For the Love of God Read Free Page A

and open the door. She set the sack of peaches on the seat and pushed it over to slide behind the wheel.
    Mabel’s motor grumbled to life at the turn of the ignition key. As Abbie turned the car onto the highway she waved to the driver of the sports car. Within seconds, she saw the reflection of the dark green sports car in her rearview mirror, following a safe distance behind her.
    It was an older model car, but Abbie suspected it had been an expensive one. She tried to guess what kind of work he did, speculating that he could be a lawyer or maybe a doctor. If he was a salesman, he could sell her anything, she thought with a little laugh.
    The four miles to Eureka Springs seemed to flash by. Not once did Mabel even wink her red warning light. Abbie couldn’t make up her mind whether she was glad or sorry about that. Mechanical trouble would have given her an opportunity to find out more about Seth Talbot—essentials like where he was staying in Eureka Springs and some of the places he had planned to see while he was here.
    Abbie couldn’t believe the way she was thinking. She was actually considering chasing a man. There was nothing shy about her, but she didn’t classify herself as the aggressive type either. Still, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like if he kissed her. Seth Talbot had certainly captured her fancy in a short time. Or maybe it was simply a sign that she was finally cured of her distrust for men after that disappointingromance in Kansas City. That was probably closer to the truth.
    When Abbie turned her car into the service station-garage she patronized, there was a honk and a wave from the sports car before it sped on by. Abbie couldn’t contain the sigh of regret that slipped out. It would be sheer chance if she ever saw him again and she knew it.
    A portly, coverall clad man emerged from the service bay of the station and walked toward her car with an ambling gait. It was Kermit Applebaum, the owner of the establishment. He had serviced her parents’ vehicles ever since she was a freckle-faced toddler. Thankfully, the freckles had faded with the onset of maturity, but Kermit Applebaum still called her Freckles, a nickname no one else had picked up—and Abbie was eternally grateful for that.
    “Well, hello, Freckles,” he greeted her as she had expected, and Abbie tried not to wince. “How’s old Gladys doing?”
    “Her name is Mabel,” she corrected patiently, and stepped out of the car. “And Mabel has busted a radiator hose. I hope you have a spare one to fit her.”
    “I’ll rustle up something.” He wiped his greasy hands on a rag before he lifted the hood to have a look. “You didn’t do a bad job of patchin’ this.”
    “I can’t take the credit for that,” Abbie replied. “A tourist stopped when he saw I was broken-down and fixed it up for me, then followed me into town to be sure I made it.”
    “That fella that just honked at you?” the owner-mechanic asked with some surprise. When she nodded affirmatively his expression became thoughtful. “I thought it was just some guy tryin’ to make time with you. I guess I did him a disservice.” He closed the hood with a decisive shove and turned to Abbie. “Drive your car over to that empty bay, and I’ll see what I’ve got for hoses to fit it.”
    In all, it took the better part of two hours before he had it fixed with interruptions from customers and phone calls. It was nearly suppertime when Abbie turned her trusty car onto a winding street for home.
    Her hometown of Eureka Springs was filled with quaint charm. The restored and refurbished Victorian structures clinging to the steep hills gave the city an ambience of the past, a nostalgic flavor. Some visitors considered it an oddity in the middle of the Ozarks, but Abbie had always regarded it as home. It had been dubbed “The Little Switzerland of America” because of the combination of its architecture and steep terrain and had been a highly popular