Free Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood

in the center of the tarp. She stared at it while she casually asked, “What is all this?”
    “Parts…belongs inside your car. I ran into a few problems,” he continued. He couldn’t quite look her in the eye. “I was wanting to make sure it was a leak in the radiator and not something else, so I pulled the hose to check for a tear and there wasn’t any, and then I decided to check the clamp, and it was okay, and then I decided I might as well check a couple of other things too. And what do you know…the leak turned out to be in the radiator after all, just like I suspected. Better safe than sorry, don’t you think? And I’m not charging extra for the extra work. A thank-you will be fine. Oh, and one more thing,” he added in another rush. “I’ll get it fixed by tomorrow noon, like I promised.”
    She took a deep breath. “You promised it would be fixed by noon today.” She was so furious she’d been played, her voice shook.
    “No, you made an assumption.”
    “You promised noon today,” she repeated forcefully.
    “No, I never said today. That’s where the assumption part comes in. I just said noon. I didn’t say noon today or noon tomorrow.” And without pausing for breath, he asked, “Since you’re going to have to stay in town another night and don’t know a soul, how about having dinner with me?”
    Lloyd apparently lived in another dimension.
    “Put it all back. Put it all back now.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me. I want you to put everything back where it belongs. Do it now, please.”
    Lloyd must not have liked the look in her eyes because he took a hasty step back. “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got another job to finish first.”
    “Really? Then you weren’t taking a nap when I walked in?”
    “I wasn’t napping. I was taking a break.”
    She knew it would be pointless to argue with him. “When will my car be ready?”
    “Noon tomorrow,” he said. “See what just happened here? I said noon tomorrow, so I can’t get out of it. Once I say something, it’s said.”
    She blinked. What in heaven’s name was that supposed to mean? Maybe she hadn’t heard him correctly. “Once you say something…”
    “It’s said,” he repeated with a nod. “And that means I can’t take it back.”
    “I would like you to put it in writing,” she said. “Guarantee the time the car will be ready and the price,” she added. “Then sign it.”
    “All right. I’ll do it,” he promised as he turned and went inside the shop. He came back out a minute later with a pad and a pen. He leaned against the car as he wrote and signed the guarantee. He even dated it without being asked.
    “Satisfied?” he asked after he’d given her the paper and she’d read it.
    She nodded. “I’ll be back here at noon tomorrow. Don’t disappoint me.”
    “What are you gonna do? Hurt me?”
    “I might.” She started to walk away.
    “Hold on now.”
    “Yes?”
    “You’ve got to eat sometime. What about having dinner with me?”
    She attempted to be gracious as she declined his invitation. She even went so far as to thank him for inviting her. He seemed placated when she left him.
    Her steps slowed as she walked over to Jaffee’s Bistro. It was beastly hot. By the time she got there, she was dying from the heat and the humidity. How did the residents of Serenity stand it? The temperature on the thermometer outside the restaurant registered ninety-eight.
    Angela was carrying a plate to one of the tables when Jordan walked in.
    “Hey, Jordan.”
    “Hey, Angela.” Good Lord, now she was beginning to sound like a local. The realization made her smile.
    “You want your usual table? Let me just clear it for you.”
    The restaurant was nearly full, and all the customers watched her as she made her way to the corner table. They were obviously curious about outsiders.
    “Are you in a hurry, or can you do with iced tea for a little bit?”
    “I can wait, and tea would be great.”
    Angela brought the