Free Never Let You Down: The Connaghers, Book 4 by Joely Sue Burkhart Page B

that’s all Miss Belle ever drives.”
    He shut the door and walked around to his side. That’s exactly why I bought this beast as soon as I set my mind on coming back to find you.
    He buckled his seat belt and then noticed she was having a hard time buckling hers with one hand. Not that Virginia Connagher would ever deign to ask for help. He leaned over and pulled the belt for her. “Do you remember the first time you drove a Caddy?”
    As he hoped, the question distracted her long enough that he was able to get her buckled in safely without her biting his head off. “Not really. Miss Belle’s was off limits and she was too damned psychic. If I even thought about touching the door handle, she’d march up and wallop me with that deadly parasol she used to carry around to protect her precious porcelain skin from the Texas sun.”
    He drove down the driveway to the main blacktop into town. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she didn’t remember. He’d treasured so many precious little moments, while she’d apparently blocked everything from her memory. “You were going crazy that you couldn’t drive Miss Belle’s car when you liked it so much. So one day I borrowed Dad’s car while he was seeing patients and took you for a ride.”
    “Borrowed? Weren’t we pulled over and practically arrested?”
    “ I was practically arrested. Until the new deputy called Dad to the scene and he realized I’d taken the car.”
    “But wasn’t I driving?” She frowned, as if she was only just letting the scene play through her mind after all these years. “I didn’t even have my license yet. Good God, Jeb, why the hell would you do such a fool thing? What if I’d wrecked that car? Daddy would have—”
    “Paid to have Dad’s car fixed,” Jeb broke in gently. “Miss Belle would have grounded you for a century, or so she would have claimed, but deep down, they would have really just been relieved that you were okay.”
    “Didn’t you get in trouble?”
    “Sure did. I was grounded for two months and had to clean Dad’s clinic every night after dinner. Plus I lost my driving privileges.”
    “You rode your bike to school,” she said softly. “Why on earth did you do such a thing?”
    He glanced over at her, catching her gaze for just a moment. She honestly doesn’t know. He sighed and turned his attention to the road. For not the first time in his life, he wished Tyrell hadn’t bought land so far out in the middle of nowhere. “I did it for you.”
    “But why? I mean, honestly, I never asked you to steal a car and risk so much trouble for both of us. Though I guess you sure didn’t have to twist my arm to get me behind the wheel.”
    “Nope,” he replied, smiling at the memory of how her eyes had lit up with excitement. She’d even thrown her arms around his neck in a quick hug before hopping behind the wheel. “Just like I didn’t have to twist your arm when we got caught sneaking into Mr. Tolson’s orchard and stealing peaches. Or when a bunch of us skipped school to go to the beach.”
    “Oh, man, I remember that. None of us had suits but that sure didn’t stop us from stripping down to our skivvies and jumping in. We were crazy fools, weren’t we?”
    “Indeed.” He didn’t dare look at her again because he’d be remembering what she’d looked like in her simple bra and panties. Or how he’d worried that his interest would be too visible in his boxers. Thank God it’d been chilly that day and they’d barely been able to last an hour in the water. “I don’t think Miss Belle ever figured that one out, did she?”
    “Not that I know of. It was senior skip day anyway.”
    He chuckled. “Yeah, but you weren’t a senior, Ginny. Not that one year slowed you down any. You hopped in my car with everyone else and away we went.”
    “Jebadiah Garrett, why on earth did you let me do such a thing?”
    He snorted and shook his head. “Like anything could have stopped you? Besides, you asked me