“Your labwork looks fantastic, Darcy.” Dr. Mona Reyes smiled and sank down onto the round rolling stool across from the exam table. “I can’t believe it’s been two years since your transplant. Your kidney numbers are perfect.”
Darcy forced her lips into a smile and hugged her arms over her green shirt. “Time has flown,” she said. She wanted to believe those words, but in truth, time had stopped eighteen months ago when her fiancé, Jace, died.
She sat up taller, steeling herself against the wave of grief that always seemed to lurk at the back of her mind, waiting to drag her under. She would never forgive herself for what happened to him.
The sound of Dr. Reyes scooting her stool over to the exam table jerked her from her thoughts. She took Darcy’s hand in hers. “What’s on your mind?”
With her dark hair, bright hazel eyes, and flawless, creamy skin, Dr. Reyes had become like a second mother to Darcy since she’d been diagnosed with kidney disease. Darcy was grateful for their heart-to-heart talks, which always helped settle her nerves and give her a new perspective on things.
“I always think of Jace when I think of the transplant. I’m so grateful for him.” She sniffed and swiped the back of her hand over her eyes.
Dr. Reyes patted her hand. “That’s natural. You’ll always miss him and love him. Just remember that he would be happy for your good health too.”
“I know you’re right.” Darcy tried to clear her throat past the lump that swelled there.
“Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling?”
Darcy shook her head. She was certain her doctor had better things to do—such as seeing more patients—than to hear about Darcy’s holding pattern of grief, regret, and guilt.
She held her breath, then released it as the truth spilled out of her. “I’ve been thinking about finding my biological mother.”
“I remember when you shared with me that you’re adopted.”
“My parents never hid that from me. And even though I love them and am so thankful for everything they’ve given me, I can’t help feeling that something is missing in my life. I wonder if I wouldn’t feel so hollowed out if I found my mother.” She fidgeted with the hem of her top.
Dr. Reyes nodded. “I know you’re anxious to find out if your kidney disease is hereditary.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, I might be able to help you.” Dr. Reyes wrote something on a piece of paper and then handed it to Darcy. “My best friend is adopted, and she contacted this not-for-profit agency when she wanted to find her parents.”
“Thank you.” Darcy studied the piece of paper, where Dr. Reyes had written down a website for an organization called Lost and Found. “I want to know where I came from, but I just don’t know how to talk to my parents about this without hurting them.”
“I think they’ll understand.”
Darcy leaned over and hugged her doctor. “You’re the best.”
“Back at you.” Dr. Reyes grinned. “Now, do you need any refills?”
They discussed the cocktail of medications Darcy would take for the rest of her life in order to keep her transplant viable. She often got tired of taking the medications, but she was grateful that they kept her new kidney healthy. Darcy thanked her doctor once again before heading toward the exit.
She stopped at the front desk to schedule her next six-month checkup before
pulling on her suit jacket, shouldering her purse, and hurrying out toward the parking lot in front of the sprawling medical complex.
Her high heels clacked along the sidewalk, and the cool, early April breeze lifted strands of her long blonde hair off her shoulders. Birds sang in nearby trees while daffodils smiled up at the sun shining in the cloudless blue sky.
Darcy tried to shake off her murky mood, but it clung to her like a second skin as she weaved past the rows of cars on the way to her sedan. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and found no missed calls or messages waiting for her. She considered calling her mom to tell her about her appointment, but instead she pocketed her phone, not ready to talk to her mother just yet. She was on the way to an important meeting and had to mentally prepare herself.
Thoughts of Jace swirled in her head as she approached her royal-blue late-model Lexus LS 460 sedan. She unlocked the door using her key fob and climbed in, dropping her purse on the passenger seat. As she hit the push-button start, she tried dismissing her late fiancé from her mind, but she could still see his handsome face. His brilliant smile and those sky-blue eyes seemed impossible to forget.
She and Jace had made so many plans. They were going to be married right before Thanksgiving almost two years ago, and thanks to her good health, she’d hoped they would soon start a family. Being a mom had been her dream since she was a little girl playing with her first baby doll. In fact, when her friends had moved on to playing with Barbies, Darcy had stuck with her baby dolls instead of joining them.
Click. Click.
Darcy’s attention snapped back to her car. She hit the start button again.
Click. Click.
“No,” she whined. “No, no, no. Not now . . .” She pushed the button again.
Click. Click.
Darcy leaned forward on the steering wheel, grimaced, and mashed the button.
Click. Click.
She rested her hand on her forehead. Her parents were at their beach house in Coral Cove, which meant she couldn’t call her father for help. And her best friend, Haven, was already at work. Besides, Haven was a guidance counselor at a middle school located nearly thirty miles away, so Darcy wouldn’t dream of asking her for help. That left her one option—calling a roadside assistance service.
