What was it about her that turned every man into a total prick in three months or less? Henry had started out a sweet, slightly nerdy, nice-guy. Then in just ten weeks, while he had been talking about moving in together just a few days earlier, he suddenly had a job in a city three hours away and was moving his furniture when he remembered to call and let her know he was leaving. Just like that. Gone.
The highway was pitch black heading to her sister's beach house. After the call, Erin needed some time away. She had four nights off from her nursing job, so she called Riley and asked if the house was available. Riley was six years older than Erin, and married to a stuffed-shirt, Wall Street type, but she always came through for her baby sis. This was no exception.
Erin had been to the beach house, balanced on its stilts a storey above the sands, last summer with Riley and her kids. She thought she remembered the way, but in the dark, she began to wonder if she'd missed the turn-off.
She slowed her little Tercel in order to peer at the roadside more closely, to see if she could identify any landmarks. There was a loud "pop" followed by an even louder bang, and the steering wheel ripped from her fingers to spin wildly. She slammed on the brakes as she regained her grip on the wheel and managed to get the car to the shoulder.
Resting her head on the steering wheel, Erin took a few deep breaths to still the hammering in her chest. She had never blown a tire before, but from the sound and the way the wheel behaved, she assumed that was what had happened.
She opened her door and stepped out of the car. The driver's side looked fine in the little light provided by her headlights reflecting off the high grass beside the highway.
Walking around the car to the passenger's side, she blew out a breath seeing her rear tire in shreds. Those tires were only a year old! She was going to have a fit when she got home, talking to the manager at her favorite garage.
Lucky for her, she had AAA. Crawling back in the driver's seat, she pulled the card and her phone out of her purse. Damn! No service! Now what was she going to do? She hadn't seen a car for about the last ten minutes. She tried to remember how far back it was to the last gas station, or convenience store, or anything really. She hadn't been paying attention, but she didn't think she'd passed any businesses in a long time.
A sound caused her to jump. It was another of those popping sounds she heard before her tire blew out completely. Great! Was another tire going flat even as she sat there trying to figure out what to do next?
She was about to step out of the car when she saw headlights come over the rise behind her and she remembered to flip on her flashers, hoping the driver was a good Samaritan, not a psycho killer.
An older Durango passed her slowly, pulling in front of her and dropping into park. A dark form of a man stepped out of the drivers seat and headed back toward her. A sudden wariness caused her to lock her door and roll her window down just a couple of inches. The man was caught in the glow of her headlights for just a moment. He looked normal enough, about six feet tall, muscular, dressed in jeans and a button down shirt. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the badge clipped to his belt. What were the chances of the first car along to belong to an office of the law?
