was an innate innocence that radiated from her, it signaled all these Cro-Magnon impulses in me. I wanted to protect her from harm, I wanted to take care of her, I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to my cave.
I hadn’t felt that way, that protective about anyone since Rachel. But even then, I think we got together when we were so young that I didn’t think of her like that. It was puppy love that developed into real love. Or at least I thought it was real love.
“Um… okay, well… I guess she got the wrong date.” She looked down at the large basket of muffins and bit the inside of her lip. “I don’t think these will keep. Do you think, if I left them here, they would get eaten?”
“They’ll get devoured.” My voice dropped lower when I said devoured and when it did, I noticed a change in Sasha’s face.
Color flushed on her cheeks just like yesterday after we’d kissed.
She set the muffins just inside the door. “Can you tell me where the church is from here?”
She didn’t strike me as particularly religious and she was dressed more for the lake than the house of the Lord. But I supposed He wouldn’t care how she showed up, just that she did. “You’re going to Sunday service?”
“Oh no.” She shook her head. “I um…I left my car there yesterday.”
That made more sense. “I can give you a ride.”
Those sandals didn’t look like they’d hold up on the mile or so walk.
“Oh, that’s okay. I can call an Uber.” She blinked and shook her head. “Shit, no I can’t. My phone is dead.”
“Wouldn’t have mattered anyway. We don’t really have Uber in Wishing Well.”
“Really?”
“I don’t mind taking you.” In fact, I’d be looking forward to it.
“Um…are you allowed to leave?”
“I think the boys can hold down the fort for a few minutes.” I pointed to the Three Stooges, who were all still looking out the window.
Her head tilted to the side. “Are they eating popcorn?”
“Yeah, they were enjoying the show.”
“What show?” she inquired.
“My ex was just here.”
Recognition lit on her face. “Rachel?”
“You know her?”
“I met her at the wedding yesterday.”
She remembered meeting Rachel but had no memory of the kiss we’d shared? I wasn’t sure what that said about my skills or lack thereof.
“She seems nice.”
“She is.” Nice she could do in spades; it was loyalty and faithfulness she had an issue with. “So do you want a lift?”
“Um, yeah. If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not at all.” I grabbed my keys off the hook.
“I’m just out here.” As we walked around the back to my truck, there were whistles and catcalls from the peanut gallery.
“They don’t get out much,” I explained as I opened the passenger side door.
I held out my hand and she placed hers in mine as she stepped up on the sideboard. When she stepped up it brought us face to face. There was a moment, less than a second, that I was sure she was going to lean forward and kiss me again. Because make no mistake, she’d been the one to make the first move yesterday.
But just when I thought it was going to happen, she blinked looking confused and uncertain. Shaking her head slightly, she climbed into my truck. When her feet were in, I shut the door.
As I walked around to my side, I wasn’t sure what had just happened. But something had definitely just transpired between us. I was still trying to put my finger on it when I got into the driver’s seat. Just like the first time I’d seen her yesterday, there’d been a vibe, as my sister said, between us. A moment. Something that I’d never felt with anyone else.
The second I shut my door I became very aware of the fact that we were in a very small, very confined space. My palms tingled and dampened as I wrapped my fingers around the steering wheel.
I felt like an awkward pre-teen that didn’t know how to talk to girls. Or at least, this is what I imagined that kid would feel like. I’d never had that issue. But then again, Rachel had been my first real relationship and we’d been together since we were twelve.
Maybe I would’ve gone through an awkward stage.
“Thank you, again, for taking me.” Sasha’s voice sounded quiet and unsure. She might not remember the kiss we’d shared, but she had to feel what I felt now