Darcy glanced at her watch, a bead of sweat trailing down the back of her neck. It was after nine, and she had a public relations presentation to make to the board in under an hour. She hated policies-and-procedures stuff, but it was part of her job, and she didn’t want a month’s worth of work to go down the drain.
Unlocking her phone, she shot off a message to her manager, Meredith.
DARCY: Hi! Just left my doctor’s office, and I’m having car trouble. Calling for roadside assistance now. I’ll keep you updated.
Conversation bubbles appeared almost immediately, and her gut tightened. While she appreciated her understanding boss, she always dreaded the possibility of letting Meredith down.
MEREDITH: Oh no! Let me know if we should reschedule the presentation.
That was the last thing Darcy wanted to do. She’d been preparing for this for weeks, and her bonus depended on it. She had to get to her office soon.
She pushed the button one last time, praying for it to start.
Click. Click.
Darcy’s frustration came out in a growl. “You had to let me down today of all days, car?”
Yanking her wallet from her purse, Darcy began rooting through multiple pockets for the roadside information card. She’d never used it before. What did it even look like? When a tap sounded on the windowpane, she gasped and jumped with a start.
Turning, she found a man peering in her window.
“Sorry.” He lifted his hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He pointed toward the hood of her car. “Need some help?”
She pushed her door open. “It won’t start.”
“I heard the clicks.” He grinned, and she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. His light-brown hair was cut short and covered with a dark-blue ball cap, and his eyes reminded her of the dark-roast coffee Dad loved to drink. He wore faded blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a dark-blue work jacket. The outfit, coupled with the stubble on his chin, gave him a rugged look. She realized she was staring, and her cheeks heated.
The man lifted his eyebrows and nodded toward the hood of the car. “Sounds like a dead battery. I can jump it for you.”
She sagged against the seat. Why hadn’t she put that emergency roadside kit Dad had given her for Christmas in the trunk of her car instead of on a shelf in her garage? “Thank you, but I don’t have jumper cables.”
“You’re in luck. I always carry a set just in case.” He jammed his thumb toward the other side of the lot. “I’m just parked over there.” He tipped back his cap.
She noticed the logo on the front: Barton Automotive. Hope lit in her chest. What were the odds of her knight in shining chrome being a mechanic? “Oh, that would be amazing.”
“I’m Carter, by the way.”
“Darcy.”
“Nice to meet you.” He stepped to the empty parking space in front of her
car and pointed to the ground. “Do me a favor and try to stop anyone from parking here while I bring my truck over.”
“Got it.”
He pulled a set of keys from his pocket, causing them to jingle. “Hang tight. Be right back.”
Darcy stood in front of her car and peered across the parking lot. A few moments later, a loud engine rumbled to life, and a black Chevrolet Suburban slowly crept down the aisle and came to a stop in front of her car. Country music sang from a radio inside of the SUV, which looked as if it had been lifted a couple of inches to accommodate the huge tires. Her father, a car enthusiast, would be impressed.
Carter killed the engine and then popped the hood on his SUV before he hopped down from the driver seat and moved to the rear of the vehicle. The tailgate opened and slammed before he sauntered toward her holding a set of jumper cables.
She drank in how his jeans hugged his trim waist and how his dark t-shirt stretched over a wide chest. Those dark eyes were captivating. She had to crane her neck to take in his full height.
Oh, I love a tall guy.
Carter raised his eyebrows, and she realized she was staring at him—again. Surely her face was going to catch fire.
“My dad would love your SUV.” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.
He lifted the hood on the Suburban. “I guess he’s into old Chevrolet trucks?”
“Old?”
He grinned, and like nearly all hot guys, he showed her a crooked smile. “It’s a 2005, so I wouldn’t consider it new.” He pointed one of the clamps toward her car. “Can you pop your hood?”
She slipped back into the driver seat and did as she was told before rejoining him at the front of her car.
He tilted his head and scanned her car. His focus moved back to the engine, and he nodded. “This is a beautiful Lexus.”
“Thanks.” Heat prickled her neck, and she felt the strange need to explain how she could afford such a nice car. “It was my mom’s. She wanted to trade it in for a newer vehicle, and I offered to buy it since my Honda needed a lot of work.”
“Has it given you trouble before?”
“Yes.” She grimaced as more embarrassment filled her. “It didn’t want to start a few days ago. I meant to stop by the auto parts store to have them test the battery, but I had this big project at work, so I forgot.” Just like she forgot to mention it to her dad before her parents left for the beach on Saturday.
