Free California Girl by Patricia Rice Page B

hadn’t robbed the bank. Maybe that
uniqueness was what they should advertise.
    “What does your Rover look like?” she asked as the first
sign of the town appeared in the windshield.
    “Black.” Idjit . He
should have told her that sooner, but he’d been worried about her concentrating
on traffic. “Missouri plates, luggage rack, no distinctive markings.”
    Elliot scanned the street for the big vehicle. On the narrow
two-lane with parallel parking that comprised the few blocks of the business
district, it should stand out like a sore thumb. He didn’t see it anywhere.
    “Does it have one of those computer navigation systems?” she
asked with wide-eyed interest.
    “Yeah, but I can’t imagine Mame using it. I’d feel better if
I knew she could. What if she’s lost?”
    “She’d ask directions.” Laughter definitely tinted her
voice. “Boys prefer toys.”
    “Why would Mame be interested in Jesse James?” he wondered
aloud to divert her train of thought. Yeah, he liked toys. And no, he didn’t
like asking for directions. But she’d already guessed that.
    “I believe it was her husband who liked outlaws. He was
apparently a bit of a thrill-seeker, rode the rodeo, flew balloons, drove a
Harley. Maybe he considered himself an outlaw.”
    “Mame married an idiot like that?” Elliot could have bit his
tongue but it was too late.
    She laughed and scanned a line of cars down a side road
while they waited at an intersection. “Mame was quite proud that he’d done what
he wanted to do before he died. I suspect he would have mellowed as he grew
older, but he never had that chance.”
    It was amazing that Mame hadn’t died, too, given the family
curse. Elliot rubbed the ache developing in his midsection.
    “Where’s the restaurant?” He’d had enough psych courses to
know fear of death led to life-paralysis. He didn’t need to dive down that
path.
    “On the corner over there. There was a parking space down
that side street. Why don’t I circle around, park there, and we can walk and
stretch our legs?” Apparently catching his resistance, she added, “We can look
down side streets easier.”
    “And everyone in town can see us coming in this pink
elephant,” he admitted. “So would Mame.”
    He wasn’t accustomed to anyone else driving, and it was all he
could do not to press his foot against an imaginary brake or shout she was too
close to the curb while she maneuvered the Caddy around the block and into a
parallel-parking space.
    Every head on the street turned as they climbed out of
Beulah. The cracked window and listing trunk didn’t add to the Caddy’s pink
charm. By the time he walked around the hood, Alys had already started down the
sidewalk, oblivious to the stares they attracted.
    “Oh, I haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid!” She
darted into a nearby store just as he caught up with her.
    Wondering if he was expected to follow, Elliot realized he
hadn’t spent enough time in the company of others lately to remember how
shopping together worked.
    Figuring he’d lose her if he left her—not a bad idea except
she had the keys and the itinerary—he glanced up and down the street for any
sign of Mame. Finding none, he stopped at the store window to see what had
caught Alys’s eye.
    A display of old-fashioned toys.
    Shoving his hands into his pockets, he studied the wooden
letter blocks, an old Tonka tractor, a whirligig, a hula hoop, and a baby doll
in a christening gown. If she came out with the doll, he was heading for the
hills. He didn’t want to be anywhere in the vicinity of a female with a ticking
biological clock. He smiled at the old plastic doctor’s bag with a stethoscope.
He’d had one of those.
    Alys bounced out before he had time to worry that she’d
escaped through a back door. He was actually looking forward to seeing what
she’d purchased. Obviously, he’d been under too much stress lately.
    She waved a colorful aluminum whirligig like a magic wand
under