"But I will," said Caleb dead serious.
"Let's take a walk around," said Ally, shaken by Caleb's intensity. "I'm sure nothing is amiss." Caleb took the keys from her shaking hands. His touch sent shivers down her spine.
"You're scared?" asked Caleb. He engulfed her small hand into his and they walked around checking rooms carefully. Tank followed them throughout the house and seemed anxious to go outside when they did. Things looked normal and Caleb did see a squad car on his property in the back of Ally's yard. They walked back into the house and as Caleb started to leave, Ally touched his shirt sleeve gently.
"Thanks," she said softly.
"You're very welcome, ma'am." He grabbed her hands and kissed them softly, making Ally almost moan out loud because of the sensuous touch of his lips on her skin. Caleb stared at her for a long moment before he left.
Ally trembled as she watched him leave. This couldn't be happening to her.
Chapter Ten
After making the appointment for her car's inspection, Ally looked up on Mapquest the best way to get to the dealership. She then entered the address in her iPhone. The directions gave a time estimate, which proved to be quite far from where she lived, but the dealer had promised they were in the process of building another dealership closer to Argyle..
Ally slipped on a nice skirt, high-heeled sandals and felt pleased with the effort. For the last couple of days, she had had on nothing but jeans. As she stepped out into the garage, she grabbed a bottle of water for the ride. Because she hadn't worn heels in a long time, she stumbled on the steps and twisted her ankle. "Great," she muttered and looked at the heel of her shoe. It appeared to be okay, but didn't feel right not to start the day by almost breaking her ankle. Once again, she stumbled on her heels as she exited the car at the insurance agency and attributed it to being clumsy. Everything appeared fine, but it amazed Ally the cost of driver's insurance in Texas.
"It's the way we drive," explained the agent. "You'll learn soon enough."
Ally laughed politely at this remark and left the office with some hesitation. Even though she had a New York license, most of her time had been spent in a cab. The only time she drove was down to Pennsylvania for her pistol lessons. She thought she could handle Texas. As she followed the directions on her phone, she soon learned the agent had not been kidding. Drivers were doing at least ten miles above the speed limit while talking on their cell phones. The other difference occurred at the intersections where it became a game of chicken of who could cross the intersection first.. What really did her in happened on the highway when the pickup truck behind her couldn't wait for the traffic. He went off the highway, down the ravine and merged onto the service road. By the time she had reached the dealership, she definitely had been unnerved.
As she walked into the dealership, Ally tripped again, only to find the base of her sandal had separated from the top. She stopped in frustration as options ran across her mind. She couldn't take off her shoes and walk barefoot into the office and she didn't have another pair of shoes. This day had gone from bad to worse. Thinking quickly, she shuffled her way slowly hoping no one would notice her.
"You must be Ally," commented the representative as she walked into the office.
"Yes, that's me," said Ally.
"Have a seat while I go through this paperwork." Ally sat quietly as he copied information from her insurance registration and title. "How has Texas been treating you?"
"It's been an adventure." Ally didn't know quite how to respond.
The agent looked up at her. "An adventure?"
"Never a dull moment, that's for sure."
He smiled and beamed with pride for his home state. "You'll love it here. Stay put and I'll be back with the keys for your loaner." He disappeared leaving Ally alone. The minute he left, Ally looked at her shoe and at the scotch tape on his desk. She quickly tried to tape the soul of the shoe back to the top. She just finished as he came back with the keys.
"It's this black vehicle right out there. This is what we drive in Texas."
"It's
so
big," commented Ally as she looked at the gigantic SUV. "Don't you have anything smaller?"
"Not for a loaner," he replied. "Let me show you how this works because it's different than your car." He demonstrated how Ally could give the vehicle voice commands to do what she wanted it to do.
"That's it?" Ally felt a little, well, a lot, intimated by this huge vehicle but she came from New York, right? She wasn't going to show any fear. "How long will you have my car?
"Could be a couple of days," he replied with a smile. "Now you do know where you're going?"
Ally patted the phone and stepped into the vehicle with false bravado. "Drive." The car took off like a shot and Ally screamed, "Stop!" The vehicle came to a halt and Ally stepped on the brake at the same time. Her broken sandal went flying into the passenger seat.
"Are you okay?" The representative came running over.
"I'd like to try this manually," commented Ally calmly.
"Sure." He leaned over and pushed a button. "You're all set."
