Chapter 9
Andy saw Jenny’s horror-stricken face. “It’s just a brownie. No harm done.” He reached down, picked it up and walked it to a trash bin in a corner. He casually tossed it in and wiped his hands on his pants legs, glad he’d worn brown corduroys that day. All the while, he wondered what could be wrong. Why was Jenny so nervous? Was it because of what happened last night?
He turned, determined to ask her … but she was gone.
“Where in the heck?” he mumbled, looking every which way, but there was no sign of her. She must’ve slipped out of the café in the short time it took him to toss the brownie. How could the woman move so fast? More to the point, why had she felt the need to?
With a sigh, he went to look for her, but Powell’s was huge – a person could easily hide between the stacks and shelves for hours without being seen. He loved the place as much as the next bookworm, knowing that if he didn’t carry something in his store, he could usually find it here. But he wasn’t looking for a book, he was looking for a woman – a woman who obviously didn’t want to be found.
He grabbed his own stack of books off the counter and went to the main entrance and the cash registers. He didn’t think Jenny had purchased her books yet, so he could hang out and wait until she did. But what was the point? She didn’t want to talk to him for whatever reason. Best to leave her alone for now. Pretty hard to do when she was right next door, but he’d have to manage it.
Easier said than done. At the checkout he kept scanning the crowds for any sign of a woman with long brown hair wearing an oversized tweed jacket. She’d been wearing it the day they met at the festival, and he thought she was adorable in it. But there was no sign of her. He paid for his purchases and left the store.
The customer he’d bought the books for would be coming into his shop tomorrow to pick them up. If he was smart, he’d head back now, get to the shop before Alice closed up and drop them off, so he wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting them at home in the morning. A possibility, as his mind was bound to be on other things, like his neighbor.
He started the drive home, Jenny still on his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get her off it. Maybe he should volunteer more in the evenings at Finding Forever. The animals always soothed him, and he enjoyed playing with them. Then he found himself wondering how Sir Lancelot was faring, and he was right back to square one.
Andy gripped the steering wheel and shook himself. He’d have to respect Jenny’s wishes and leave her alone. “I just don’t know if I can,” he whispered.
~*~
Jenny slipped out of the café like a thief in the night and hid in the science fiction and fantasy section. She saw Andy pass by, headed for the main entrance, and like the coward she was, she let him.
She found an old chair, one of many spread throughout the store, and sat. Why was she acting like such a fool? She’d have to get a hold of herself and quick! She didn’t know which was worse: having Andy spy what books she was there to buy (a tribute to her pathetic lack of romantic skills) or running like a chicken.
No – Sir Lancelot! She had to get home and check his food and water, maybe let him run around the yard for an hour. Then again, by the time she made it home it would probably be dark. She sighed heavily, pushed herself out of the chair and went to the end of the aisle. Peeking around the corner, she saw no sign of Andy, so she stepped into the open and cautiously made her way to the registers, stopping now and then to make sure the coast was clear.
Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic, she thought to herself as she slunk to the front. He must’ve already made his purchases and left. Now all she had to do was get home and into her house before he saw her. But what was to stop him knocking on her door? Though what man in his right mind would want to talk a woman who took off like a scared rabbit? He’d probably branded her fickle by now. Well, she’d have to explain herself eventually, but for now she preferred to stay in hiding.
What bothered her the most was how her own actions were making no sense to her. If it had been Mark Greenwood or one of her brothers, sure, she’d be embarrassed buying such books, but she’d also be able to laugh with them about it. With them, she had nothing to lose. Not so with Andy. She wanted him to like her, get to know her – and so far all she’d done was scare the living daylights out of him, ruin his handkerchief, stain his pants and run away. She wasn’t acting … sane.
Jenny mulled over that while getting into her car and back on the road, and all the way down I-5. But no sooner had she merged onto Highway 99 than she was startled by a loud bang! and her steering wheel started to vibrate. “Oh no,” she groaned. She had a blowout.
She pulled onto the shoulder – a fairly wide one, thank God -- cut the engine and rested her head against the steering wheel a moment “Could this day get any worse?” she groaned … only to hear the pitter-patter of rain against the windshield. She looked outside, noticed the darkening clouds and what promised to be a downpour, and laughed bitterly. “And Your point is?” she yelled at the roof.
She sighed, sat back in her seat and banged her head against the headrest a few times. Now it really was pouring, and she wasn’t about to change a flat in that. With a shrug she pulled out The Flirting Bible from the Powell’s bag and started to read. She was halfway through Chapter 1 when she noticed the rain slowing, but that was as good as it got.
Finally she resigned herself to getting drenched dealing with the tire, pulled the lever that popped the trunk, raised the collar of her jacket and got out. She had just pulled the jack and tools out when someone pulled up behind her. “Great – I hope it’s not some psycho.” By now it was getting dark enough for folks to switch on their headlights, and her erstwhile rescuer didn’t cut his. She stood squinting as a man approached.
