Too Hot to Handle

by Jennifer Bernard

  Since her revelation at the high school about her true feelings for Kevin, it had become harder to act footloose and carefree—but she was managing. Spending time with him was still so much better than not spending time with him.

  She stared at the words on her phone in disbelief. Teenage Titanic? Talk ASAP? Sorry?

  Travis had done the same thing. She remembered every letter of his breakup text. Not hard, when there were so few of them. Sorry babe gotta move on. U kno how it is. C U at school.

  Oh my God. Kevin was breaking up with her. Chills ran up and down her skin. No. He wouldn’t break things off so casually. Not Kevin. Not after how close they’d become. That would be a dick move. A Travis Drake move. The exact same thing Travis had done.

  Kevin O’Donnell—honorable, kind, strong, good-guy Kevin—would not break up with her via a text.

  Okay, he hadn’t broken up with her. But he’d scheduled a breakup. She could read between the lines perfectly well. A guy didn’t say “sorry” unless there was a good reason. And the Teenage Titanic? Hundreds of people died when the Titanic sank. That did not bode well for their relationship.

  Which had been doomed from the beginning anyway, right? They’d always known it was just a “thing.” A thing that wasn’t supposed to mean anything other than hot times in bed and a few beers at Barstow’s. Strip Monopoly and screaming orgasms. End of story.

  With her stomach caving in like a sinkhole, she looked around the Knight and Day hangar, empty of rigs other than Brianna’s truck. All the planes were out on the tarmac or in service on this gloriously sunny Sunday. The door stood open to let in the scent of the wildflowers blooming in the meadows surrounding the airstrip. That fragrance mingled with diesel and concrete to create something very much like her idea of paradise.

  Except right now, it felt like a prison.

  Kevin was “breaking up” with her. Except they weren’t even really together. Which somehow made it even worse.

  What would it be like when she and Kevin were both here at the same time? He probably figured they’d go back to how they were—friends who handed each other wrenches. No skin off his nose. Because he had no idea how far she’d fallen, and how fast.

  She hadn’t even known. Until this moment. Or maybe at the high school with Deirdre. Or the day they’d gone to bed together. Or the first time they’d really kissed.

  Face it, she’d known how much she was falling for Kevin. This wasn’t his fault. This was on her.

  She had to pull up her big girl panties and let it go. Most importantly, she couldn’t let him know how crushed she felt. Because that would ruin everything.

  No worries, she texted back. I’m taking this week off, maybe see you in a while.

  That would get the message across. No need to “talk ASAP.” She got it. They were through. He had a teenager to tend to, and that came first.

  She’d take a week to recover and then move on. A spontaneous vacation. Why not? That was what she did, right? She ran. She got the hell out of Dodge.

  The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of a getaway. She’d fly down to Mexico and lie on the beach for a week, drink margaritas and avoid jalapeños. Maybe she’d try surfing. Maybe she’d hook up with a surfer. There was no reason not to, considering that she and Kevin didn’t have any sort of official relationship. Especially now that they’d hit the Teenage Titanic.

  Her phone pinged. A week off? I’m jealous. Where are you going?

  The beach, was all she answered. A heavy, hard lump was forming in her chest. A vacation getaway would be about a thousand million times more fun with Kevin. Did she really want to be lying on a beach alone?

  Maybe she could invite someone along. Someone who might also need a break.

  She sat down on the workbench and dialed her mother. For weeks, she’d been respecting Mom’s wish for some space. But this was an emergency. Her heart was crumbling and she needed some moral support.

  “I was just thinking about you, chickadee.” She’d never heard her mother sound so chipper. “I’m so happy you called.”

  “Really?” Cassie asked cautiously. “Any reason in particular?”

  “Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I happened to hear through the grapevine that you might have a man in your life. A very solid, attractive, trustworthy man, someone your brothers rave about. And I’m feeling pretty smart right now. This is exactly what I hoped would happen.”

