by Lee Kilraine
“College.” He forced his gaze from her delicate foot with bright red nail polish. “I developed an RPG game as my master’s thesis.”
Her muscles slackened and her eyelids fluttered. “RPG? Wait, a role-playing game, right?”
“Right.”
“I have questions about that, but I’m falling asleep, I think.” She ended with an indelicate yawn.
“Okay. I’ll be back in two more hours.”
“I feel bad. I’m pretty sure I’m getting more sleep than you are.”
“I don’t need much sleep. Ring if you need anything.” He nodded, clicked off the bedside light, and headed out of the room.
“Hey, Kaz, what time is it?”
“Just after midnight.”
“Happy birthday.”
“You remembered that? I’d even forgotten. Thanks.”
* * *
The next three days passed in a blur of sleep interrupted by hours of boredom. Doc stopped in to check on her once and reminded Mama Cates and Kaz of his directive: no television, no computer, no texting, and no loud noise. Doc said the less stimulation for a brain over the first forty-eight hours after a concussion, the fewer residual effects down the road.
Easier said than done. Mira wasn’t much for doing nothing. When she wasn’t working she enjoyed hanging out with friends. Well, she used to. She also read a lot. Sci-fi and space operas were her weakness. She’d never had the attention span for TV because her brain was constantly distracted.
Due to her headache and body aches, the first day was a much appreciated day of rest. Especially after being woken up every two hours by Kaz the night before.
On the second day she saw her phone on the dresser and the one missed call from her sister. She’d thought to call while she was being stitched up, but the next few hours after that had been just a hazy memory. Mira hadn’t told her sister about her problems with Ivan yet because she hadn’t wanted to worry her. A simple “we wanted different things so we broke up” had sufficed when she’d asked.
Older by five years, Vivian had taken on some of the mothering duties after their father died, when Mira was in the fifth grade and their mother had gone back to work. It couldn’t have been fun for her sister, let alone easy. Heck, Vi had only been sixteen herself. So whenever she could, Mira made sure she didn’t give her sister anything else to worry about. As far as Vivian knew, Mira was simply bored with accounting and had been flitting around, trying new jobs and new places while she was still young and unencumbered.
Picking up the phone, Mira called her sister.
“Hey, it’s me.” She lay in bed in the dark room, staring up at the ceiling. “Is it that late? I’m sorry, Vi, but I missed our usual call and didn’t want you to worry.”
Too late; she’d been worrying. It took a few minutes to explain the car accident and the concussion and then calming Vivian down until she believed Mira was fine. Her sister had happy news to share; she’d gotten a big promotion at work. With the promise to celebrate the next time they were together, Mira ended the call. And went back to staring up at the ceiling again. Feeling happy for her sister eased some of the built-up stress from her life lately.
No. She couldn’t start worrying. That had to be very bad for her bruised brain, so she forced her mind to empty and finally fell asleep.
By day three it became next to impossible to empty her mind, relax, and do nothing. When she complained to Kaz about it, he talked her through a meditation technique. As she lay stretched out on the bed, he had her imagine herself lying on a sandy beach at the edge of the ocean.
“Empty your mind and feel the warmth of the sand beneath you seep into your muscles. Hear the sound of the waves as they lap gently at your toes only to recede in soft waves. Each wave brings the warm ocean water further up your body. To your ankles. Your calves. Your knees. Your hips.”
Kaz’s deep voice, sensual and sexy, had her thinking of hot, tangled embraces on the beach followed by melting, languid kisses. His warm hands stroking up her naked, sun-kissed skin. Mira squirmed as delicious heat hit her body. So much for relaxing.
She forced her brain to push the image of his firm hands away from her body and cool her hot thoughts with the lapping waves of the ocean. Waves to her calves . . . her knees . . . her hips . . .
“Relax those muscles and let the water soothe you. Empty your mind as you relax and become one with the ocean and the sand . . .”
The next thing she remembered was waking up when Cecelia knocked on the door, poking her head in with a smile.