“Jenny?”
A strangled laugh escaped. And inside, something snapped. Fine! she thought furiously at the heavens. I give up! “Yes, Andy – yes, it’s me. The unavoidable Jenny.” She laughed some more, not even worrying if Andy would think she’d gone crazy. Maybe she had.
“Are you all right?” he asked as the rain began to come down harder.
“Yes, I’m fine – I just get flat tires for fun,” she said loudly over the highway noise and the downpour. She offered him the tire iron. “I’m perfectly capable of changing one myself, just for the record, but with pneumonia in play, I’ll let you help.”
“Um, okay.” Andy took it and walked around to the flat on the rear passenger side. Jenny followed with the jack, slipped it under and started pumping it into place. “I could do that …,” he began.
“I have no doubt about that. But this is a matter of pride for me – letting someone else do it would make me feel like a helpless female, and I hate that feeling. Hang tight.” Jenny was rarely so brash, especially not with someone she’d only known a few days. But she was tired of running away – from Andy, from herself. Let him have the full dose. If he couldn’t take it, screw him. If he could, then he was who she wanted to be with, and it was all good.
She looked up at him, saw the water dripping from his hair into his eyes and down his face. He was smiling. “Jenny, you don’t have to prove yourself to me.”
“Never said it was for your benefit. There.” She stood up, wiped her hands on her hips and motioned to the tire. “Your turn.”
“Okay. But while I’m doing it, please, go rest in my car and dry off.” He made it sound like it was a matter of pride for him.
Well, he respected her wishes – the least she could do was return the favor. Though he was really doing her the favor … “All right. But come get me when it’s time to swap the tires.”
“I promise.”
She nodded, went to his vehicle and got in. Wow, this was so much better than running scared!
Five minutes later, he joined her. “When was the last time you got new tires?”
She couldn’t remember. “It’s been a while. Sorry I was so pushy.”
“It’s okay – you were just explaining yourself. That’s good. I like not having to guess.”
“Thanks for understanding, then. I don’t know why all this stuff happens when you’re around. It’s not intentional, I assure you – I don’t play those kinds of games.”
His face lit up as if she’d just told him she was his slave for life. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m afraid your tire’s a total. You’ll have to get a new one – in fact, you should probably get four.”
“It was bound to happen. Let’s pop the spare on, I guess.”
But Andy didn’t get back out of the car. Instead he took her hand, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
She gasped, pulled back and looked at him, wide-eyed. “What was that for?”
He sighed in frustration, then laughed. “Because I’ve been wanting to for days, Jenny. Don’t you know how these things work?”
Jenny blinked – and went for it. “Not a clue, to be honest. That’s why I ordered those three books from your store … until I found out it was your store. Then I was too embarrassed to admit I’d ordered them – that’s why I went up to Powell’s.”
Andy looked confused, then surprised, then amused. “J. Sullivan.”
“The same. Hope I didn’t screw up your inventory.”
“No, no, I …” He trailed off, shaking his head. “But thank you for letting me know. And for allowing me to help you. Every time I try, you balk at it.”
She stared at her hands in her lap. “I do, don’t I? I just hate being seen as weak. That damsel-in-distress business is for the birds.”
“Really?”
“Really! But … I’m sorry, I guess guys like that sort of thing.”
“I have in the past, yeah. And I’ve paid for it too.”
Jenny looked in his eyes, and could see old pain. Yes, he had, hadn’t he? She’d ask him about that – some other time.
He gave her hand another squeeze. “But don’t be afraid to let people do things for you. It doesn’t make you weak – we all need help sometimes.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I’ll try.”
He let go her hand and sat back in his seat. “It’s a good thing I hit a drive-thru, or you’d have been out there alone.” He turned to look at her. “And I’d much rather it be me than you. Do you understand?”
“Sure,” she said. “Just understand I feel the same way.” And they both laughed.
He glanced out the window. “I think the rain’s slowing down.”
She looked outside, and saw he was right, the rain had slowed considerably. “We should get that tire on and get home.”
He nodded sagely and wiped his hands on his jacket until he realized it didn’t help. “Right then,” he said, opened his door and got out.
Jenny followed, met him at the rear of the car, and together they got the spare in place and cinched and the car off of the jack. “Thanks again, Andy.”
Andy stood, staring at her. She couldn’t read his expression and wasn’t sure what he wanted. For a moment she thought he’d kiss her, but he didn’t. “I’ll follow you home.”
She was about to say it wouldn’t be necessary, then remembered he lived next door – and that she was supposed to be working on letting people do things for her. Lesson two. “Sure, what the heck?”
He smiled and motioned her to her car.