Over the years, she had taken good care of her car. She always made sure to get her oil changed and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for flushing and changing fluids, and she had a great relationship with her mechanic, Arlen. He gave her high-mileage oil changes but only charged her standard prices.
Somehow, Stella had thought all of that made her handy and independent, but it really just made her a responsible car owner, not a grease monkey. Changing a tire was not the same thing as knowing the difference between the transmission and the alternator, and unfortunately for Stella, that meant she was effectively stranded.
The road was only two lanes, without a street lamp in sight. A line of trees blocked sightlines and light on one side of the road, but the other side was an empty field. Maybe that was the faint glow of lights off in the distance—signs of civilization and cell-phone bars—but Stella wasn’t sure she was willing to risk it. Especially in the dark. Especially since Brenda had taken her sensible walking shoes out of her bag and thrown them deep into her closet. Tromping across a field in sandals in the dark sounded like a perfect way to end up with a twisted ankle at the bottom of a well.
Admittedly, falling in a well was probably an outlandish scenario. But then again, just this morning, Stella would have said the idea of her taking an impromptu trip on nothing more than Brenda’s recommendation was outlandish, and look at her now.
No, the best option was to stay with the car and wait to see who drove by. If she flagged someone down, they could help her, or at the very least fetch help from the closest town.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Stella heard the rumble of an approaching car. She darted out from behind the hood and waved her arms wildly in the air. Half of her expected the headlights to scream past her without even slowing down. After all, she had never stopped to help someone on the side of the road, so why would anyone stop to help her—especially at dusk?
However, the lights climbed the small hill behind her and then veered off to the side of the road. Stella could tell the vehicle was a truck of some kind, but the lights were too bright to tell much beyond that. The cab was lost in darkness, and she didn’t even see the person climb down and start walking towards her until a shadow cut across the beam of the headlights.
A very large shadow.
Stella had imagined a kind old man or a cute family coming to her rescue. Maybe she’d talk with the wife and bond with the woman over motherhood while her husband inspected beneath the hood.
Naively, Stella hadn’t even considered the possibility that she’d be waving down a large, lone man until the looming shape was in front of her, hands on his hips.
“Car trouble?” His voice was deep and booming. Stella was tempted to tell him no so he’d go away.
It was getting dark and late, and the road was deserted beyond the two of them. The trees just beyond the ditch would be the perfect hiding spot for her body, and no one would ever find her. No one would even know where to begin searching.
“Kind of,” she said nervously, taking a step away from the stranger. “It died and won’t start back up again. Some smoke came out too.”
The man laughed. “That definitely sounds like car trouble. Mind if I take a look?”
He sounded nice enough, but that didn’t mean anything. Nice people killed people all the time. Well, maybe not all the time, but often enough that Stella wasn’t going to let down her guard just yet.
She nodded and backed away from the man as he moved forward, rounding the front of the car and bending over the hood. Stella positioned herself next to the passenger side door, ready to flee into the night at the first sign of trouble.
Suddenly, a bright light filled the darkness, and Stella had to blink against the onslaught to her pupils. It took her a second to realize the man had his own flashlight.
He shone the light under the hood for a minute, squinting and poking around at the machinery. Then, he reached his hand down between the engine and whatever contraption lived next to the motor and let out a resigned hum. “You’ve definitely got car trouble. I’m afraid there isn’t anything I can do.”
Stella frowned. “You know that after only a minute?”
“I’m sorry. I never actually introduced myself.” He stepped forward suddenly, surprising Stella enough that she scrambled backward, nearly tripping on a crack in the old pavement. “I’m Drew Baldwin. I work part-time as a mechanic in Willow Beach. You ever heard of it?”
Stella shook her head.
She always knew when Jace was lying to her. His ears would go red at the tips the second a dishonest word came out of his mouth, and he couldn’t meet her eyes. Jace always claimed his mom had some kind of superpower, but she was just great at recognizing his tells.
This man, however, either wasn’t lying or didn’t have any tells. He looked straight into Stella’s eyes when he spoke, using the back of his wrist to wipe sweat away from his forehead, and grinned at her.
It was the lopsided, casual smile of a young man who knew all too well the effect he had on women. Years earlier, the man’s attention would have made Stella weak-kneed. Now, he might as well have been her son standing in front of her. This man was certainly older than Jace, but not by enough for him to not look childish to her.
“It’s a small town just up the road.” He tilted his head in the direction of the faint lights Stella had noticed earlier. Auburn hair flopped over his forehead, and he pushed it back once again. “About twenty
