Grinning to himself, he neatly folded the permit in his wallet and waited in the line at the sandwich shop. Luckily, it moved much faster, and in less than ten minutes, he was sipping hot potato-cheddar soup and biting into a thick roast beef sandwich.
He was almost done when Ace called. “Hey, Gunnar.”
“What’s up?” He wasn’t scheduled to work for another two days. “Do you need me?”
“Nah, nothing like that. I was just wondering if you’ve seen that Mercedes gal again.”
“Why?”
“Have you?” Ace pressed.
“I haven’t. Why?” he asked again. Ace wasn’t the type to call him with random questions like this.
“Oh, no reason. No reason, other than it looked like there was something between you two.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake. Was his buddy seriously trying to play matchmaker? Weighing his words carefully, he said, “I don’t know if there was something between us or not. It’s doubtful that I’ll ever see Kimber again.”
“Oh, yeah. That was her name, wasn’t it? Kimber.”
Shoot. He’d said too much. “Any reason you’re pushing this?”
“No reason. Not other than this Kimber seemed real sweet.” He lowered his voice. “She also asked about you when she picked up her car. She seemed disappointed that you’d already left for the day, Gunnar.”
Even though a part of him was pleased about that, Gunnar did his best to play it cool. “I don’t know why Kimber would be disappointed or not. I mean, all I was doing was helping her out.”
“She’s real pretty and she seemed sweet too. Not every woman is like that, you know.”
Gunnar knew. Avery, his ex-girlfriend, had seemed sweet—until she’d opened up and turned into a demanding, conniving shrew.
“You got lucky with your wife, Ace.” His wife, Meredith, was one of the sweetest ladies Gunnar had ever met.
Ace’s voice brightened. “True that. Now, I know I’m sounding all in your business, but you’ve been alone for a while now. You might want to think about giving Kimber a call. She seems like a woman who would be worth your time.”
She’d been a mystery, that’s what she’d been. Beautiful, direct, and confusing. And, most likely far too city for a hick from small-town West Virginia like him. “I’ve got enough going on with Jeremy, Ace.” Moreover, he didn’t necessarily want anyone digging into his personal life.
“Fine. I hear you.”
“Appreciate that.”
“You’re off the schedule until Monday. But will I see you Friday night?”
“I’ll be there.” Ace’s son Finn had just signed with a college to play ball next fall. Ace was beyond proud and was hosting a big spaghetti dinner in his honor.
Just as he got up to toss his trash, his phone buzzed, signally an incoming text.
Looking at the screen, he sat back down again.
Speak of the devil, it was Miss Kimber Klein.
Hey. Just wanted to thank you for your help the other day. I’ve got four working tires again. Everyone at your shop was great.
As he read her text a second time, he felt a quick little burst of adrenaline when he thought about texting her back.
Lord, he was so out of practice dating. Finally, deciding that it would be rude to not text back, his thumb hovered over the screen before finally replying.
No problem.
One minute later, she wrote back again.
Hope you don’t mind that I got your number from Jeremy. I promise I won’t start texting you all the time.
To his surprise, he realized that he wouldn’t mind if she did. But then what would they do? He didn’t date . . . Did he?
He decided to keep it simple.
Glad you’re all good again.
He pressed Send before he did anything stupid and asked her out.
He stared at his screen, saw those telltale dots that meant she was forming a reply . . . Then they disappeared.
She was going to write him back but then changed her mind. He felt a burst of disappointment before reminding himself that he didn’t have the time or the inclination to date again.
But as he walked to his truck, he knew he was lying to himself. After the Avery debacle, when he’d literally discovered her with another mechanic at his shop, he’d been afraid to put himself out there. He’d been burned, it had hurt, and he wasn’t in any hurry to get burned again.
He was gun-shy. That’s what he was.
As he contemplated that bit of truth, Gunnar realized that he was a lot of things, but he’d never been a man who was afraid of things. Not to move to Ohio from West Virginia. Not to start contracting in addition to his auto mechanic job. Not to finish building his dream house, even when his girlfriend exited his life.
Not even to decide to foster a teenager, even though he had next-to-no experience parenting.
So to be afraid of starting a new relationship didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t set well with him at all.
He just wasn’t sure about what to do next.
CHAPTER 6
“Just as I am—though toss’d about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come!”
—charlotte elliott
So her whole texting thing with Gunnar Law had been a mistake. Every time she reviewed their messages over the last week, Kimber blushed like a schoolgirl, and she was pretty sure that she’d stopped blushing a long time ago. Until now.
When she’d first seen Jeremy at the library, she’d kept everything easy and cordial with him. At first, she wasn’t going to mention Gunnar but then later decided that it would be rude not to fill the boy in about what happened.
Her chance came soon after the last bell of the day rang. “I think your foster dad is a hard nut to crack,” Kimber told Jeremy when she ran into him in the elementary school parking lot.
For a second, it looked like the boy wasn’t sure whether to act like he knew her or not . . . but then her words registered. “Huh?”
“After I got his number from you, I texted him in between classes. I told him thanks for helping me out the other day, but he didn’t write much back.”
A reluctant smile appeared. “Gunnar isn’t real good on the phone. He hates texting too.”
“I got that impression.” Kimber smiled back. “Thanks for passing on his number, though. It was real nice of you to do.”