“You made it. Three days of rest and relaxation. How do you feel?”
“Bored but pretty good. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Goodness, it was no work at all.” She moved into the room and placed a stack of folded clothes on the foot of the bed. “My daughter-in-law Avery dropped by with some clothes for you. I thought you might want something else to change into and Avery’s about your size. Come on out to the kitchen for lunch, and then Kaz said he’d be by to take you over to the garage. He figured you’d be anxious to check on your car.”
She really was. The car made finding a job easier, which, sadly, was at the top of her to-do list again. How much damage could one ornery bull do anyway? Hopefully, in the three days she’d been resting in the dark, her car had been fixed and was ready to go. She’d get back to her small apartment in Greensboro and then figure out her next step because this one had been a bust.
After changing into the borrowed clothes, jeans, and a soft button-up blouse, she went and found Cecelia in the kitchen. The bright sunlight streaming in through the windows took adjusting to after three days of living the life of a vampire.
Chapter Five
Kaz’s parents were setting out lunch. His father, Seamus Cates, was tall and big-boned and had offered her a friendly hello on the second day. Although at the moment he stood frowning down at the table.
“Mira!” He smiled across the room at her. “Good to see you up and looking better. The last time I saw you, you looked like someone was trying to pound a nail through your head.”
“It felt like it too, but I feel great. No headache. No more sore neck or muscles. The only negative thing is, with all the sleeping and lying around I did, I think I put on a pound or two from all Cecelia’s wonderful cooking.”
“Right.” Seamus frowned back down at the table.
“Mira, we’re happy to have you join us finally.” Cecelia carried a platter over from the oven, placing it on the table with a beaming smile. “I mixed up my famous meat loaf for the occasion.”
Kaz had said something about his mother’s meat loaf . . . what had that been? She closed an eye and tried to recall his words. Do yourself a favor and tell her you’re allergic to meat loaf if she offers it. Had he been serious?
Her gaze rose and locked with Seamus’s, and if ever a pair of eyes said Run for your life! it was his. There was no way after the wonderful care Cecelia had treated her to that she wanted to risk hurting her feelings. So she pulled out the chair even as Seamus shook his head vigorously from side to side.
She shook her head back, unwilling to insult Cecelia and sat while Seamus’s eyes went wide. He grimaced and sat down slowly himself, the way one would picture a man sidling up to a plate of braised spiders.
“It’s absolutely amazing how far we’ve come in treating head trauma.” Cecelia dished up meat loaf, scalloped potatoes, and broccoli onto plates, passing them to both Mira and Seamus. “There was a time when football players would go right back into a game as soon as they stopped seeing double. Oh, eat up, you two. Don’t wait on me. I forgot the rolls.”
She got up from the table to retrieve them, leaving Seamus and Mira staring at each other across the table. She smiled a tentative smile, but his frown deepened. What? There was no way the meat loaf could be that bad.
Mira picked up her fork and sliced into the meat loaf with the side of it. She smiled again at Seamus’s raised eyebrows and ate the bite.
&
nbsp; It was that bad. Closing her eyes, she chewed methodically, swallowing as quickly as humanly possible and following it up with a few generous gulps of water.
“Gravy?” Seamus lifted the gravy boat up in offering to her.
“Does it help?” she whispered.
He grimaced. “Not so much.”
“Here you go.” Cecelia returned to the table with a basket of crescent rolls and the butter dish and turned her sweet expression on Mira. “Did you try the meat loaf? How is it?”
Mira took another bite rather than have to lie. She chewed as enthusiastically as she could, nodding over at Cecelia, forcing her lips to turn upward and raising a thumb up in the air. “Mmm-hmmm.”
She looked across at Seamus, who stared at her while he ate grudgingly as his eyes watered. When the phone on the small desk next to the refrigerator rang, Seamus jumped up to answer it. A minute later he hung up and turned back.
