Free Riding the Line by Kate Pearce Page B

Ford?’
    ‘I’m Elias Ford, yeah.’ The man straightened and pushed his glasses higher up his nose. ‘Are you the guy with the big 450?’
    Dakota held out his hand. ‘I am. Can you take a look for me?’
    Elias wiped his fingers on a rag and nodded. ‘Sure can. Any idea what you think it might be?’
    Dakota pushed his Stetson back on his head. From the look of the place, he doubted Elias had access to the latest in computer diagnostic systems.
    ‘I reckon it’s something to do with the trailer brake controller. As I was coming down the long hill, north of the town, I kind of felt the trailer crowding in on me and that’s not good.’
    ‘Were the warning lights working on the controller?’
    ‘Yeah, it was constantly flicking between red and green. After I pulled over, I checked the tires and the axle to make sure they were OK and then the connections to the trailer, but I couldn’t see anything too obvious.’
    Elias grunted and hiked up the straps of his overalls. ‘Sounds like the trailer brake controller all right. It happens a lot on these roads. Let’s go and check it out.’
    Robyn finished her packing and started gathering up Dakota’s stuffas well. It was the least she could do when he was paying for everything. She folded another T-shirt and haphazardly stuffed it into his bag. It was a shame the motel didn’t have a laundry service. Dakota seemed to be running out of clean clothes. How did people wash their clothes in a place like this? She’d have to ask Dakota how he managed.
    She glanced at her watch. Where was he? Surely he’d finished with the truck by now? She chewed her fingernails and contemplated the door. He was definitely getting suspicious about her. Was it time to tell him who she really was? Perhaps revealing her D-list celebrity status would turn out OK. Either he’d feel sorry for her or he’d laugh himself sick. She’d dealt with both reactions before.
    ‘Dammit, Dakota. I can’t sit here all day!’
    She grabbed her purse and sunglasses and flung open the door. Sunlight flooded in, momentarily blinding her.
    ‘Hey, Robyn!’
    She shaded her eyes and saw Dakota coming down the path. He was smiling which had to mean good news, didn’t it? She waited until he walked up to her and then moved back into the welcome shade of the room.
    ‘Can they fix it?’
    He grinned down at her. ‘Yeah, it will be ready to go in a couple of hours. It was the trailer brake controller. The guy even had one in stock, so it’s only going to cost me two hundred bucks, plus labor, of course.’
    Robyn nodded wisely as if she knew what the hell he was talking about. Luckily he was too pleased to notice.
    He glanced around the motel room. ‘Did you pack my stufftoo?’
    She shrugged. ‘Some of it. I wasn’t sure whether we would be staying another night or not.’
    ‘We shouldn’t have to now, although I’ll have to take it easy on the road today.’ He moved around the room picking up odd garments Robyn had missed. ‘We’ve got time to go to the laundromat before the truck will be ready, so grab your stuff.’
    ‘The laundromat?’
    He slung his bag over his shoulder. ‘Yeah. Now don’t tell me. You’ve never been to one of those either. Where were you raised, the moon?’
    She looked him right in the eye. ‘Actually I have been to a laundromat before, who hasn’t?’ She picked up her small bag of clothes, sailed out of the door and hoped her lie was convincing. Dakota locked the door and moved past her, whistling some corny country song that reminded her of her last boyfriend, Damien, a dime-store cowboy if ever she’d seen one. A man who would never get his pointy cowboy boots dirty, unlike the real thing who strode beside her now.
    ‘Where’s the laundromat then?’
    ‘It’s just behind the motel, facing the street.’
    Robyn hoisted her bag higher and tried to keep up. Why did he have to make everything look so effortless? He stopped and held open a door for