  “Excuse me?” Cassie scuffed her work boot against a stain of motor oil on the floor. “What are you talking about?”

  “I had a bit of a master plan.” Pure glee rang in Mom’s voice. “I saw how you and Kevin looked at each other at Ben’s engagement party. I wanted you to feel free to start a relationship without me around. That’s why I jumped at Priscilla’s offer of the guesthouse, when I was at the Urgent Care. And it all worked out exactly as I planned. Finally I was able to do something for you, after all you’ve done for me.”

  “Oh Mom.” Her throat closed up and she couldn’t get anything else to come out for a moment. “Don’t think of it like that, please.”

  “I’m facing facts, and it’s the truth,” Janine said firmly. “You’re living your life now, and I’m so proud of you. Everyone’s talking about Knights and Ladies Auto Repair. So proud. And quite frankly, I’m proud of myself too. I knew as soon as I laid eyes on Kevin that he’d be good for you.”

  Cassie couldn’t bring herself to burst her mother’s bubble. “You’re amazing, Mom.”

  “I’ll see you soon, okay? I want to have you and your brothers over for dinner. For now, Will wants me to lay low. Personally, I think that horrible man is long gone. Why would he stay around here when he knows so many people are looking for him?”

  There were so many things Cassie wanted to say right now. You should have told me about those letters. Oh, and Kevin just broke up with me in a text. I’m all alone again. Even more alone, because you’re fine without me.

  She said none of those things. Mom sounded so happy. Let it be.

  “I’m sure you’re right. See you soon, Mom. Love you.”

  “Love you too, chickadee.”

  Eyes blurred with tears, Cassie ended the call and opened her travel app. Flights to Cabo San Lucas were on sale. Not that the price mattered. She’d pay anything to skip town right now. She purchased a one-way ticket that left late Monday morning. Not that she didn’t intend to come back. Of course she was coming back. Her mother was here, all her brothers, her new shop, her old friends, her new friends, her new mission to teach girls how to check their oil and survive high school.

  She just needed a little time to cure herself of this inconvenient broken heart. Then she’d be back to her old fun-loving, lighthearted, carefree self. She’d put all this serious stuff behind her and never, ever go there again. The light side of life, that was where she belonged. The sunny side of the street. The side where they served rum drinks with little umbrellas.

  She felt better as soon as the plane cleared the runway. No wonder Ben loved flying so much. It was such a perfect way to escape, to rise above your worries and float on a layer of clouds for a while. Ben or Tobias probably would have flown her to Mexico if she’d asked. Their little planes could make it to Cabo with only one refueling stop.

  But that would have required an explanation, and conversation, and she just couldn’t handle that. A commercial flight was just fine by her. She’d tossed a bikini, suntan lotion, a couple sundresses and some cutoffs in her backpack and she was good to go.

  She gazed out the window, mentally counting the miles between her and Jupiter Point. Two hundred, three hundred. How were Kevin and Holly doing today? Had they gotten through their rough patch, whatever it was? Had Kevin put his daughter’s mind at ease that Cassie was no threat to her?

  Had it been difficult for Kevin to write her off or had it come easy?

  It’s nothing to get upset about, Holls. I didn’t break my promise. Cassie and I are just hanging out. Nothing more. We
’ll never be a real couple. Our family won’t change. You can bank on that.

  She shifted in her seat, drawing a glance from the businessman in the seat next to her, who was clicking away on his laptop.

  Cassie isn’t the family type anyway. She’s more like the girl next door. Not someone you fall in love with. Too much of a tomboy. She’s the type you have fun with, but it never goes further than that.

  Ugh. Now she was putting words in Kevin’s mouth. Kevin would never say anything like that.

  But would he think it?

  Was that the real reason he hadn’t wanted to get more deeply involved? Because he knew he’d never have those feelings for her?

  Unbearably restless, she reached up and pressed the call button. Why wait for the beach to start downing rum? She could use some right now.

  “A margarita, please,” she told the attendant, who wore a bright red blouse and a judgmental expression.