“Mira, I’m afraid you’ve got to go. That was Kaz. He’s out front ready to take you over to the garage to see about your car.”
“Well, tell him to come in and eat with us first,” Cecelia said, placing a roll on her husband’s plate.
Shaking his head, Seamus tried to get Mira moving. “No. Kaz said they need to get there before Cooter closed for lunch.”
“Since when did Cooter start closing the garage for lunch?”
He cleared his throat. “Today. Must be a new thing he’s trying.”
Two honks from outside the house were timed perfectly as Cecelia said, “Goodness, I guess you’d better hurry, Mira. I’ll save your plate for later.”
“Unless you decide to become a vegetarian this afternoon. I hear the younger generation is embracing the whole no-meat lifestyle.” Seamus gave Mira a pointed look before digging back into his food.
“Tell Kaz there’s plenty for him too if it doesn’t take long at the garage.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be sure to tell him.” Mira smiled her thanks and escaped while she could. It was possible she jogged out of the house.
Kaz stood leaning up against the passenger side of his truck waiting for her. He took one look at her face and shook his head. “You ate the meat loaf, didn’t you?”
Just the reminder was painful as she relived the two bites. “I didn’t want to hurt your mom’s feelings.”
Opening the door for her to get in, he let his gaze examine her face before shutting the door and moving around to the other side. He slid behind the wheel, clicked his seat belt, and fired up the engine before speaking. “I thought I told you to tell her you were allergic.”
“I just figured how bad can someone mess up meat loaf?”
“My brothers and I love our ma, but she’s been messing up meat loaf our whole lives. None of us go to Mom and Dad’s house on meat loaf night. Ever. You should have trusted me.”
She frowned and stared out her window. Not likely. Not for her. “I feel bad for leaving your dad behind.”
“Don’t feel bad for him. We get him out of the house on most meat loaf nights. Feel bad for the dog and cat. He’s going to feed them his meat loaf when Ma isn’t looking.” Kaz grinned over at her. “How are you feeling today?”
“Good. Thanks to you and your mom, all my aches and pains are gone. I’m ready to pick up my car and head back to Greensboro.” Mira’s stomach clenched at the thought. She’d been living the life of a near loner for months now and it had been nice to share conversation and meals with nice people again. Living life on the run had been frustratingly lonely.
“About that . . .” Kaz cleared his throat. “I’ll let Cooter explain all the details, but basically, your car isn’t drivable yet.”
Not having her car left her feeling vulnerable and threw her heartbeat into a rapid cadence. She gave a short tug on her seat belt strap as a jolt flashed out to all the nerve endings in her limbs. She had to steel herself to sit calmly even though her heart raced like she was being whipped through the pretzel loop on the Manta roller coaster.
Inhaling a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let numbers run through her mind until they soothed her, as they always did. Numbers were a known quantity for her. A safe place to escape where things felt predictable. Numbers soothed her when she was stressed. She used to count herself to sleep when she was younger, which morphed into solving equations as she got older. She couldn’t remember a time when numbers weren’t her refuge.
“Hey, you okay? Mira?”
Mira refocused on the now and turned to find Kaz’s warm brown eyes studying her. “Sure. I’m good, just figuring out my options. Someone recently told me there are always options.”
Kaz winked over at her as he pulled the truck into the garage’s small side parking lot. That was when Mira got her first view of her car. “Madre mía. How much does that bull weigh?”
“A lot. About the same as your car.”
And the hits just kept on coming. Talk about a run of bad luck. Okay, well, no sense in being negative until she’d talked with the mechanic. Things often looked worse than they were. Darkest before the dawn and all that.
She jumped down from Kaz’s truck and walked over to her car and around it. It wasn’t totaled so much as beat up. Crumpled even. Looking at the damage, she’d forgotten that the bull had come at her twice. Like a warning volley before the full hit, but her car had stalled out after the warning and she’d had only a second to brace for the impact as the bull scraped his hoof in the ground and aimed straight and true.
