Page 28 of Charmed By the Next-Door Neighbor
Like how I'd do it again tomorrow. And the day after. And every day she'd let me.
The car makes a sound.
A bad sound.
A stuttering, coughing sound that I know from two decades of driving beat-up fire trucks that were held together with prayer and duct tape.
"What was that?" Claire asks, her hands tightening on the wheel.
"Not sure. Might be—"
The engine cuts out.
Just dies, right there in the middle of the dark country road.
The headlights stay on for a few seconds, then fade. The dashboard goes dark. Everything stops except the sound of Claire saying "no, no, no, no" under her breath as she steers the car to the side of the road.
We roll to a stop on the shoulder.
Silence.
"Shit," Claire says. She turns the key. Nothing happens. "Shit, shit, shit."
"Pop the hood."
"What?"
"The hood. Pop it."
She fumbles around until she finds the release, and I get out of the car. My knees protest. They always do after being cramped in a small space, but I ignore them and make my way to the front of the car.
The hood is warm under my hands as I lift it. I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight, sweeping it over the engine. Everything looks fine. No obvious leaks, no disconnected wires, nothing smoking or sparking.
Could be the alternator. Could be the battery, though that wouldn't explain the sudden death. Could be a dozen other things I can't diagnose in the dark on the side of the road.
Claire appears next to me, hugging herself against the cool night air. "How bad is it?"
"Can't tell. Need better light. Better tools."
"Can you fix it?"
"Maybe. Not here."
She pulls out her phone, the screen illuminating her face in the darkness. "I'll call a tow truck."
"Won't do any good tonight."
She looks at me. "What do you mean?"
"Casey's the only mechanic in town. His shop doesn't open until eight a.m. And he doesn't answer his phone after nine p.m."
I know this because I've called him before. Casey's a good mechanic but he keeps strict hours and he sleeps like the dead.
"So, we're just... stuck here?" Claire asks, looking around at the dark road, the empty fields. "In the middle of nowhere?"
"We can call someone for a ride."
"Who? My parents are an hour away in the opposite direction and I am not calling them."
