Housekeeping.” The stranger had a million-dollar smile, accented by some particularly sharp-looking canines. “Granny sent me over first thing with extra towels and blankets. She was worried you wouldn’t have enough.” The man glanced around the room. “But it doesn’t look like Diesel stayed the night.”
Sasha could feel her face turning red. She couldn’t believe a stranger would talk to her that way, much less that the old woman had asked him to do such a thing. The man placed the items on a chair then stuck out his hand.
“Nolan Wiley.” He tossed his blond hair out of his eyes with a shake of his head.
Maybe a handful of inches shorter than Diesel, Nolan had a wiry frame and a little stubble that made him look older than he probably was. He had a cocky air about him that most men in their early twenties had. Nolan didn’t act as mature as Diesel, but there was a wild energy about him that felt electric. That confirmed it. He was hot, and most likely a total jerk.
Sasha hesitated before shaking his hand. “Sasha,” she replied.
“Nice to meet you, gorgeous. Would you care to have breakfast with me?”
“It’s a little early, isn’t it?” Sasha looked at the clock again “Besides, I don’t know when Diesel will be by to pick me up.”
“I’m always up with the sun.”
“Are you a farmer?” Sasha asked before she thought it through well enough. She really ought to consider her words instead of spouting stereotypes.
Nolan laughed. “Not everyone around here makes their money in agriculture.”
She lowered her eyes to the ground, embarrassed. “Sorry…”
“Don’t be.” He headed for the door “I suspect Diesel will
be arriving in a few hours. But if you change your mind, just ring the front desk. I’ll be around a little while longer.”
Sasha nodded. Nolan reached back and grabbed her hand so that he could kiss it.
“I do hope you’ll call,” he said.
Sasha stood there for a moment after Nolan had left. He hadn’t seemed to be the jerk she had originally thought him to be, but there was still something about him that simply rubbed her the wrong way. Then again, that might just be her first impression of him, and first impressions tended to not be everything they appeared to be.
Breakfast was a lot better than Sasha had expected. She was beginning to think that food was a big part of the reason people actually stayed in this one-horse town. Now that she’d had pancakes at Nellie’s, breakfast would never be the same again.
During the meal, Sasha began to change her opinion of Nolan. Maybe he had been rude that morning, but he was very polite to the waitress and downright respectful to her.
It must just be his sense of humor, Sasha thought.
While the food was good, the service was slow. Sasha found herself frequently checking her watch. Nolan seemed to notice she was in a hurry and offered to give her a lift to Diesel’s shop. She accepted.
The mechanic garage looked completely different in the daytime. A big painted sign above the workshop read, “Diesel’s Auto Repair—No Gas.”
Sasha got out of the car first. DJ came barreling toward her with a big, slobbering smile on his face. When Nolan stepped out, though, the animal came to a halt and started to growl at him. Then he began to bark. Loudly.
“What’s wrong, DJ?” Sasha asked the dog. DJ had been so good last night, licking her hand and rolling over so that she could scratch his belly. Why was he suddenly so defensive? And why only after he had seen Nolan?
Diesel immediately came out of the shop to see who had arrived.
“Sasha?” he asked, slightly frowning at the sight of her in front of Nolan’s car. “I thought I was coming to pick you up.”
“You can’t keep a lady waiting,” Nolan interjected before Sasha could say anything. She frowned at him—the way he had said those words made her wince in annoyance, like she had to be chaperoned or something.
DJ continued barking.
“Quiet, DJ.” Diesel didn’t look at the dog when giving him the order. He didn’t seem to want to take his eyes off Nolan. His voice was so different to the tone he had used with her last night: he had been gentle and kind when speaking to her, yet now he almost sounded like he was growling.
The dog whimpered and sat down in the dirt, hearing the authority in his owner’s voice.
“Something else you need, Nolan?”
“Not at all.” The blond gave a sly smile. “Now that Sasha’s arrived safely, I’ll take my leave.”
Sasha stood in place as she and Diesel watched him leave. Even after Nolan was gone, the air was tense.
“I would have picked you up,” Diesel told her, his voice going back to the gentle tone she had grown used to hearing.
“Well,” Sasha said, “he made it seem like it might take a while. And I kind of got hungry, so…” She paused for a second. “Wait. I didn’t think it was a big deal, what’s your problem?”
“I just… don’t like that guy.” Diesel turned around and headed back to his shop, and Sasha trailed after him.
“What’s wrong with Nolan? I mean, he’s kind of rude sometimes, but…” Sasha stomped after Diesel, trying to keep up. Although she didn’t understand why Diesel seemed to dislike Nolan so much, she couldn’t exactly blame him. She didn’t know what it was, but there was definitely something strange about him.
For the time being, Sasha was glad she was back with Diesel.
Diesel started to explain what had happened to her car. He also said he didn’t have the parts he needed at hand, so Sasha would have to stick around a few more days.
Sasha cursed her timing. Having to order and wait for car parts always seemed to take forever, then to add in the standard holiday delay meant she was spending Christmas in a strange town where she didn’t know anybody.
“Sorry, but, your trip to Laredo will probably have to wait,” Diesel said.
