By the time she punched out later that night, Rose’s mood hadn’t improved by much. She’d pushed Reen out of her thoughts, but the twisted feeling in her gut remained. She thought she’d done the right thing by their mother, but with Reen’s anger so palpable, she wasn’t sure of much anymore.
After closing, Rose had offered to stay behind to finish up since Missy was supposed to have a call with Jake.
Rose locked the back door of the restaurant and headed for her car. There weren’t any streetlights nearby. The sky opened above her, filled with twinkling stars. When she and Reen were young and closer to each other, they used to sit on the beach near their house and point out the different constellations from one of their dad’s books. In times when Reen was impossible to speak to, she pulled out the few good memories of them getting along, and it sometimes worked to improve her mood.
After getting in her car, she turned the key in the ignition, and nothing happened. She pulled the door closed and rolled down the window in the stuffy car. She tried three times before she gave up. The older model had been trusty and true since she got it three years ago when her clunker from high school died.
It was after midnight. Who was around to help her? There wasn’t a tow company for miles, and she didn’t want to sit in the car all night.
She dialed Missy, but the call went right to voicemail. She tapped the phone against the steering wheel wondering if she should try again. But if Missy had fallen asleep, she’d feel bad waking her friend. The only people she knew were awake were the police.
It wasn’t an emergency, so she called into the precinct directly.
A female voice chimed through her phone after the second ring. ‘Police department, how may I assist you?’
‘Hi,’ Rose said. ‘I’m at The Siren restaurant. My car isn’t starting. Would someone be able to give me a lift home? I can call for a tow truck in the morning.’ Her eyes were bleary and waiting for someone to come out that late wasn’t on her agenda.
‘One moment please,’ she said.
The line clicked over, and there was silence on the other end. She tried the ignition a few more times, to be sure her car was completely dead before bothering any of the police officers in town. Though, she doubted she’d be too much of a bother. Even amid tourist season, there wasn’t much of a nightlife in The Burrow. People packed the quaint shops and stretches of beach during the day while nighttime offered a peaceful rest for the visitors.
‘I’ll have an officer over there right away,’ the voice said, coming back on the line.
‘Thank you,’ she said and hung up.
It was a good thing the windows were manual instead of electric. Rose rolled the passenger side down and then settled in to wait.
Only fifteen minutes passed before a pair of headlights cut through the darkness, moving toward the car. She shielded her eyes as the police cruiser parked nose to nose with Rose’s car. ‘Thanks so much for coming,’ she said to the officer walking toward the car.
‘It’s not a problem,’ Shane said.
Rose balked. ‘Shane?’
‘You sound surprised.’
‘I am,’ she said.
‘Can you open the hood?’
‘Sure,’ she said and pulled the small lever.
Shane lifted the hood and shined a flashlight into the compartment.
‘What do you think it is?’ Rose asked.
‘Probably a drained battery. That’s what happens when you sit in your car with the radio going for an extended period without starting the car,’ he said with a smirk.
‘It wasn’t that long,’ she muttered, but couldn’t help feeling like an idiot. In her anger, she hadn’t even thought of the repercussions of sitting there with the radio on during her break. She was surprised the car hadn’t turned itself off then. At least she could have had a jump from Missy before she left.
He rounded his car and opened the trunk. She leaned against hers, letting him work. As he hooked the ends to her car, he said, ‘I wanted to talk to you about something before, but you seemed upset earlier. Is everything okay? I thought it might have been something I said.’
‘It’s not you,’ Rose said, not wanting to bog him down with talking about Reen.
‘Can you try and start it now?’ he asked.
She sat in the driver’s seat and crossed her fingers before turning the key again. The car roared to life, and her heart soared. She stood up and leaned over the top of the door. ‘Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.’
Shane unhooked the cables from her car and closed the hood. ‘I have an idea how you can make it up to me.’
‘Anything,’ she said.
Shane walked over to her. He stopped inches from the door. ‘How about I take you out tomorrow night?’
‘What?’
He chuckled.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. How would that be me making this up to you?’ She tried to stop herself from babbling. She wanted nothing more than to be alone with him on a date.
‘It was the best segue I could find,’ he said, massaging the back of his neck. ‘It’s been a while. My game is off.’
Rose screwed up her lips, shaking her head, not believing that he’d asked her out on a date.
‘I saw this place on the way into town that I wanted to check out.’
‘Oh,’ she said, her cheeks flushing. ‘Yes. I’d love to.’
Shane blew a breath out of his mouth. ‘Good. I’ll pick you up around six?’
‘Okay,’ she said, recalling her schedule. She had the early shift.
‘Missy said that you weren’t working tomorrow night.’
‘Missy?’
‘I asked her first before setting up a reservation.’
There weren’t many places around that took reservations. Her mind wandered, wondering what he had in mind for the date.
Before she could ask, he said, ‘You should get going.’
Was he as nervous as she? ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘What’s your address?’ he asked.
She grinned. ‘I thought you had access to town records.’
He chuckled. ‘I do, but I’m a little old-fashioned.’
She gave him the address and slipped into her car. He tapped the top of the roof before heading to the cruiser. Once he was inside, he backed out, giving her enough room to leave first.
As if she’d drunk a shot of espresso, she became hyper-aware of her surroundings during the drive home. She hadn’t been on a date since last year when Dave, a tourist, took her to The Siren – knowing very well she worked there. He’d wanted to use her discount and Missy had stared at her the entire night making googly eyes while Dave droned on about his law firm in Hartford.
But Shane. He was something else. He lived in town. The almost-Chief of Police. This was why she didn’t date locals. What if it didn’t work out? Would their relationship be any more awkward than it had been? She should have thought of that before saying yes.
The tingling in her stomach rebelled against canceling. His nervousness brought a smile to her face and didn’t leave her lips until she wrapped her bedsheets around her body and fell asleep.