Amanda's Blue Marine by Doreen Owens Malek Read Free Book Online

better. I told them to hold the car until you contact them. The lady who hit you is not going to be any trouble. She knows she’s at fault and is more concerned about her insurance rates going up than anything else.”
    “Thank you,” Mandy mumbled. “And I’m really sorry. You’re only trying to help me and I know I’ve been behaving miserably.”
    “You couldn’t do that if you tried, Red,” he said gently. “Don’t worry about it.” He grinned. “I kind of like that feisty side of you, I knew it had to be in there if you made it through law school. So I finally got to see it.”
    Amanda looked back at him wearily. “You were asking so many questions and I didn’t want to talk.”
    “I hear you,” he said quietly, with such intensity that she looked up at him. His heavy lashes lifted and he met her gaze directly. He smiled at her again and she realized that she wanted to throw her arms around his neck.
    Maybe she was more confused than she knew. He was only doing what he would do for anyone involved in an accident. She was personalizing his intervention because she wanted to think she was important to him. And that was certainly foolish.
    “I’m taking the cruiser to bring you home,” Kelly added.
    “Am I getting special treatment again?” Amanda asked.
    “No. You’re an accident victim and your car has been disabled. It’s standard procedure to make sure you get to your intended destination.”
    “Okay.” She took Kelly’s extended hand and allowed him to lead her to the police car waiting at the curb. Kelly helped her into the back seat and said as he took the wheel and started the motor, “Can I bring you to your parents’ house? I don’t think you should be alone.”
    Amanda moaned so pitifully that Kelly glanced into the rear view mirror, startled.
    “Oh, please, not my mother,” Mandy said. “She means well but she will just make everything worse.”
    “Scrap that idea.” There was a pause. “Should I call your fiancé?” Kelly then asked in a neutral tone.
    “He’s in Harrisburg. Don’t call anybody. I just need a little time to calm down.” Please stay with me, she wanted to add. She didn’t understand it herself but his very presence made her feel better. She had started to recover from the crash the instant she saw him.
    He sat behind the wheel, thinking. “I don’t want to just dump you off someplace,” he said. “It’s probably true that the reaction you had to the accident was emotional but I’d still like to watch you for a while.”
    “I think I’m okay, Kelly,” she said quietly. “It’s kind of you to be concerned, though, especially after the shabby reception I gave you.”
    “Oh, that’s nothing. People about to be arrested aren’t too cooperative. One guy hit me over the head with a beer bottle.” He shoved his hair back from his forehead to display the scar at his hairline to her in the rear view mirror.
    “Lovely.”
    “And some old dame with fingernails like a Chinese empress went after me with her talons, I thought I was going to lose an eye. She took a chunk of skin out of my jaw. By comparison with them your little snippy fit was chump change.”
    He turned to grin at her and she smiled, relaxing.
    “You look better,” he said. “Your cheeks are getting color again. What do you say we get you something to eat in the cafe across the street and then I’ll drive you home.”
    Mandy nodded.
    He drove the car the short distance to the coffee shop he’d indicated and then parked behind the building. They entered through the back door and the clerk at the cash register waved at him as they passed.
    He seemed to know everyone.
    They took a booth in the rear and Mandy went into the ladies’ room to comb her hair. She stalled for time before she had to face Kelly across the small table. As she had learned, he was very observant and would notice any chinks in her armor. She wanted him to get off her case and stop looking for her to break down