The mechanic joined them, rubbing grease off his hands with a rag before stretching one out to her. “Are you the driver who faced off with Pisser and lived to talk about it?”
“I’m the lucky girl. I’m hoping you’re about to tell me it looks worse than it is.” Mira raised her eyebrows at him.
“It’s actually not too bad. The problem is, your car is pretty old, so finding replacement parts is taking longer. There’s some undercarriage damage that I can start on today. She actually held up pretty well to a one-ton bull. Glad to see you’re okay.”
“Me too. Now that I’ve seen the damage.” The passenger side where the bull had hit looked like a crushed soda can.
“Yeah, that’s the problem with some of these older cars—no side air bags. That would have helped because it looks like your head hit the side window. Guessing your shoulder and arm took a hit too.”
“Yes, they did. Any idea when she’ll be ready to drive?”
“Depends on how long it takes me to find the new front fender and passenger side door. I found a hood over in Pixie County and they’re sending it out this afternoon. I don’t know, maybe a week?”
A week? She wasn’t sure her wallet could take it. She’d been living payday to payday for a few months now. Paying cash for her car had wiped out the small nest egg she’d built up from working. She’d need to sit down and see how much cash she had left from the money Kaz and his brother had given her. It would have to stretch to pay for food and then gas to get back to Greensboro.
Kaz reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Hey, remember McClatchy is covering your medical, car, and a hotel—so try not to worry.”
“Right. That’s very nice of him.” She was embarrassed to admit even with all that covered, it didn’t leave her out of the woods. Eating something was high on her list. And even though she’d learned to make her money stretch, it was still a concern. No way was she asking Vi for money. Her sister had helped her out too much already over the years. And Gwen had already gone above and beyond for her, letting her camp out on her couch for a month.
Sadly, she wasn’t above begging Monty for her job back. If that didn’t work, she’d simply find a new job. Heck, she’d found and been hired for four jobs in the last year. She was excellent at getting jobs. It was keeping them that was the problem. Positive thoughts!
“Why don’t I call you this afternoon?” Cooter lifted his ball cap off his head and swiped at his forehead before resettling it. “I’ll know if I’ve located the parts and have a bet
ter idea of when she’ll be ready.”
“Yes, that works. Except I think my phone is still at the Cates’s house.” Mira didn’t give her phone number out to anyone, but to be honest, she’d fled the meat loaf lunch so quickly she hadn’t even thought to grab her phone. “So maybe call Kaz instead.”
“That’ll work.” Kaz nodded to Cooter, and then the mechanic disappeared back into the shadow of the garage bay.
Mira sighed. “A week? I need to grab a few things from my car, then, while we’re here. Do you think you could drive me to that hotel Mr. McClatchy is going to hook me up with?”
“Sure, but you know you can stay at my parents’ house. You don’t need to move to the hotel.” Kaz stepped around to the back of her car with her and opened the hatchback. It slowly rose to reveal her collection of packing cartons.
Mira played it cool, ignoring the boxes crammed into the back of her car even if it was hard to look at them without cringing. Who would have thought her former life could be squeezed into five boxes? She’d brought as much of her business wardrobe with her as she could fit. She couldn’t stay out of accounting for too long or it would be hard to explain away on her résumé.
Five boxes. How sad was that? Although Kaz didn’t know that everything she cared about was packed into those five boxes. One box of childhood memories: school papers, mathlete of the year certificates, family photos. Three boxes of smart-looking, knockoff brand suits for her former life as a CPA, and a box of accounting textbooks. The books she’d packed for both reference and nostalgia looked more and more like something she could sell to a used bookstore for quick cash.
Yep, she was doing things in survival mode that she’d never in a million years thought she’d do. She now had a clearer understanding and even more sympathy for how quickly someone could end up homeless and broke. Not that she was that bad yet, but it would only take one more stroke of bad luck.
A small grin flirted on Kaz’s lips. “The meat loaf scared you, didn’t it?”