Free Operation Christmas by Barbara Weitz

I’m a little hungry. I came from work.”
    “You worked late tonight?” He’d told her to come at seven-thirty to give her time to go home and have a bite to eat and change.
    “This is a busy time of year with the books,” was her excuse.
    “How about Dickie’s? You mind eating there?”
    “That’s fine. I go there for lunch sometimes.”
    Jess tamped down the hope soaring in his chest. They got their coats and headed out the warehouse door where her Mini Cooper sat outside the shipping dock across from his car. “How you like the Mini?”
    “It’s free. I can’t complain.”
    He shut her door and headed for his car at a trot. Sharp frigid air made every muscle bunch inside his coat. Zero last he looked. After three tours of duty in the desert and now two Illinois winters, his blood still hadn’t accepted the switch. He heard her ignition fire off a series of fast clicks at each turn of the key. He pulled in next to her and hopped out. “Battery dead?”
    “Battery’s brand new.” She shook her head and hit the ignition again.
    He winced. “Stop, Madeleine. You’re not helping it. It sounds like an ignition or fried alternator. Come on. That thing’s not going anywhere tonight.”
    “I can’t just leave it here.”
    “Sure you can. It’s private property. The cops won’t ticket you.”
    “How will I get to work tomorrow?”
    “I’ll pick you up. It’s on the way.”
    Carpooling hit Jess like a lightning bolt. Suddenly, he felt heart-warming love for the fried Mini. The car might provide the catalyst he needed to finally get to know Madeleine. Gain her trust.
    That is if the car needed some extensive repair and sat in a shop for a week or so, a scenario he highly doubted. Which meant he’d better make the most of the moment. They locked up her car after she removed anything she might need the next day.
    “It’s cold like January.” Madeleine shivered as she hurried into his truck.
    “Minus one.” Jess glanced at the truck’s digital temperature and turned up the heater fan. “I’ll have your car pushed into the warehouse tomorrow. I have a couple of guys who work on their cars in the shipping dock from time to time.” Don’t get too excited here, he told himself.
    “You sure?” She stared wistfully at the car as they drove off. “Grams will be upset. She can’t drive anymore but constantly bugs me about taking care of it. She’ll flip with it outside all night.”
    “Better the car than you stuck outside tonight.”
    “I’m not sure my grandmother would agree.”
    Dickie’s, an around-the-clock restaurant, sat at the edge of the industrial park and only ten minutes away.
    Madeleine called home as they drove. “Good news,” she informed him and slipped her cell into her purse. “You won’t have to go out of your way in the morning. Mom can drive me to work.”
    Jess wondered if he’d ever get a break with this woman. Hell, he would have driven way out of his way to spend drive time together and tried not to let disappointment show on his face. “That’s good.”
    One bright spot remained.
    He had possession of her car.

Chapter Seven
    Last night’s plan fell apart in the cold dawn of morning. Madeleine packed her lunch with the phone cradled against her neck. “Mom. I can’t be late. Kurt will go postal.”
    “I can’t help it, Madeleine. Maybe you shouldn’t have abandoned your car.”
    “It wouldn’t start. What was I supposed to do?”
    “I don’t know. Call your dad to jump it.”
    “On a new battery? Jess would have jumped the car, but he said it sounded like something else. Why’d you offer to take me to work if it’s an inconvenience? I could have called a friend, but now it’s too late.”
    Her mother sighed. “You’re stressing me out here. Traffic’s a mess.”
    “Well, I’m pretty stressed myself. See you soon. Bye.”
    She took another drink of hot coffee then dumped the rest. The sudden drama of being a one-car family, and late, hardly