Free One Night In Reno by Rogenna Brewer Page B

could protest.  “Have a safe trip.”  Tipping his ball cap with the SEAL Team Eleven designation, he sauntered off toward the phone booth to make a call he’d been putting off for too long. 
    Feeding the pay phone coins from his pocket, he wondered what her story was—a single mom down on her luck?  A very young, single mom from the look of it.  Early twenties, if he had to guess.  His gut twisted into tight little knots.  He remembered exactly what those kinds of hunger pangs felt like.
    Garrett punched the numbers by rote.  This wasn’t a call he wanted to make using his cell phone.  Damn caller ID.  An eighteen-wheeler rolled by on the highway and he switched the phone to his good ear as he waited through several more rings.   
    Finally, he got through to a recorded voice...  “We’re sorry...the number you have reached has been disconnected.”
    #
    Jenny stole a glance in the rear view mirror as she put the key in the ignition.  Her Good Samaritan leaned into the pay phone.  He had to have dropped the twenty on purpose.  She would have noticed money lying on the ground.
    Uniforms hung in his car.  A pilot from the Naval Air Station they’d passed?  What kind of pilot worried about fitting into a wetsuit? 
    Whatever he was, she wished he’d looked at her with less pity.
    Grateful, however, that he’d felt something, she shifted her gaze to Josh.  As he chomped down on the banana, her stomach churned and she broke out the candy.  The chocolate would only melt as the day grew hotter anyway.  She turned the key in the ignition--nothing.  She tried again--still nothing.  Her stomach turned over with dread.
    “Come on, come on.”  She pumped the gas pedal.  Her pleas didn’t work this time.  Popping the hood, she got out and searched for a way to release the catch.
    “Problem?”  Her Good Samaritan hung up the phone and headed toward her. 
    “Can’t get it started.” 
    He did something to the catch, and then propped the hood. 
    “I just replaced the battery,” she said.  “Plus paid four hundred dollars yesterday to keep it running...”  Once she realized she was babbling she trailed off.
    “It’s just a coil,” he said.  Not to worry.  I can fix it.  But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, this isn’t a new battery.  See here…?”  He pointed out the telltale signs of rust and corrosion as he reconnected the coil. 
    Jenny liked to think she had enough street smarts not to let people take advantage of her, but in the past seventy-two hours, she’d found out differently.
    “Go ahead and start it up,” he said.
    “Mom?”  Josh demanded her attention as she climbed behind the wheel and turned the key.
    “Just a minute, hon. ”  The engine turned over on the first try.  The hole in the muffler made the roar almost deafening. 
    Her Good Samaritan lowered the hood.  Coming around to her side of the car, he shut her door tight and leaned into her window.  “All set.” 
    “Thank you.” 
    “Not a problem.  Name’s Garrett, by the way.  Garrett Erickson.”
    Josh grew impatient in the backseat.  Jenny wasn’t so eager to break the connection to her lifeline.  “Well, thank you...again, Mr. Erickson.”
    “Garrett.  You didn’t tell me your name.”
    “It’s Jenny--”
    “Mom!”  Josh became more insistent.
    “What, Josh?”
    “Buster ate the toothpaste again.”
    She glanced over the headrest at the mess.  “Grab a towel out of the dirty clothes.”
    Josh handed her a clean T-shirt, which she used without hes itation.  Rear end up in the air, she stretched across the seat and put the tooth marked tube back in the over night bag because they had no other option.  As she did, Jenny noticed the open bottle of Motrin.
    “Josh were you in Mommy’s medicine?”
    “No--”
    Even as he said it, Jenny noticed teeth marks on the plastic bottle.  Buster stared up at her with innocent eyes and then retched—right before puking all over