Page 37 of Theirs for the Holidays

Although I started wondering if that was true about an hour ago when my car’s AC started sputtering, leaving me to roll down the windows and hope for a breeze.

I can smell that it’s getting hotter as I keep driving, and I rub my hand over the dashboard. “Come on, baby,” I whisper to it, putting on my blinker to merge into the right lane so I can take the next exit. “Just a little bit longer. Hang in there for me.”

It groans, like it can hear me and it’s tired, and I can’t even be surprised when a few minutes later, the overheating light comeson. I ease the car to the side of the road, and kill the engine, letting it rest for a little bit before I crank it back up.

It tries to turn over, but just ends up grinding a bit, refusing to start.

“No! Don’t do this to me, we’re so close. Come on. Come on, you can do it.”

I try again.

Still nothing.

I lean forward, resting my forehead on the steering wheel, trying to breathe through my frustration.

At least I made it to the side of the road.

When it refuses to start a third time, I give up and get out of the car, lifting up the hood.

Other than being really hot, I have no idea what I’m looking for. It could need coolant or something else entirely, and of course, I don’t have anything that could help with me.

“Hey, what happened?” a deep voice asks from behind me, and I jump, bonking my head on the underside of the hood as I lean back and turn around to see Lennox standing behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, putting a hand over my galloping heart.

“I saw you when I was taking the exit,” he explains. “So I pulled over to see if I could help.”

I knew Lennox was back in town from his deployment, but I haven’t seen him, since I was gone on my trip by the time he was settled in.

Despite being gone so much, he looks mostly the same. Still tall and muscular, clean cut and handsome.

He moves in to lean under the hood with me, and my stomach clenches at him being so close.

“So what’s the issue?” he asks.

I shrug. “I have no idea. It was overheating a bit, so I pulled over to give it a break, but now it won’t start at all. And of course I don’t have any coolant or anything with me.”

“Of course,” he says. “That’s always how it goes. Where are you coming back from?”

I tell him about the graduation trip, and he smiles. “Congrats on that. Graduating.”

“Thanks. Finals kicked my butt, but I was determined to get out of there if I had to stay up all night for the last term to do it.”

“Did it come to that?”

I shake my head. “Not quite. But there were a lot of late nights and a lot of coffee.”

“And you kicked its ass. I’m proud of you.”

My cheeks heat even more from his praise and I offer him a small smile. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“I would have liked to be there to see you walk across the stage and all, but you know.” He shrugs, and I nod.

“I know. The Army waits for no man. How long are you back for anyway?”

“Not much longer. I’ll be shipping out again soon.”

That is how it goes with him. He comes back into town for a little bit, a week or two at most, and then it’s right back out. “I’m sorry I missed you, then. It would have been nice to hang out before you have to go back.”