  “Sorry, we haven’t reached the alcohol altitude yet.”

  “Ah.” The alcohol altitude. That was a thing? “Well, as soon as we reach the proper altitude, please bring me a margarita.”

  The businessman closed his computer and looked her over. “Nervous flyer?”

  “No.” She shifted, giving him her shoulder. She didn’t like how he was eyeing her, his gaze lingering on her legs. Shouldn’t there be rules about not hitting on the passenger trapped in the seat next to you? “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine. I take that back. You look plenty fine.”

  Ugh. Seriously? She knew how to brush guys off, but it was hard to do gracefully when you were just beginning a flight. Ignoring the compliment, she reached for her headphones—the large ones, not the earbuds. The ones that said, “I can’t hear you and I don’t want to.”

  “Because I know the perfect way to take your mind off that turbulence,” he said before she could snap them over her ears. He shot a glance loaded with insinuation in the direction of the bathrooms.

  She wrinkled her forehead at him. Could he possibly mean… “You’d better be talking about Sudoku or something like that.”

  “Uh, no.” He shrugged. “But you can’t blame a guy for taking a shot.”

  “Sure I can. That was rude and offensive.”

  Of all things, he looked offended. “Maybe it won’t seem that way after that margarita you ordered.”

  At this rate, she might dump the damn margarita in his lap. “This might be news to you, Stranger in Seat 14B, but a woman has the right to order a drink without getting hit on. Oh, and another thing you should know is that I’m a mechanic by profession, which means I have a steel grip and extensive knowledge of tools and how to use them. So I suggest you leave me alone for the rest of this flight.”

  He drew away from her with a stunned expression. “Yeah, no problem there. Jesus.”

  A woman’s head popped up over the seat in front of them. The young blond woman, grinning from ear to ear, gave her a thumbs-up. “Nicely done.”

  The man gave a nasty growl and unfastened his seat belt so he could stomp down the aisle—to change seats, if she was lucky.

  Cassie stared out the window. Why were men like this? No, she corrected. Some men. Not all. Kevin, for instance, would never be so crass. She knew that because she’d met him in a bar and even though they’d been attracted to each other, he’d never made her feel uncomfortable, never crossed any lines. Flirting with Kevin had been like everything else with Kevin—pure joy. He’d made her feel appreciated, respected…seen. Not for her body, or her boobs, or her hair, but for herself.

  And she was running away without even putting up a fight.

  What would happen if she told him that she loved him? That her feelings were much more than casual? That they were deep and very possibly permanent?

  But she couldn’t tell him, because that would make it harder for him with respect to Holly. She had to keep it to herself. And with the help of a margarita or two, and some time on a beach in Baja, that was exactly what she’d do.

  Well, not exactly, as it turned out. As soon as the plane landed in Los Angeles, she turned on her phone, since it would be her last chance to check it before she had to pay international roaming charges. Her connecting flight left in half an hour, so she loped to the next terminal as her phone searched for a signal.

  A voicemail flashed on the screen—unknown number with a Jupiter Point area code. Delete.

  Her thumb was poised over the message, ready to get rid of it, but then she remembered that she’d given her phone number to the kids at school. What if someone was actually taking her up on that offer?

  So she played the message.

  “Hi Cassie, you said it would be okay to call you, so I am. This is Holly O’Donnell. I’d really like to talk to you about something. I can’t tell my dad, he’d freak out. Can you please call me back? You’re the only one I can think to call. Also, could you please call as soon as possible? I just…I don’t really know what to do. You can call this number but whatever you do, don’t call my dad yet.”

  Cassie stopped dead in her tracks, causing someone walking behind her to bump into her. Of all the throngs of people around, of course it had to be the nasty businessman from the flight.

  “Change your mind?” he said with a leer as he steadied her.

  “Never,” she told him with a sunny smile. “Have a nice day!”

  He rolled his eyes and hurried on past. She stepped out of the flow of passengers heading to and from their flights and clicked the callback button.