Carter connected the positive clamp to the Lexus’s battery terminal before connecting
the positive clamp to his battery terminal. He followed the same procedure with the negative clamps and then climbed into his SUV. His engine came to life, and another country music song serenaded her. Then he turned off the radio and came to stand next to her. “Want to try starting it?”
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered as she returned to the driver’s seat. She closed her eyes before hitting the button. But instead of her engine purring to life, she only heard the Suburban continue to rumble. She looked toward Carter, who was frowning.
Darcy checked her watch. It was already nine thirty. Nerves now swarmed her stomach. She was running out of time before her presentation.
Carter killed his engine and removed the jumper cables from the vehicles before tossing them into his back seat. He joined her at the driver’s side door of her car and crouched down beside her. “My guess? It’s either the battery or the starter.”
“And you can only know for sure by testing them,” she finished.
“Right.” He tapped her door. “Do you want me to have it towed for you?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” Darcy pinched the bridge of her nose.
He shook his head. “I’ll call the tow truck driver we use for our shop. He lives around here. If he isn’t on another job, he can be here quickly.”
“That would be perfect, because I have an important presentation to give at work in under an hour. I need to get there as quickly as possible.”
“Where would you like it towed?”
Anxiety pressed down on her shoulders, and she tried to think. Once the car was towed, she’d still need another car, and the only way to get one would be to use a car service or call her parents and ask to borrow one of theirs.
“My parents are on vacation and probably took my mom’s car with them. I could have my car towed to their house, but then I’d be stuck there.” She wrung her hands. “I’m not comfortable driving my dad’s cars.” She took a deep breath. “I mean, he has a brand-new Corvette Stingray or his Porsche Cayenne. And you know how Charlotte rush-hour traffic is. Plus I’d be mortified if someone dinged his doors in the crazy parking garage at work.” Why was she sharing so much information with a complete stranger? Shut up, Darcy! “Anyway, I need my car fixed right away.”
“I can look at it for you today, if you want.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “You can?”
“Sure. We’re not that busy at our shop. I’m not trying to pressure you though. If you have a mechanic you prefer and trust, go with them.
You won’t hurt my feelings.”
“The only mechanic I know is my dad.” She studied Carter’s earnest expression, and for some strange reason she trusted him.
She shook herself. She didn’t even know this man!
She looked at her watch again, and her heart lurched. She needed to figure this out fast. “Let’s have it towed to your shop.”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s not exactly my shop. My brother-in-law and his folks own it, but I’m one of the mechanics.”
“Where is it?”
“On Main Street in Flowering Grove.”
“My best friend’s boyfriend is from Flowering Grove. I love Treasure Hunting Antique Mall.”
“The shop is close to that store.” He stood and pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call the driver now.” He leaned on the grill of his Suburban, dialed the phone, and began talking. When his eyes met hers, they seemed to twinkle.
Darcy’s phone buzzed with a text, and she found a message from her manager.
MEREDITH: How’s it going?
Darcy poised her thumbs over her phone, but her fingers froze in place while she debated what to tell Meredith. A tow truck was on the way, but how long would it take? She had expected her doctor’s visit to be quick, but she’d never imagined getting stranded before her big meeting.
“Fred will be here soon.”
Darcy lifted her chin as Carter leaned on the driver’s side door. “Thanks.”
“Is there someone who can pick you up?”
She moved her fingers over the steering wheel. She could reach out to Haven’s boyfriend, but he worked forty-five minutes away. “No.” She held up her phone. “I can call for a rideshare.”
“Where do you work?”
“Uptown Charlotte. Not too far from here.”
“I can drop you off.”
Darcy studied Carter’s expression and once again was surprised by how much she trusted him. At the same time, she could hear her mother’s admonishing voice in her mind:
You got in the car with a stranger, Darcy Jane Larsen? Didn’t I teach you better than that? It’s a wonder you didn’t wind up on the news!
And yet . . . it would be foolish to turn him down, considering her time crunch. “You sure?”
He shrugged. “It’s not out of the way for me.”
“I appreciate it. I’ll reimburse you for gas.”
He shook his head. “No need.” His phone rang, and he examined it. “I’m sorry. It’s my brother-in-law.” He held it up to his ear. “Hey, man.” He listened as he walked over to his SUV and leaned on the fender. “I’ll be on my way soon. What do we need from the store?”
She shot off a text to her manager:
DARCY: My car is dead, but a tow truck is on the way. I also have a ride set up. Hope to be there in less than
thirty minutes.
MEREDITH: Sounds good. See you soon.
