Page 60 of Forbidden to Fall

He gave me a few more pointers about what to do on the ride to Dom’s, promising he’d drive slowly and that a quick honk from me would alert him to any issues.

We arrived at Dom’s without incident, another small win for the day.

James gave him a rundown of the things he’d checked.

“Hm,” Dom said as he tinkered with a few things under the hood. “Could be the fuel pump. I’ve gotta run, but I’ll get to work on it when I get back.”

I stopped myself from asking how much a fuel pump would run me. It was cheaper than buying another car.

James took me through the town to drop off goods to the inn and the candle shop, then we headed back to the farm.

Except we didn’t.

“Where are you going?” I asked as James turned the wrong way.

“We’re going to have a quick lesson.”

“Lesson?” I repeated. “On what?”

He brought the car to a stop on the side of the road, pulled up on the hand-brake, and looked at me. “Stick shift.”

I put up my hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

“You said you wanted to learn, right?”

“Yeah, but…”

He raised his brows. “How do you plan to get around while your car’s being worked on?”

I was quiet.

“I can pick you up every day,” he offered.

“What? No way.”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“I do.”

“Then you’d better learn to drive manual. You can borrow this truck until your car’s fixed.”

I pressed my lips together, annoyed that both of the options he was presenting inconvenienced him.

“What if I can’t learn?” I asked.

“You can. You just have to get the hang of it.”

I looked out at the street. The Ednas—our resident town gossips—were crossing up ahead, deep in conversation.

“Can we at least go somewhere where I won’t kill anyone accidentally?”

He laughed softly and took off the hand-brake. “Sure.”

He drove us out of town, and my heart skipped when he took the turnoff toward Makeout Ridge.

Obviously, he wasn’t taking me to the Ridge, but the last time I’d been on this road had been years ago when a guy named Patrick had driven me there.

I wondered how many times James had come here. Had this been where he’d kissed Lily?