Sasha let out a deep sigh. Her phone was still dead, and she should probably charge it soon to let Alejandro know that her chances of making it to Laredo were slim to none, much less for Christmas. She owed him an apology, at least. Maybe they could reschedule her visit, work something else out.
Then again, did she really want to leave Pine Bend? Her “date” last night with Diesel had been pretty wonderful, as seemingly simple as it had been, and Sasha had enjoyed his company. She wanted to believe that Diesel enjoyed her company as well.
A sudden thought occurred to her. Was that why he had been so upset by the fact that Nolan had given her a lift?
“Well,” Diesel said, bringing her out of her thoughts, “if you got that kind of time, let’s go.”
“Go where?” Sasha asked. “You’re going to drive me to Laredo?”
Diesel looked at her and smirked. “Hell, no. I’m not taking you to see my competition.”
Sasha held back a gasp, though she did take a sharp breath. So she hadn’t just imagined it, after all—Diesel did enjoy her company. He hadn’t just taken her out on a “date” because he felt pity for her, he actually liked her.
She smiled to herself. Maybe staying for a few more days wouldn’t be so bad.
4
The two of them spent the day driving around the Texas desert, discovering all that Pine Bend had to offer.
Diesel brought her to a nature reserve, where he told her about the plants and animals that made their home in the ecosystem. Sasha saw the beauty in the way every creature and every plant served a purpose to make the ecosystem thrive.
She had never heard someone speak with such passion about nature.
The sun had already started to go down as they returned to Pine Bend. Pink and orange banded clouds were giving way to ruddy browns and darker blues. Sasha took everything in contentedly. She might have been in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful and peaceful.
“Shit!” Diesel’s tone broke Sasha’s blissful mood.
She looked up at the rearview mirror to see what had upset him. A pair of headlights were coming up to them—fast.
“It’ll just pass us,” Sasha said, confused as to why a speeding car would cause such a reaction on Diesel.
“No, it won’t,” he replied. “It’s Chastity.”
The red sports car blew past the pick-up truck, then veered back into their lane. The woman inside was pointing to the side of the road. Diesel pulled over.
“She’s a cop?” Sasha asked him.
Diesel didn’t answer her question. “Just wait here.” He got out of the vehicle.
Sasha couldn’t help but be curious about this woman. Who was she? How did she and Diesel know each other? She saw the two of them talking, and the redhead was so flirtatious, it was almost aggressive. Chastity kept smiling and grinning and laughing during the conversation, even though Diesel remained stone-faced. When Chastity punched Diesel in the arm, it really looked like it hurt.
Chastity looked over at the truck and saw Sasha staring. The redhead smiled. Then waved. Then proceeded to walk over to Sasha’s side of the vehicle.
Sasha didn’t move. Chastity tapped on the glass and motioned for her to roll down the window. Sasha didn’t know why, but she obeyed. The other woman poked her head inside the cab, her smile widening.
“Hi.” Chastity’s red hair hung about her face like a lion’s mane.
Sasha felt as though she were looking into the eyes of a wild animal, and her hair just exacerbated that feeling.
“Hi,” Sasha replied cautiously.
“I’m Chastity. You must be new in town.” She inhaled deeply. “Where did he find you?”
Her wording made Sasha wince. It sounded like Chastity was comparing her to a lost puppy or to a child who had gotten s
eparated from her caretakers. It was a similar feeling to the one she had felt after Nolan had dropped her off at Diesel’s shop.
“My car broke down—”
“Oh, so he’s your knight in shining armor?” Chastity made an exaggerated pouting face. “That’s so sweet.” She glanced over at Diesel, who hadn’t moved from his place next to Chastity’s car. “Well, I assume you’re on some sort of date, so I won’t keep you any longer. I just make a point—” Her eyes darted over Sasha’s body, “—to meet any new additions to the pack, personally.”
Chastity banged on the truck door twice, then she laughed once more before leaving.
Sasha gawked at her as she walked away. It was the second time she had heard a word related to dogs when someone talked about her: first, Ms. Henry referring to her as Diesel’s “mate” rather than “girlfriend” (which she wasn’t, anyway), and now Chastity calling her an “addition” to a pack?
What’s wrong with all these people? she wondered to herself.
5
Diesel apologized again when he said goodbye to Sasha that evening. Something felt wrong. It felt like he was lying to her about Chastity. Maybe she was his ex-girlfriend. Maybe she was his crazy ex-girlfriend. Or worse, ex-wife. Maybe they were still dating. Whatever it was made her uncomfortable. What did she mean by joining a pack? Were they in some kind of cult?
She wasn’t sure about trusting him. Grant Cutler had already made her look like a fool. Sasha didn’t want something like that to happen again.
At midnight, when the stars were just beginning to really shine, Sasha heard a scratch on her door. She lay still and listened for a moment. It happened again, and then it was followed by a whimper.
“A dog?” She got out of bed and looked through the peephole.
A black canine was outside her room, tilting its head as it pawed at the door. It was huge, bigger than a Great Pyrenees or even a Great Dane, but everything was bigger in Texas, so Sasha didn’t think about it much. She was more concerned about how lost the animal looked.
