She said, “Oh.” She shouldn’t have been surprised by the communications equipment. In his real world, Wyatt probably had every gadget known to mankind. After a few flips through the results of her internet search on her phone screen, she said, “There’s a place right off the highway about a mile down the road.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.”
They drove the mile, took the exit ramp and stopped in the parking lot of a car dealer. Shiny new cars, SUVs, trucks and vans greeted them.
She slid off the bike. “Wow. There are so many cars here.”
Wyatt smoothed his hand along the fender of a brandnew red truck. “Too bad you need a van.” He whistled as he walked along the back panels. “Look at this thing.”
She laughed. “You should buy it for yourself.”
He lovingly caressed some chrome. “I should.” He turned toward the big building behind the rows and rows of vehicles. “I think I’ll just go find a salesman.”
He came back ten minutes later with a salesman who first told him all the finer points of the brand-new red truck, then turned to her as Wyatt climbed into the truck cab.
“I hear you need a van.”
She smiled slightly. “Yes.”
“Do you know what you want?”
“Yes. A white one.”
He laughed. “No. I was talking about engine size, cargo bay versus seating.”
Wyatt jumped out of the truck. “She wants a V-8, with seats that retract so that she has enough space to deliver goods.”
“What kind of goods? How much space?”
“She bakes wedding cakes. The space doesn’t need to be huge. We just need to know that the van can be easily air-conditioned.”
“Are you sure she doesn’t want to order a refrigerated van?”
Missy opened her mouth to speak, but Wyatt said, “She’s on a limited budget. She doesn’t need to go overboard.”
They looked at several vans. Test drove three. In the end, she bought a white van that was used rather than new. She didn’t know anything about refrigerated vans, but it sounded like something she might need in the future. Given that the used van was twelve thousand dollars less than a new one, she wouldn’t be wasting as much if she decided a year or two from now to get the refrigerated van. Exclusively for business. She might even be able to keep the used van for her kids.
She suddenly felt like a princess—buying what she needed, planning to buy something even better in the future.
They walked into the office to write up the papers for her van. She called the bank and made arrangements to do a wire transfer of the purchase price, then signed on the dotted line.
The salesman stapled her papers together and gave her a set. “Okay. Van will be delivered tomorrow morning.”
He then passed a bunch of papers to Wyatt. “And for the truck.”
He said, “Thanks,” and signed a few things.
The salesman handed him the keys. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. McKenzie. You know, if you get tired of the red one, I also have it in blue and yellow.”
Wyatt laughed.
It was then that it hit her how rich he was. Sure, she’d always known in an abstract way that he had money. But watching him see something he wanted and buy it without a moment’s hesitation or a single second thought made it real. This guy she liked, someone who was a friend, had more money than she could even imagine.
They walked out into the bright sunshine. He slid onto the bike. She put the helmet on her head and got on behind him. As he started off, she slid her arms around his waist and squeezed her eyes shut. He was so far out of her league. So different than anybody she knew.
Sadness made her sigh. Still, she leaned in close to him. Because he couldn’t see her, she let her eyes drift shut, and enjoyed the sensation of just holding him. Because he was tempting. Because she was grateful. Because for once in her life, she really, really wanted somebody, but she was smart enough to know she couldn’t have him.
And if she didn’t take this chance to hold him, to feel the solidness of him beneath her chest, she might not ever get another.
When they returned to his gram’s, she removed the helmet. He looped the strap over the handlebars.
“So? Fun?”
She refused to let her sadness show and spoil their day. “Oh, man. So much fun. I loved the bike ride, but I loved buying the van even more. I’ve never been able to get what I wanted. I’ve always had to take what I could afford.”
He grinned. “It’s a high, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I’m not going to let myself get too used to it. For me, it’s all part of getting my business up and running.”
He nodded. “So, go feed the kids lunch and I’ll be over around two to play with Owen.”
She said, “Okay,” and turned to go, but then faced Wyatt again. He was great. Honest. Open. Generous. And she’d always had her guard up around him. But now he knew her secret. He knew the real her. And he still treated her wonderfully.
She walked over and stood on her tiptoes. Intending to give him a peck on his check, in the last second she changed her mind. When her toes had her tall enough to reach his face, she kissed his lips. One soft, quick brush of her mouth across his that was enough to send electricity to her toes.
“Thanks.”
He laughed. “I’d say you’re welcome, but you owed me that kiss.”
“I did?”
“If you’d kept our date graduation night, you’d have kissed me.”
“Oh, really?”
“I might have been a geek, but that night I knew what I wanted and I was getting it.”
She laughed, but stopped suddenly.
“What?”
She shook her head, turned away. “It’s nothing.”
He caught her hand and hauled her back. “It’s something.”
She stared at the front of his T-shirt. “The first day you arrived, I wanted to say I was sorry I broke that date.” She swallowed. “I was all dressed to go, on my way to the door…” She looked up. “But my dad hit my mom. Bloodied her lip.”
Wyatt cursed. “You don’t have to tell me this.”
“Actually, I want to. I think it’s time to let some of this out.” She held his gaze. “I trust you.”
“Then why don’t we go into the house and you can tell me the whole story?”
She almost told him she should get back to the kids, but her need to rid herself of the full burden of this secret told her to take a few minutes, be honest, let some of this go.
She nodded and they walked to the back door of his grandmother’s house and into her kitchen. He made a pot of coffee, then leaned against the counter.
“Okay…so what happened that night?”
“We’d had a halfway decent graduation. It was one of those times when Dad had to be on his best behavior because we were in public, so everything went well. I actually felt normal. But driving home, he stopped at a bar. When he got home, he freaked out. He’d been on good behavior so long he couldn’t keep up the pretense anymore and he exploded. He slammed the kitchen door, pivoted and hit my mom. Her lip was bleeding, so I took her to the sink to wash it off and get