Free Meeting Mr. Right by Deb Kastner Page A

different than the others for her? Nothing was ever easy for her. It never had been. Scaling brick walls had become her specialty, both literally and figuratively.
    She sighed again, even louder this time. At this rate she would have to flag down a trucker—assuming, of course, that one would drive by. More than likely she’d be sitting on the road for quite some time.
    Not exactly how she’d planned to spend her day.
    Holding her cell phone as high as she could reach in the air, which wasn’t saying much at her five feet two inches, she walked around in ever-increasing circles, watching for bars to appear in the corner of her phone, turning this way and that in an unscripted cellular-tower dance that left her feeling silly and embarrassed.
    If someone saw her now, how they would laugh, watching her waving her phone in the air as if that would somehow make any difference in the signal strength. It was a hopeless cause, as well she knew.
    She’d just decided to return to her truck and wait for a Good Samaritan to pass by when a single bar flickered in the upper-left corner of her phone.
    “Yes!” she exclaimed, freezing in place so she would not lose the signal. “Hold it...” she squeaked, “please, God, let the signal hold until I can dial someone to come pick me up.”
    She paused, her arm still extended high in the air. Now that she finally had a connection, she wasn’t sure who to dial. She didn’t have a phone book handy to call the auto shop back in town, and her brother Eli was working his shift at the police station. He’d probably come get her if she asked, but she didn’t want him to neglect his duties, and it wasn’t like it was an emergency for 911.
    At least, not yet, it wasn’t. The future remained to be seen.
    At length, she settled on calling her father. She knew he hadn’t left the house much since her mother had died, but she was certain he’d make an exception for her.
    However, after speaking to him and tossing around a few other options, they decided that it would be better for him to call Derek’s Auto Garage where Ben worked and have them meet her here with a tow truck. They’d be able to bring her truck back into town with them and not leave it temporarily abandoned on the side of the highway.
    The sooner they started fixing it, the sooner they would be finished. Vee groaned at the thought of an expensive car repair bill. Yet another stress point she didn’t need right now, but since she used her truck for work, it was a necessity to get it fixed as soon as possible.
    The sun was shining and it was a nice, temperate spring day in Texas, so Vee yanked down the tailgate of her truck and perched herself, legs swinging off the edge, to wait for the tow. She wished she had a book to read. Who knew how long it would be before the tow truck showed up? Her best guess was that she was a good twenty miles from town, and tow truck drivers were notorious for taking their own sweet time. She figured she might as well enjoy the fresh air while she waited.
    In truth, it was little time at all. She was surprised when a scant fifteen minutes later she heard the rumbling of a tow truck thundering down the highway.
    She was even more surprised to find that it was Ben Atwood behind the wheel, accompanied by two black-haired, green-eyed boys. Of course, she’d known that he worked at his uncle Derek’s garage, but she had no idea that he was the tow truck operator, too.
    She smiled at the wiggling youngsters as Ben pulled his truck next to hers. Even a casual observer could see the kids were clearly related to Ben. They must be his nephews, Vee thought.
    Ben pulled in front of her and then backed the tow truck close enough to hook Vee’s truck up to it.
    “Hey, Vee,” he greeted as he stepped out of the cab. “Having a little engine trouble, are we?”
    “Apparently,” she answered mildly, tongue in cheek. “Thanks for coming so quickly, although I’ve got to say that I’m surprised to see