Erin almost said no. But she needed to unwind before she went home. If she walked through the door in her present emotional state, her father would ask her what was wrong, and she wouldn’t know what to tell him. The Burger Shack was usually crowded at this hour. They might even meet some friends. It would be a good place for them both to cool down. Maybe that was the reason Kyle had suggested it. He wasn’t a bad person, Erin reminded herself. He could be sweet and thoughtful. Maybe that was why it was going to hurt when she gave him her final answer.
Inside the Burger Shack, they found a birthday party for a middle schooler going on. Surrounded by noise, they ordered root beer floats and drank them at the bar. Kyle leaned close to Erin’s ear. “When you have your twenty-first birthday, we’re going to celebrate with Coronas at the Blue Coyote. No more damned kid parties.”
Erin smiled and nodded, wondering where she’d really be and with whom when she turned twenty-one. She wasn’t looking forward to the ride home. It would be all too easy to put Kyle off, but in the end, it would only be cruel.
The distance from Blanco Springs to the Rimrock was a little less than twenty miles. The ride home wouldn’t be a long one. As Kyle drove out of the parking lot, onto Main Street, Erin steeled herself and cleared her throat.
“I have my answer t
o your proposal,” she said.
He glanced at her with an expectant grin. “After that kiss, it had better be yes,” he said.
“I’m afraid it isn’t. Kyle, I’m still growing up. Right now, I don’t even know who I am. I’m not ready to get engaged, let alone get married. And I don’t want you to wait for me. My final answer is no.”
Kyle didn’t reply, but the stomp of his foot on the gas pedal spoke for him. The SUV shot down Main Street, breaking speed limits and running a red light. Luckily, the evening traffic was sparse, and the local sheriff was busy elsewhere.
Kyle didn’t speak until they’d turned onto the highway. “I thought you loved me,” he said. “That kiss—”
“That kiss was a test, to make sure. And now I know. I’m fond of you, Kyle. You’re a good man. But I’m not in love with you.”
“So I take it you didn’t hear bells or see shooting stars. Is that so important? We’re good together. We want the same things. That’s what matters.”
When Erin didn’t answer, he gripped the wheel tighter and pressed down on the gas. The speedometer needle swung up to seventy miles an hour, a dangerous speed on the narrow, two-lane highway where farm rigs and wandering animals could appear out of nowhere.
Erin touched his arm. “Slow down. You’re scaring me.”
Kyle ignored her plea. “Is there somebody else, Erin?” he demanded. “Is that what’s changed your mind?”
“Of course not. I just realized I wasn’t ready.”
“What about that hired man you were with when I came over the other day? I saw the way he was looking at you. If that bastard has laid a hand on you—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not even—Look out!”
Erin screamed as a cow lunged out of the grassy bar ditch. Its face flashed stark white in the SUV’s headlights. Kyle wrenched the wheel hard left. Brakes screeched as the vehicle shot across the road and jumped the ditch on the far side. The airbags deployed with an explosive hiss as the SUV crashed into the post of a barbed wire fence.
As the shock wore off, Erin’s anxious gaze found Kyle. He was moving and appeared to be all right. Cautiously she tested her limbs, flexing her hands and feet, shifting her back and shoulders. Except for some soreness from the air bag and a painful bruise where the shoulder strap had pulled across her chest, she seemed unhurt.
“Are you all right?” she asked Kyle in a shaky voice.
“I think so.” He gazed through the windshield at the vehicle’s crumpled hood. “Wow, that was close! My dad’s going to kill me when he sees the car.”
Relief swept over her, swiftly followed by a tide of white-hot anger. “You’re worried about the car? We could have been killed, Kyle! You were driving like a crazy man!”
“Well, you made me crazy. If I thought you’d meant it when you said you wouldn’t marry me, I’d have been even crazier. This wreck is as much your fault as mine.” He turned the key in the ignition. The engine caught and started on the first try. “If the wheels aren’t stuck, I should be able to get us out of here.” Shifting into reverse, he backed away from the fence. The wheels made a grinding sound, but by backing and filling, he was able to make progress. The ranch was more than ten miles away. If Erin hadn’t left her cell phone at home, she might have called her father to come and get her. As it was, she had little choice except to stay.
Luckily, the damage to the vehicle’s front end didn’t affect its operation. After several tries and some choice curses, Kyle was able to pull back onto the road. There was no sign of the cow. Erin could only hope the animal had made a safe escape.
“Don’t worry, Erin.” Kyle reached over and patted her knee. “You’ll feel differently about all this in the morning.”
“Don’t touch me. Don’t even talk.”
Erin sat in stony silence as Kyle drove her back to the Rimrock. She’d assumed that she knew him. But tonight he’d shown her a different side of himself—angry and reckless, with no regard for her safety or even for his own.
What if they’d been married, with their children in the car? He could have killed them all.
If she’d had any doubts about not marrying Kyle, those doubts were gone.