“I might.” I angled my head toward him and raised an eyebrow. “Sometime. When I’m gut and ready. Not when you’re badgering me.”
“Come on, Evie. Seize the moment.” He opened his door and got out. “Sit here.” He beckoned me to slide behind the steering wheel.
Like a ninny I obeyed. “I shouldn’t.” I scanned around to see if anyone was watching.
He chortled. “This may be your last chance if you’re serious about getting baptized.” He was taunting me. “Come on, don’t be a scaredy-cat. There’s nothing to it. You can drive a buggy, can’t you?”
“But our mare understands what I tell her. And she obeys.”
“Same with this car. More people die in horse-related accidents than in cars.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute. Who told you such a ridiculous thing?”
“An Englisch friend looked it up on the Internet on his iPhone.”
“And you believe everything you hear?”
“At least I’m willing to take a risk, unlike you.”
My fingers rose to touch the steering wheel. It was wrapped with leather and felt secure in my hands. I knew I was doing wrong, but being alone with Jake in the first place was wrong.
In a burst of bravado, I was ready to spread my wings. To prove myself mistaken. Maybe I was my own worst enemy. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I reached down and turned the key. A screeching metallic sound erupted.
“Whoa, slow down. The engine’s already running.” Jake closed my door, jogged around the car, and jumped into the passenger seat. “Do you know where the gas pedal and brakes are?”
“Yah, I’ve watched you.”
“The car’s in park, so…” The headlamps shone against a brick wall into the empty store.
“I know.” I was pleased I could release the parking brake and maneuver the transmission into reverse easily. Maybe driving wasn’t so difficult after all.
I pressed my foot on the gas pedal. The car rocketed backward into something large and metal. We stopped short, my head bobbing forward. “Ach. I’m afraid to look.”
Jake gawked over his shoulder. “You had the car in reverse.”
“Yah, I couldn’t go forward, now could I?”
“But you didn’t check over your shoulder to see if anything was behind us.”
“What could possibly be behind us?” My head whipped around to see uniformed Wayne, his scowl illuminated in the car lot’s overhead lights, inspecting the damage I’d done to his squad car.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Okay, both of you. Get out.” Wayne wrenched open my door. “Not even wearing a seat belt, young lady?”
My hand moved to my waist. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t think to.”
“Looks like you weren’t thinking of much.” As I clambered to my feet, he said, “I won’t even ask to see your driver’s license, Eva Lapp. That’s your name, isn’t it?” He was all business, his features bunched as he looked across the hood at Jake. “How about you, Jake? I don’t suppose you have a driver’s license.”
“Yes, I do, as a matter of fact.” He pulled out his wallet and extracted his license. “I was driving tonight—for the most part—not Evie. And this is private property, not a public road.”
“Yeah, but not your property, right?” Wayne scanned his dented squad car and grimaced. “How am I going to explain this to my sergeant?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white pickup ease into the lot, and then noticed Stephen. Scowling, he paused for a moment before getting out and heading over to Wayne without glancing my way.
“What brings you out this time of night?” Wayne asked him.
“I’m on my way to the nursery.” Stephen’s features were stamped with disapproval. “I called Beatrice to make sure the dogs were in, and now I’m going to spend the night in the café in case Ralph comes back. We can’t be sure how many keys he had made, and we can’t get the locks changed until tomorrow morning.”
Stephen finally looked me in the face for a moment, shook his head, and then turned away.
I shivered as the evening breeze picked up velocity.
“I was doing the driving.” Jake stepped between Wayne and me.
“Listen, don’t try to feed me any garbage. I know what I saw.” Wayne looked me up and down. “That’s the last time I’ll park behind an Amish woman driving a car. It all happened before I could get out of her way.” He surveyed the dent again. “I suppose it could be worse. But I’ll be the laughingstock at the station.”
“I’ll take the rap for it,” Jake said. “I deserve to. I coaxed her into trying something she didn’t want to do.”
Stephen moved in on us. “She had no business driving without proper instruction, which I would have been glad to give her if that’s what she wanted.”
Wayne inspected Jake’s driver’s license. “Looks okay, but I’ll have to check for outstanding warrants.” Perspiration glistened on his face. “Any proof of ownership in the car?”
“I didn’t steal it, if that’s what you mean.” Jake got back into the car and rifled through the glove box. “The owner’s certificate must be in here.”
A crooked smirk on his face, Wayne stood with his arms crossed. “You mean the license plate certificate? At least the tabs are current.”
“I’ll give you a ride home,” Stephen told me.
Jake must have heard him because he poked his head out and said, “No, you won’t. I’m taking Evie home.”
Wayne neared Jake and sniffed the air. “I should give you a Breathalyzer test, Jake. Have you been drinking? Smoking dope?”
“No, no, none of that.” Jake waved him away.
Wayne grabbed hold of Jake’s arm. “Unless I see a little more cooperation and respect, you’re spending the night in jail.”
“Come on, Evie,” Stephen said, “I’ll drop you off at the cabin.”
“But Beatrice will see us.”
“So? I have every reason to be there. I’m making sure you get home safely.”
Wayne and Jake were arguing, so I turned away from them and pretended I couldn’t hear their jagged words. I climbed into the pickup’s cab.
The accident was
