Page 18 of Mountain Impact

Isolde hit the steering wheel with her open palm, then turned the key in the ignition one more time. No luck. Her dear, stupid car simply wouldn’t start.

Tears filled her eyes―she tried blinking them away. She knew herself well enough to know it wasn’t the thought of walking home that was upsetting her so―she could walk home in under fifteen minutes and have a mechanic come tomorrow to the parking garage to look at her car. Luckily tomorrow was a Friday, rather than the weekend.

But the thought of having to say goodbye to that car, that was something she wasn’t ready for―something she didn’t think she’d ever be ready for.

Breathe in. Breathe out. There you go.

Slowly, she started feeling more in control. She leaned her forehead gently onto the steering wheel and kept talking to herself.

It’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to work out.

Instants later, a voice shattered that control.

“Isolde?”

No. Go away.

The temptation to ignore the voice was strong, but Isolde knew Drake wasn’t simply going to walk away. His voice was laced with concern.

She opened the car door. His large, veined hand grabbed on to it and pulled it all the way open. His strong hands, with their neatly clipped nails, were one of the first things she’d noticed about him.

“Is everything okay, Isolde?”

Years of working together in the same building and successfully avoiding each other, and now she couldn’t seem to go two steps without bumping into him. It was wreaking havoc on her concentration.

He was still waiting for her to answer the question.

“My car won’t start.”

Drake’s full lips turned into a slight smile.

“Don’t say it,” she begged. “Please don’t say it.” Once again, the tears threatened to fall.

He raised his hands, palms up, towards her. “Hey … hey … it’s okay. I can drive you home. Leave the car here tonight, we’ll get someone in to look at it tomorrow morning.”

It’s what she’d been planning on doing, anyway.

“Thanks, it’s okay, I can walk. I don’t live too far away.”

“Let me drive you. It’ll give you the chance to pick at my brain a bit more, if you like.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that.

“I’m off duty. I wasn’t planning on picking at any brains tonight. Just pizza and Netflix.”

“Is that an invitation?”

What?

She assumed her mouth was hanging open, so closed it quickly.

“No, but I’ll accept the lift.”

Drake’s car was a large Toyota SUV. The tough, powerful vehicle suited him―she didn’t imagine it had any trouble navigating Chamonix’s winter weather.

As they drove past her much smaller car, Isolde shot a dejected look.

“Don’t worry, we’ll send someone to look at it tomorrow morning,” Drake said.