* * *
—
Absorbed in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the truck that pulled up to the parking spot next to her.
“What’s the problem?” The question was barked at her in a voice that was all too familiar.
“Cade?” She whirled around, surprised to see him, and at the same time so grateful she resisted the urge to hug him.
He climbed out of his truck. “I was driving by and noticed you standing here with your hands over your face.”
“I’ve got a flat, AAA can’t come for another hour, and my ice cream is melting,” she blurted out all in one breath. “These tires are new…I don’t understand how this happened.”
Cade squatted down next to the side of her vehicle to examine her tire. When he looked up, his face was marred by a deep frown. “You piss anyone off recently?” he asked.
Her thoughts instantly shot to Scott Pender. “Why?”
“This tire was deliberately cut.”
“What?” she cried, hardly able to believe what he was telling her.
“Take a look for yourself.”
Hope crouched down beside him to examine the spot on the tire Cade pointed to. Sure enough, there was a slit in the thick rubber. “Oh dear,” she whispered.
“You didn’t answer my question. Did you have a run-in with anyone recently?”
She mulled it over, unsure how to answer. The only person she could think of who had reason to cause her trouble was Scott. “He couldn’t have done it.”
“？‘He’？” Cade pressed.
“A student. One of the seniors. Scott failed a test and was upset with me. He’s not the only team member on probation, though, so it could be anyone. Only…”
“Only?” Cade pressed.
“I broke up a confrontation between Scott and another student earlier and he wasn’t happy with me. But he doesn’t know that I reported him to the dean…Besides, he’s at football practice.”
“You’re positive about that?”
Unsure if she was or not, she answered with a simple shrug.
“Call AAA back and tell them it won’t be necessary to send a tow truck.”
Although she heard him, he didn’t make sense. “But I’m going to need help getting the car to the tire store.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, in that no-nonsense way she’d come to expect from him.
“But—” she started to protest, and Cade cut her off.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to look a gift horse in the mouth?” He stared her down as if he expected an argument.
That was one of her grandfather’s favorite phrases. “Gramps,” she said, smiling at the memory of her taciturn grandfather. By contrast, her grandmother was the more nurturing of the two. They’d raised Hope and Hunter from the time Hope could remember. She had few memories of her mother and none of her father.
“Then you know what it means.” Even before he finished speaking, Cade went around to the trunk of her car. “Let’s get these groceries into my truck. I’ll drive you back to the cottage and then come deal with the tire.”
“You don’t need to do that…” Hope didn’t know why she was arguing with him, and yet she couldn’t help herself.
“Gift horse,” he said, reminding her of what he’d said earlier.
“Right.” If he was willing to do all that, she shouldn’t be looking for reasons to object. She certainly didn’t want to stand around in a parking lot for sixty minutes waiting for someone to come rescue her. Not when Cade seemed perfectly willing to help.
It took only a few minutes to load everything and less than five to deliver Hope to the cottage. He helped her cart in the bags of groceries, taking the porch steps two at a time as he made quick work of the task. Hope had called AAA to cancel the tow truck, grateful for Cade coming to the rescue.
As Cade drove off, Hope went to close the front door and noticed her landlady watching from the kitchen window on the other side of the yard. Just as she expected, her phone rang less than a minute later.
“Was that Cade Lincoln?” Mellie asked, and then added, “Again?”
Hope explained the situation.
“Someone purposely knifed your tire?”
“I don’t know if it was a knife or not, but it’s definitely flat, and clearly it wasn’t an accident.”
“Someone is apparently unhappy with you,” Mellie said, stating the obvious. “Or it could be a simple case of vandalism. Rare, though, in broad daylight.” Cade had basically said the same thing, dismissing any thought that it was a random act. He’d convinced her she’d been targeted, and Hope couldn’t help thinking otherwise, however uncomfortable.