"Thanks." Ally could tell he snickered and she would probably be the joke of the day. She glanced over at her broken shoe and hoped she wouldn't get stopped. With her luck, they'd fine her for driving barefoot. She reprogrammed her address into the phone and asked for another route to avoid the highway. It took over an hour and a half to get home, but she wanted to avoid getting stopped.
As she pulled into her driveway, she noticed Caleb's truck parked outside her garage and he talking to a couple of men while gesturing to Ally's landscaping.
Caleb heard the unknown vehicle drive down the driveway. He glanced up and realized it belonged to Ally. He broke into a wide grin and waited for her to get out of the car.
Mortified, Ally shook her head. Why oh why did he have to be here when she looked like a bedraggled, homeless woman? She held up her chin and exited the vehicle in bare feet; the broken sandals swinging in her hand.
"Ally?" Caleb burst into laughter as she walked up to the group. "Honey, what happened?"
"It has not been one of my better days," she said stiffly.
"Only you," said Caleb trying hard to control his laughter. "Ally, this is Max, the landscaper I recommended to y'all? He said he'd be happy to have you as a customer."
"Hello, Max," said Ally politely and shook his hand.
"He doesn't speak English," whispered Caleb into Ally's ear.
"Hola," replied Ally and Max smiled widely revealing gold crowned teeth that sparkled in the sunlight.
"Muchas gracias, senorita," replied Max.
"I'll take it from here," explained Caleb and he and Max went back and forth in Spanish. They finally came to an agreement and Max left.
"What did I just agree to?" asked Ally. She felt tired, hungry and frustrated.
"You look like you could use a drink," said Caleb as he put his arm around her shoulder and walked her to the house.
"You've got that right," grumbled Ally. She went straight for the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. Caleb opened it up and poured a glass for her while he poured some whiskey. Ally went to the refrigerator and got some grapes, cheese and crackers. She arranged them on a plate and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" Ally nibbled on a cracker.
"What happened?" Caleb asked.
"Here I am being responsible, trying to get these moving chores done. I knew something wasn't right with the shoe before I left the house, but didn't think anything about it." She stopped and ate some grapes while Caleb assembled quite the cheese cracker sandwich.
"Don't you carry another pair of shoes in the car in case it breaks down?"
"No. That's too sensible, right?" Ally looked at Caleb, not at all amused he had been trying not to laugh. "It's not funny."
"Ally, you are priceless. My life has been so boring until you came along." Caleb leaned over and gave her hand a playful squeeze. "Now, go on."
"I went to the insurance agent and when she told the rates, I just went through the roof. She said they base their rates on the way people drive around here. It's terrible, Caleb, people talking on their cell phone and cutting other drivers off? I thought I was going to get killed."
"You've gotta get used to it, Ally. It's a way of life. Now, when did the shoes break?"
"I'm not done yet." Ally took a long sip of wine. "When I got to the dealership, I realized one of them had broken and I tried to use scotch tape to fix it. And did you see that monster out there? You can talk to it to tell it what you want it to do. We don't speak the same language."
"Ally." Caleb's eyes watered because he could no longer stifle the laughter.
"When I slammed on the brake, the bottom part of my shoe came off and landed on the passenger seat. They put in on manual for me so I could drive home. I'm the laughingstock of the day. Caleb, it's not funny."
"I can't help it. You sound like Lucy Arnez."
"Well, I'm glad I made you laugh today." Ally started to smile and then the giggles came and she demonstrated how everything played out.
"What are you going to do about dinner?" asked Caleb once they had stopped laughing.
"This is dinner," said Ally as she pointed to the bottle of wine. "Since I've moved to Texas, y'all have made me into a drunk."
"That's not funny." Caleb was somber. "I have friends who are struggling to stay sober."
"I'm sorry." Ally stood to get something out of the closet and Caleb stood right behind her.
"Ally?" Caleb put his arms around her and turned her to face him. "My brother had been an alcoholic and it killed him."
"I am so sorry." Ally met Caleb's gaze and once again melted into his green eyes.
"It’s hard and I think that's what killed my dad." Caleb noticed Ally staring at his lips.
"If there's anything," Ally stopped as Caleb brought his lips on top of hers. Caleb's hold on Ally tightened and the kiss deepened. Ally's tongue met Caleb's. They sensually danced, teased and taunted. Caleb's hands tightened in Ally's hair willing her to be a part of him.