But twenty minutes later, as he sat at Jerry’s Diner and had breakfast alone, he couldn’t quite relegate what had happened at the motel to the past. He felt cheated that she’d disappeared so quickly and kept wondering what she might have ordered at breakfast, what she might have said. Sipping his coffee, he remembered her head on his shoulder and her hand sliding possessively over his chest as they were falling asleep, and couldn’t help admitting that she really had left too soon.
LUCKY CLEARED HER THROAT to gain the attention of the dark-haired man sitting in the office of Booker T. and Son’s Automotive Repair.
He swiveled in his chair and looked up at her. He was on the phone and had a toddler in his lap, a little boy who’d been drawing on sheet after sheet of paper with a black marker. “Be right with you,” he said, patiently batting away the child’s attempt to scribble on his face.
She nodded and shifted her belongings. He directed the child’s hand to more paper before going back to his conversation.
“I can’t. The tow truck’s out already, Harvey. I sent Chase over to help Helen Dobbs get her Suburban out of the ditch ten minutes ago…Who knows?” He chuckled. “Drove right into it, I guess…But she’s lived next to that ditch for twenty years…You bet. I’ll call you when he gets back.” He hung up, capped the marker and stuck it in a cup with some pens before letting the little boy, who’d started agitating to get down, wriggle to the floor.
“Can I help you?” he said, unzipping his black leather jacket.
Lucky smiled, feeling awkward for appearing out of nowhere with such an unusual request. But Dundee, Idaho, didn’t have any taxis. “Cute kid,” she said to ease into the conversation. “Is he yours?”
“Yes. This is Troy. He’s helping me at work today because his mommy’s home feeling nauseous.”
“Looks like he knows his way around.”
Troy had already opened one of the desk drawers and was pulling out a big bag of sunflower seeds. “Seeds? Seeds, Daddy? Troy eat seeds?”
“Not right now. Your mother wasn’t too pleased when I let you get hold of them last time.” A sheepish expression stole over the man’s face. “He swallowed quite a few of the shells.” Taking the bag of seeds away, he set it up high, on a filing cabinet that already held a number of items that looked as though they’d been strategically placed out of reach of the child’s chubby hands.
“It’s nice that you own your own business and can help your wife out.” She watched Troy toddle through the office, searching for another distraction, and caught her breath when he headed straight for the space heater humming in the corner. Fortunately, his father intercepted him and turned him in the other direction before he could get too close.
“I like having Troy with me," he said.
“I won’t take up much of your time,” she said. “I was just wondering if you might know someone I could hire to give me a ride out to White Rock Road.”
He stood and glanced out the front window, and she knew he was looking for her car. “Are you broken down somewhere or—”
She explained about the storm and getting stuck and how she’d had to catch a ride into town because she didn’t have any food, water or heat.
“But White Rock Road…The only thing out there is High Hill Ranch.”
Mike’s ranch…But Lucky wasn’t going to think of Mike. Last night had been too overwhelming to even try to catalogue it emotionally. She’d felt closer to him than anyone else in her whole life and knew she’d always treasure the memory, but last night was over. Now she had to get back to real life. “Actually there’s a house next door. I own it.”
His eyebrows lifted. “That must make you Red Caldwell’s daughter.”
Obviously she was so notorious that even this complete stranger had heard of her. “Yes, well, no matter what you’ve been told about me, I don’t cavort with the devil, chant incantations over a bubbling cauldron or fly on a broomstick at night.”
His lips twisted into a wry grin. “That’s too bad.”
“Why?”
“I like a good hell-raiser.”
His comment caught her off guard, and she chuckled. “You’re not among the self-righteous?”
“There’s never been anything righteous about me. Ask anyone.” He offered her his hand. “I’m Booker Robinson.”
From the way he treated his son and—she guessed—his wife, she doubted Booker was half as bad as he made himself sound. Still, she appreciated his efforts to make her comfortable and liked him instantly.
“Where were you six years ago?” she muttered. “I might’ve been able to stand this place.”
He stopped his son from climbing into the trash. “I think I was just getting out of prison.”
Another surprise. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I did some dumb things when I was younger. Fortunately, I’ve learned what’s truly important in life.”
His eyes followed Troy, and she knew what he held dear. “A real education sometimes takes a while.”
He shoved his dark hair out of his eyes. “Exactly.”
“What made you settle in Dundee?”
“My grandmother used to live here, and—” he seemed to consider his surroundings “—somehow it’s home.”
Maybe someday she’d find a home, too—but it wasn’t in all the cities she’d traveled to so far, and it most certainly wasn’t here.
With a quick movement, he scooped Troy into his arms and grabbed a set of keys off a hook near the door. “Let me tell Delbert I’m leaving. I’ll give you a ride myself.”
Lucky raised a hand to stop him. “I can’t go home just yet. I need to make a few calls and buy some groceries.”
“So you’re going to Finley’s?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s several blocks from here.”
“I don’t mind the walk. I only stopped in because your business is one of the few that’s open today, and I didn’t want to miss you if you decided to close early.”
“I see. Well, you said you needed to make some calls. Why don’t you use my phone while I talk to Delbert? We’ll stop by Finley’s on the way to your place.” He waved her past him to the desk, then stuck his head into the garage and hollered, “Delbert, can you come here for a second? I’m going to need you to watch the office.”