Need You Now (Love in Unknown) - By Taylor M. Lunsford Page 0,17
Of course, nothing was going the way she expected today. “I walked this morning. Too pretty to waste gas.”
“Can I give you a ride? I know it’s not that far, but I’d feel better if you weren’t walking by yourself.”
Mel looked around for a car, but all she saw was Gage’s Jeep with UNKNOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT emblazoned across the side. “Didn’t you ride with Gage?”
“Nope. I brought the golf cart.” Caine pointed to the side of the house where a golf cart sat. Not just any golf cart, either. The sleek, top of the line vehicle sported the city seal and the label MAYOR MOBILE across the front.
Mel let out a choked laugh. “You’re not serious. You can’t be. There’s no way you drive that thing.”
“Oh, but I do.” Caine smiled ruefully. “Old Mayor Brown couldn’t walk around town very well towards the end, so the Garden Club and the Women’s Auxiliary joined up and raised money to buy the cart for him. When I took over, Jemma Hartsfield made it known that I had better use the damn thing or they would be highly offended.”
She couldn’t help it. In spite of everything, Mel burst out laughing. Maybe she was just a little hysterical. Caine stood there looking chagrined as she gasped for breath until she got herself under control. “I’m sorry. I just…I can only imagine what all of those snotty guys you hung out with in college would say if they saw this.”
“Do you want a ride or not?” he asked with exaggerated patience.
Mel shook her head, still stifling snickers. Through all of the pain and confusion that had been between them at the end, she’d forgotten how much he could make her laugh. If she wasn’t careful, he’d make her forget why she needed to stay mad at him. “No thanks. I’m fine, really. You and your golf cart go on back to City Hall. The walk will do me good. No offense, Mr. Mayor, but it would take a lot to get me in that contraption.”
Feeling better than she had a few minutes ago, Mel began the walk back to Carr’s Cakes. Hopefully Micah wouldn’t object to a little help. A whirring noise behind her drew her attention. As Caine’s golf cart zipped past, she succumbed to another laughing fit. The arrogant, self-important Caine she’d known would never in a million years have lowered himself to drive around in that thing. Looking down at her feet, she began to come to terms with the fact that he’d probably changed a bit more than she was willing to admit. This new Caine was going to make it hard for her to ignore him. She just hoped she could stay strong.
#
Caine couldn’t believe he was doing this. After she turned down his ride this morning, he doubted Mel really wanted to see him, but he had to see her. Despite her laughter, he’d seen how shaken she was by the break-in. Every summer he came home from school, he’d rarely seen Mel because she was always at the clinic, helping Doc Booth and Anna. It was her second home; a safe place where she could practice medicine. Someone had violated her sanctuary. Anger boiled inside of him at the thought. Things like this happened in larger towns, but Unknown’s crime rate was negligible. A few petty crimes and DUI’s. They might have had a homicide case twenty years ago. Stuff like this should happen here.
Going out and catching the bad guy’s was his brother’s job. So Caine had spent the day in his office, restless with the need to somehow fix this for Mel. He counted it a victory that he managed to last until after dinner before showing up on her doorstep. He’d even gone to the store to get a special gift for her. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the aged door of the apartment over the bakery.
Mel pulled the door open and he had to smile. Every time he’d seen her since her return to town, she’d looked perfectly put together, hair sleek and clothes fashionable. Not tonight. With her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, she wore a pair of light blue cotton pajama shorts and a white camisole that peeped out from under a thin gray sweater. God, she looked gorgeous. It never stopped surprising him how beautiful she’d grown in the last ten years. She’d always been pretty in a sweet, innocent sort of way, but wow.