Tiffany threw her last bag into the trunk, slammed it shut, and got into the driver’s seat. She dug through her handbag until she found her key chain—at the bottom, of course. She stuck the key in and turned. A clicking sound came from the front of the car.
“Oh, come on. Not now.” She turned it harder. More clicking.
She hit the steering wheel. Her grandpa had checked into the car before giving it to her. One of his buddies who was supposed to know about cars had looked it over.
Maybe it was something simple. Something any guy would know. What would Grandpa look for if he was here?
Tiffany got out and looked under the car for a leak. There were no puddles or drips. She opened the door and popped the hood. Nothing was smoking or steaming, and as far as she could tell, nothing was broken or out of place.
She closed the hood and started the ignition again. Click, click, click.
It had to work. The car had been running just fine when she drove it the day before. She turned the key several more times with the same result.
What now? She leaned her head against the seat, sighing. After a minute, she called her grandpa.
He had her check various things, and to add to her frustration, she didn’t know what most of them were.
“Well, honey. It sounds like you’re going to have to find a mechanic. Tell me you’re at least in a decent neighborhood.”
“Yeah, it’s a cute, little tourist trap. It could have broken down in worse places.”
“Okay. Here’s what you’re going to. Find a mechanic and then get me on the phone. I’m not going to let them take advantage of you. Then once it’s fixed, call me again. I’m going to pay for it out of different funds. No using the money I gave you. That’s for your starting over. Understand?”
“Yes, Grandpa.”
“When can I expect to hear from you?”
Tiffany’s stomach rumbled. She had been going to hit the first drive through she came across. “Maybe an hour. I need some breakfast first.”
“Okay. Take care.”
“Bye, Grandpa.”
Where would she eat? Tiffany had slept through the hotel’s continental breakfast, so that was out. She went back inside and asked about mechanics at the front desk. There was one in town. One.
“He might be booked for today. Do you want to check back in?” asked the middle-aged lady behind the desk.
“Not really. I’ll take my chances.”
“I can’t guarantee you’ll get your room back. You got one of the best views in the place.”
Tiffany set her keys on the desk. “You really think he’s going to be full?”
“Usually is this time of year. You’d be surprised how many people don’t check their cars out before going on vacation.”
“My grandfather had it checked out,” she snapped.
“I didn’t mean anything against you.”
“Sure you didn’t. Why aren’t there more auto shops around here?”
“Guess nobody wants to give Bobby competition.”
Tiffany dug through her purse and pulled out her wallet. “Fine. Book me for another night.” She counted some cash, and then handed it to the lady. “I could use a day off from driving anyway.”
“Thank you. Have a wonderful day.” She gave her the key card and then turned around.
“Wonderful. Yeah, right.”
Tiffany made her way to where the auto shop was. Sure enough, it was full of cars.
She went in and explained everything to the tattooed guy behind the counter.
“We can tow it this afternoon, but I can’t say if we’ll actually get to it today. Depends on how all the other cars go. If they’re all easy, no problem. We’ll fix yours. Otherwise, it could be tomorrow afternoon. Maybe later. It’s hard to say.”
Another day? “Fine. Whatever you have to do. Oh, and my grandpa wants you to talk to him before you do anything.”
“Where’s he?”
“You’ll have to call him.”
“Add his info to the paperwork.” He shoved a clipboard at her and moved to the next customer.
Tiffany filled everything out and then gave it back to him. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. She needed to get back to her car and take out everything of value.
Once that was taken care of, she was exhausted on top of hungry.
Even though she had a setback, she was away from Trent and would never have to deal with him again. She was free, even with her car broken down.
Unable to ignore her hunger, Tiffany headed for the part of town Jake had shown her.
“Hey, Miss!”
She turned around and saw the guy from the newsstand. “Oh, hi. How are you?”
“Dimitri’s surprised to see you. Weren’t you heading out of town?”
“Change of plans.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yep. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She walked away. The last thing she needed was to make friends. Once her car was fixed, she would be out of there. She needed to find a decent sized town—a city would be even better—where she could settle down unnoticed. No friends along the way.
She found a little dive to grab a bite. It was somewhat busy which meant the food had to be decent, but not so busy that she would have to wait even longer to eat. Tiffany ate and then decided to make her way to the beach. She kicked off her sandals and carried them, allowing her feet to sink into the soft, warm sand. It slid between her toes and she wiggled them.
Kids ran past, squealing and screaming. Some guys about her age tossed a Frisbee not far away. Plenty of other tourists did their own thing, and none of them paid her any attention. She was glad to be around people, but not needing to interact with anyone.
Her phone rang, breaking the moment. She didn’t even have to look. It was her grandpa—who else had the number? Tiffany walked toward the water and answered. “Hi, Grandpa.”
Warm water splashed over her feet and up to her ankles.
“How come you didn’t call me? Did you get your car in?”
“They’re not even going to get to it today. I’m stuck here until at least tomorrow.”
“I still want to talk to them.”
“They have your number.”
“Make sure they call me.”
“I will.”
“No, Tiff. I’m serious. Vinny checked it out. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with it. Nothing.”
“Grandpa, I know. You think I want to be here? I just wanted to travel straight through. It makes my skin crawl that I’m not on the move. I keep expecting to turn around and find Trent.”
“He’s still up here. He’s been asking around about you. I know, because everyone wants to know where you are. I’m holding to the story that you must have gotten sick of his ugly mug and took off in the middle of the night.”
“If he comes to you, be careful.”
“He knows better than to mess with me. If anyone knows the reach of my resources, it’s him.”
“That’s what worries me. If he catches you alone, Grandpa…”
“I can handle a punk kid.”
“But that’s the thing. He’s not a punk kid. He’s—”
“Tiff, don’t worry about me. I’ve made it over sixty years because I have brains as well as muscle. Now enough about that lowlife. I’ve put some extra money in your account. I want you to enjoy yourself while you have some down time. Get a massage and a manicure or whatever that town has to offer.”
“Oh, Grandpa. I don’t—”
“No excuses. Trent never let you do anything like that.”
Tiffany sighed. “Okay. I’ll see what they have.”
“You’d better. If not, I’m going down there myself to give you a massage and paint your nails. You probably won’t like it.”
She laughed. “Point taken. Thanks, Grandpa.”
They said their goodbyes and she slid the phone back into her handbag. What would she do without him? She hated moving so far from him, but in order to get away from Trent, she had no other choice.
She walked along the shore, kicking water up her legs and keeping her eyes open for a nail salon. The warm sand and water slowly soothed her frayed nerves. Before long, she felt relaxed instead of irritated.
A group of kids ran by, each carrying an ice cream cone. One was blue, and that reminded her of her date with Jake the night before. Maybe being stuck here wouldn’t be such a bad thing, after all.