Rescue Me

you?”
    “Why?”
    Because she shouldn’t be driving around in shock. He let go of her wrist, then grabbed her shoes and keys from the desk. “I’ll drive you.”
    “You don’t have to.”
    He dropped to one knee and put her flip-flops on her feet. “I know I don’t.” He rose and placed his hand on the small of her back.
    She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
    She wasn’t hysterical, but probably not anywhere near okay. They moved down the hall, her shoes softly slapping the soles of her feet. “Will Clara Anne contact everyone for you?”
    “I don’t know.” They stopped and he pulled a set of keys out of his pants pocket. “I should probably tell her.”
    Vince looked across his shoulder into Sadie’s face as he locked the back door of the Gas and Go. “You didn’t tell her before you left?”
    Sadie shook her head. “She would have asked questions and I don’t know anything yet.” Together they moved to his truck and he helped her into the passenger seat. “I’ll call her from the hospital when I know something.”
    Vince grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler in the bed, then moved around to the other side and climbed inside. As he started the car, he handed her the water and studied Sadie’s face. She looked a bit pale, that certain shade of shock white. Her blue eyes were dry, and for that he was grateful. He hated to see women or children cry. It was a cliché, he knew, but he’d rather face a tribe of Taliban insurgents. He knew what to do with terrorists, but crying women and children made him feel helpless.
    He pulled out of the parking lot and asked for the address of the hospital. She gave it to him and he plugged it into his GPS. Silence filled the truck as she unscrewed the bottle. He didn’t know what to say, and he waited for her to talk so he could take his cue from her. He drove a few blocks and turned onto the highway. When she finally did say something, it was not what he expected.
    “Am I the only woman you’re sleeping with at the moment?”
    He glanced at her, then back at the road. “What?”
    “It’s okay if I’m not.” She took a drink. “I’m just wondering.”
    Okay his ass. No matter what a woman said, she was never “okay” with that shit. “ That’s what you want to talk about?”
    She nodded. “It’s half an hour to Amarillo, Vince. I can’t talk about my daddy right now.” She placed a hand on her chest as if she could keep everything inside. She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “I can’t do it. Not yet. Not until after I know everything.” Her voice wavered and almost broke. “If I start to cry, I won’t stop. Talk to me please. Talk to me so I won’t think about my daddy dying all alone without me there. Talk about anything.”
    Shit . “Well,” he said as he looked back at the highway, “you are the only woman I’ve slept with for a long time.” He still couldn’t believe he’d fallen asleep in her bed. He hadn’t allowed that to happen since he’d left the teams. If that hadn’t been bad enough, he got busted like a kid sneaking out. “And ‘at the moment’ you are the only woman I’m having sex with.”
    “Oh.” She looked out the passenger window and screwed the cap back on the bottle. “At the moment you are the only man I’m having sex with.” She paused for a few seconds, then added, “In case you were wondering.”
    “I wasn’t. No offense, darlin’, but I’ve met some of the single men Lovett has to offer.”
    She looked down and almost smiled. “There are some really good guys here. Not that I want to date any of them. Mostly because I’ve known most of them since grade school and remember when they used to pick their noses.” The corner of her lip quivered as if for a few seconds she’d forgotten where they were going and why, then suddenly remembered. “Thank God I didn’t sleep with any of them.”
    That surprised him a little. Probably because he’d grown up in several small towns and there hadn’t been a lot to do but roll around in hay fields. “None?”
    She shook her head. “I didn’t lose my virginity until I went away to college.”
    “What was his name?”
    “Frosty Bassinger.” Her voice wavered.
    “ Frosty? ” He chuckled. “You gave it up for a guy named Frosty?”
    “Well, his real name was Frank.” She unscrewed the cap and took a drink from the bottle. “How old were you?”
    “Sixteen. She was eighteen and her name was Heather.”
    Sadie choked.