He rummaged in his drawer and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. “Just for this headache to go away.”
I grabbed a bottle of cold water from the small fridge he had in his office and handed it to him. He accepted it and took the pills, swallowing them down with the water. I pulled the ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a rag, then pressed it to his neck. He startled at the cold, then relaxed. “Thanks.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad enough. It started last night. I can’t seem to shake it.”
“Did running away from Michelle aggravate it?” I teased.
“She aggravated me to no end,” he replied. “I told Charly to put her way down on the list—I don’t want to see her back here for a long time, if ever. We’re not running these classes for that nonsense. The other women actually want to learn about their cars. They’re not here for a random hookup.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks for rescuing me.” He searched for my free hand, squeezing it. “I was going to come see you after, but this headache did me in.”
I felt relief at his words. “I missed you,” I confessed.
He tilted up his head. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I swallowed. “All weekend, actually. Are you upset with me?”
He was quiet before he replied. “No. Just a busy time—for both of us.”
“Okay.”
“Any feedback on your pictures?”
“Lots of good stuff. They’ll run in this week’s edition, plus another Local Heroes piece. And I picked up a couple more private gigs.”
“I guess soon enough you’ll be able to move back to Toronto,” he said, his voice flat. “Out of this small town.”
I moved the ice pack to the front, pulling his head back to my stomach as I pressed the ice pack to his skin. “No,” I replied. “I’m staying here for the time being.”
“Oh?” he asked after a moment. “I thought you were anxious to get back to Toronto. Any reason why?” His voice was mild, his eyes shut while he let the ice do its job.
“I still want to help Charly. And I have the work at the paper. I like the apartment. I have way more room there than I would get in Toronto.”
“Hmm,” he replied.
The phone rang, and I lifted his hand to hold the ice in place as I hurried to my office to answer it. In the doorway, I paused. “And one other reason,” I said.
“What is that?” he asked.
“You’re here,” I confessed and returned to my desk.
He stood, walking through my office on his way to the garage. He stopped behind me, bent and kissed my neck, then kept walking.
I smiled, feeling something ease inside me.
BRETT
I frowned at the engine Maxx had been working on. He was frustrated and confused.
“We have to be missing something,” I agreed. “This is the third time she’s brought it back in for the same thing.”
Maxx crossed his arms, looking deep in thought. “We’ve done everything by the book. Everything the manufacturer told us to do. The diagnostics show it’s fine. But it keeps stalling.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m going to call her and tell her to keep the loaner until we figure this out.”
I nodded then grimaced, the movement causing my aching head to hurt more.
Maxx looked at me with concern. “Go home, Brett. You look like you’re going to pass out or hurl any given second. I don’t want to deal with either.”
Chase looked up from the motor. “I’ll drive you. I have to go pick up some parts anyway. Leave your truck, and I’ll take you.”
I pushed off the car. “I think I have to.”
Maxx clapped me on the shoulder carefully. “We’ll get through. Red can come help Kelly if needed.”
I paused before turning to go. “Could this be as simple as a bad solenoid?”
“We checked it.”
“But it’s intermittent. Maybe it’s working fine at times, not at others. We get it to work, it fails on her.”
Maxx stroked his chin. “Could be.” He chuckled. “We’re looking for something big, and meanwhile, a ten-dollar part is causing all the trouble. I’ll try it, then go after the manufacturer to get some of the money back if that’s the cause of all this trouble. They were the ones who told us what to replace yesterday.”
“Okay.”
I followed Chase outside. “Take my truck,” I said, tossing him the keys. “It’s more comfortable.”
He put the vehicle in drive, but we hadn’t even made it down the driveway when I held up my hand. “Stop.”
He looked at me in concern. “What?”
“I can’t take the motion. I’m gonna be sick.” I climbed out of the truck. “Take this and do your errands. I’ll go lie down somewhere until this passes, and I’ll go home with you later.”
“Okay.”
I trudged up the driveway, pausing. I didn’t really want to go to Maxx’s place. The barn wasn’t exactly conducive to sleep. And I couldn’t take the sun, so lying on the grass wasn’t an option. I skirted the garage and headed up to the apartment, knowing Kelly would be fine with me resting there for a while. I opened the door, using the extra key over the light, and went inside. It was dim and cool with the shades drawn. Grateful, I headed to her bedroom, toeing off my boots, and taking another couple of Tylenol. I got the ice pack from her freezer and lay down on her bed, sighing in relief at the cool and quiet.