She slipped her phone into her purse before retrieving her laptop bag. She climbed out of the car just as Carter wrapped up his call and slipped his phone into his back pocket. When he smiled, she felt a strange flutter in her stomach.
“Gage is sending me a shopping list.”
“Your brother-in-law?”
“Yeah. He’s been married to my sister for six years now.” He rubbed his chin. “Time sure does fly.”
“Right,” she said, even though she had just been thinking about how time didn’t fly. Instead, it had frozen for her when Jace had died. How odd that Carter would comment on something she had just thought of less than an hour ago. She held out her key fob. “I guess you need this.”
“Thanks.” When Carter took the key, her fingers brushed against his warm skin. His eyes drifted over her face. “So what do you do besides get stranded in parking lots?”
She laughed and felt some of the knots in her shoulders release. “I actually work in the communications department at one of the big banks.”
“Really?” He looked intrigued.
“I handle public relations—employee communications, media relations, that sort of thing—for East Coast Banking and Trust.” Darcy shook her head. “It’s really not that impressive.”
“Sounds like it to me.” He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped as a tow truck steered into the parking lot. “Fred’s already here.”
Darcy adjusted the strap of her laptop bag on her shoulder, grateful they would be on the road heading toward her office soon.
After Carter moved his SUV, he helped the tow truck driver load Darcy’s Lexus. She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the portly, middle-aged man with the bushy gray beard as he pulled her car onto the flatbed.
Then she sent the photo to her best friend, along with a text: How’s your Monday going so far?
As if on cue, her phone rang with a call from Haven. “What in the world happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. The Lexus isn’t.” Darcy frowned. “Aren’t you working today?”
“I have a few minutes before my next meeting. Guidance counselors do get breaks every once in a while. Do you need a ride?” Her best friend sounded concerned. “Tell me where you are, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Darcy moved over to the Suburban. “I’m fine, but thank you.” She explained how Carter had approached her and not only offered to have her car towed to his shop to fix it but also insisted on giving her a ride to her office. She moved to the back of his SUV and read his license plate to Haven, then asked her to write it down since she had accepted a ride from a stranger.
“Carter, huh?” She could hear Haven’s grin through the phone. “How old is he?”
Darcy glanced at him while he helped Fred secure the car with chains. When his eyes met hers, his lips lifted. And that man had one gorgeous smile. “Late twenties, maybe?”
“Cute?”
Extremely! But if Darcy admitted just how handsome he was, Haven would nag Darcy incessantly about trying to date this stranger. “He’s all right.”
“Single?”
“How should I know?”
“Is he wearing a ring?”
“My dad never wears his when he works on cars.”
Haven expelled an impatient breath. “Then you’ll just have to ask him.”
Darcy lowered her voice. She’d pass out from embarrassment if Carter overheard their conversation. “I really don’t have time to talk about this—”
“And if he’s unattached, get his number. Girl, we’re both twenty-seven, and we should be enjoying life. Maybe Carter will be your new boyfriend.”
Darcy rolled her eyes and swallowed a groan, recalling the disastrous blind dates her best friend had set up for her. Haven was determined to get Darcy to date again. She knew Haven meant well, but Darcy just wasn’t ready to move on and probably never would be.
“You need to start living again,” Haven insisted. “Stop blaming yourself for what happened to Jace. It wasn’t your fault.” She paused. “So is Carter nice?”
Darcy’s cheeks warmed as Carter started toward her. “I have to go.”
“I want details. Call me later.”
She hung up and put her phone in her purse. “Ready to go?” Darcy asked him.
“Yup,” he said, and she was once again drawn into those dark eyes. He opened the passenger-side door for her as the tow truck exited the lot with her car sitting on the flatbed.
She set her purse and bag on the floor. Then she wondered how she was going to climb into the tall SUV without falling and embarrassing herself.
“Need some help?” He held his hand out toward her.
“Thanks.” Grasping his strong hand, she hoisted herself up with the help of a handle and the running board. “That wasn’t so bad.”
His expression
was sheepish. “My sister always complains about having to climb up in this thing, especially in heels.”
She laughed. “No problem.” Then she glanced down at her high-heeled shoes. While she enjoyed dressing up for work, she rarely wore pumps. Today, though, she’d chosen heels in order to look her best for the presentation.
Darcy settled in the passenger seat and inhaled the lingering woodsy scent that she assumed was Carter’s cologne. He appeared beside her and folded his long frame into the driver’s side. Soon they were on their way, with another country music song singing softly through the speakers. She gave him directions before a comfortable silence settled over them.
She snuck a glance his way as he slowed to a stop at a light. “I really appreciate this.”
“I don’t mind. I would hope someone would do the same for my sister. ...
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