  No answer, but Holly’s outgoing message played. “Hi, it’s Holly, please leave a message because it’s super-annoying when people don’t.”

  “Hi Holly, it’s Cassie. I got your message, please call back as soon as you can. I only have— That is…anyway, call soon.” In half an hour, she’d be on an AeroMexico plane, out of reach for several hours.

  She worried her bottom lip, sorting through options. What if Holly called when she was in the air? What if she needed some kind of urgent help and Cassie was in a foreign country, too far away to do anything? Or what if it was nothing—some random opinion about the last season of The 100?

  Crap.

  But it hadn’t sounded random. It had sounded urgent. And Kevin had referred to the Teenage Titanic. That sounded serious.

  What if Holly had already sorted out the problem and didn’t need Cassie anymore, so she wasn’t answering her phone? Or what if she wasn’t answering because things had gotten even worse? Should she contact Kevin and give him a head’s up that Holly had reached out? Even though Holly had asked her not to?

  Crap!

  Keep going toward that margarita on the beach? Or wait to find out what Holly needed?

  She was a runner, that was what she did, right? Then she remembered Will’s comment. A tumbleweed is something that drifts with the wind. You’ve always had a purpose. Damn it. Maybe her brother had a point.

  She hurried to the AeroMexico counter and cancelled the rest of her flight. No way could she leave the country right now.

  Then she called Ben.

  “Any way you can pick me up? It’s kind of an emergency.”

  “Sure thing. Lancelot isn’t booked this afternoon.” Cassie rolled her eyes at their pet name for the oldest Cessna in their fleet. “Where you at?”

  “LAX.”

  “LAX? What the hell, Cassie? You were skipping town on us?”

  “It’s not like that.” Well, it kind of was. Actually, it totally was. Except she was skipping town on Kevin, not the rest of her family. “I’ll explain, I promise. Can you come snag me? I’d kind of like to get back as soon as possible.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there. Flying to LA is a bitch, though, so you owe me, kid.”

  “I know. And I really appreciate this.”

  “On my way. I’ll file the flight plan and get an ETA in a few.”

  Another call flashed on her screen. Holly. Finally.

  “You’re the bomb-diggity, Ben. Thank you. I
have to go, just call me when you land.”

  “Love you, kid.”

  Her heart swelled at those words, at his familiar voice, at the thought that her brothers were there for her.

  Maybe she wasn’t alone after all.

  She clicked over to the other call. “Hi Holly.”

  “Hi Cassie. I’m sorry to bother you like this, I know this is like, totally out of the blue. I hope I’m not interrupting you or anything.”

  Oh no, just putting a major crimp in a beach getaway. “Absolutely not. I’m glad you called. What’s going on?”

  “Well, it’s kind of awkward…is there any way we could meet somewhere? It’d be easier to talk in person.”

  Cassie didn’t want Holly to know she was canceling a trip to Mexico for her sake. No guilt trips. “Sure, but I’m actually tied up until a couple of hours from now. Will that be okay? If it’s something really urgent, we can talk right now.”

  “No no, that’s fine,” Holly said quickly. “Where’s the best place to meet you?”

  “Well, I’m going to be at the Knight and Day airstrip in about three hours, and I can meet you anywhere after that.”

  “Oh, I know! Do you know those sandy dunes below the airstrip? Can we meet there? I’ll ride my bike out there.”

  “Are you sure? What about in town somewhere, say the Milky Way maybe?”

  “No, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone overhearing. This will be perfect. I love that spot anyway, it’s one of my favorite places in Jupiter Point. My sixth period class is gym, and a bike ride is a lot better than dodgeball or whatever we’re doing. I’ll tell my teacher, she’ll be totally fine with it.”

  “All right, then.” Jeez, she hadn’t even thought about school obligations. Good thing Holly was such a responsible kid. “I’ll see you soon.” She hesitated, then came out with it. “One thing, though, Holly. Are you sure you don’t want to tell your dad?”