road while she was on her way to see Mad Dog one night. They’d identified the driver as Joe Eisenheiser, a local cop who was firmly on Team Freed.
“Newer, but something didn’t look quite right about it. Like it had been in an accident and someone had replaced some parts from the U-Pull-It yard.”
That made perfect sense because Mad Dog and Smoke had taken it upon themselves to bring a bit of Karma to Eisenheiser’s doorstep after Kate’s accident, and his expensive pickup hadn’t fared well.
“It was black or a dark shade of blue or green or something,” Tina continued. “I’m partially color-blind, so I can’t say for sure.” She sighed. “I know that’s not much to go on, but I’ll know it again if I see it.”
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Sandy said.
Murmurs of agreement echoed around the table.
Kate got up. “Right, well, sorry, everyone, but I need to get back to getting dinner ready. I’m sorry you had to deal with all that, Tina.”
“Me, too. It’s been a day.”
“Want to head back to my place for a while?” Doc asked.
She nodded. Doc stood and held out his hand, pleased when Tina accepted it without hesitation.
As they stepped out of the main building and into the lot, Doc caught sight of the damage to Tina’s truck again and felt another wave of something dark and ugly swell in his chest.
Tina must have picked up on it because she squeezed his hand and said, “It’s okay.”
“There’s nothing okay about this. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been on your way here.”
“We don’t know that,” she said.
He knew. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”
“Doc. Stop. I knew what I was getting into,” Tina said. “Well, maybe not the getting shot at part, but I knew there would be consequences, and I still think it’s worth it. In fact, I’m more certain now than ever.”
Her words filled him with warmth.
“You are, huh?”
“I am. That reminds me, I’ve got something for you.”
“For me? What?”
Tina carefully climbed into the back of her truck and went to a large wooden crate held in place by a bungee cord. She opened the crate and removed a picnic basket, handing it to him over the side along with a small cooler.
“What’s all this?” he asked.
“That,” she said, pointing to the cooler, “is the Zook’s chicken I promised you. And that”—she waved her hand toward the picnic basket—“is some new stuff I’ve been working on as well as some old standbys. Kate said you had a thing for peaches.”
“I have a thing for your peaches,” he corrected.
She laughed, a lovely tint creeping up her neck and coloring her cheeks.
Basket in one hand, Tina’s hand in the other, Doc led her to his trailer.
“I was going to suggest a walk along the trail,” he told her, “but maybe just chilling at my place would be better.”
“I’d prefer that, if you don’t mind. My energy level isn’t fully back to where it should be, and after this morning’s excitement, just chilling sounds good to me.”
“Fine by me. How about the joint pain? Any improvement?”
“Some,” she said. “You’d think with all the time I spent lying around the past couple of days, it would be better than it is.”
They reached his trailer.
Doc unlocked the door and opened it for her, noticing her slight grimace as she stepped up into it. “Are you taking anything for it?”
“Just regular OTCs. That’s usually enough to take the edge off, but they haven’t been doing the trick lately. I probably built up a tolerance and should switch it up. It happens sometimes.”
He wanted to ask her more, but she turned around and flashed him a smile that made him forget what he was going to say.
“Fair warning: I got inspired this week and am dying to have someone try out my new recipes.”
“You mean, no one else has tried these before?”
“Not some of them, no. You’ll be the first.”
“I’m honored.”
She extracted a red-and-white checked picnic blanket from the basket and spread it out on the table. After smoothing out the wrinkles, she lined up a variety of jars and sealed containers.
“You really went all out, didn’t you? I thought you were taking it easy.”
“I was. Only a few of them are new. The rest are from my private stash.” She lifted a small, covered glass dish. “Most of these are good at room temperature, but this one and the Zook’s need to be warmed up. Can I use your oven?”