Last Chance Hero Read Online Free PDF

leaned to give advice to Lainie, who was sitting two seats away, her arm and shoulder pressed against his, and he liked that. But he sure wished she were talking about something else.

3

    W ell , you win some . You lose some . Jess smiled to herself as she locked the dead bolt in her room at the Last Chance Motel and shut the blinds. She didn’t know if it was her or if Andy Ryan liked taking care of everyone, but he sure had his knight-in-shining-armor helmet on, even if it did resemble a battered cowboy hat. It wasn’t that Jess went around with a chip on her shoulder; she knew how to ask for help when she needed it. But when people wanted to rush in and take care of things for her, her back went up, and her independence became a battle to be won. Again.
    In the win column: her refusal to be his date at that Red Chile and Bluegrass thing, her insistence that he eat his own dinner while she waited for hers to arrive, and her rejection of his insistent offer of a ride back to the motel when the evening was over. In the lose column, if you could call it that, was the fact that she wound up sitting with him all evening anyway and his announcement that it was a free country and he could walk beside her all the way back to the motel if he wanted to, even if it did mean walking all the way back to get his truck.
    Funny, it was all the things in her “lose” column that made her smile. Sitting with Andy and his friends had been fun, and there had been no hint that he thought of her as his date. In fact, they had wound up switching seats around so she could talk to Lainiewhile Andy caught up with Ray. When it was time to leave, she refused offers of a ride from both the Bradens and Andy, claiming the walk was both short and necessary after her huge meal. It was Andy, of course, who fell in beside her as she headed back to the motel. The walk and the conversation had been so easy that it didn’t even occur to her to wonder what he had in mind until he stopped back a few feet from her door and stood, hands in pockets, while she fitted her key in the lock before lifting his hand in a wave and ambling back across the parking lot.
    Jess winced as her mother’s voice and her litany of warnings sounded in her head. She was pretty sure there was something in there about watching out for strange men. But truthfully? Even though eighteen short hours ago she didn’t even know he existed, Andy didn’t seem like a stranger at all. Neither did his friends the Bradens. And even though within the week she expected to be so immersed in her work that she wouldn’t have time for anything, it was good to have friends.
    The phone on the bedside table startled her with its old-fashioned jangle as she headed to the bathroom to run a bath.
    â€œDr. MacLeod, it’s Rita. I didn’t wake you, did I? I saw your light as I came in.” How did she manage to sound as brisk and energetic at 11:00 at night as she did first thing in the morning? Especially after the day Jess knew she had put in.
    â€œNo, I’m still up. And please, it’s Jess.”
    â€œJust wanted to make sure you got back okay. I noticed you didn’t drive over this evening.”
    â€œI made it just fine, thanks. It was a nice night for a walk. Where I’m from it can get cold and damp after dark. The warm air felt good.” Jess saw no need to mention she hadn’t made the walk alone, but then, she had the feeling that Rita probably already knew that. She had to have passed Andy as she drove back.
    â€œGet plenty to eat? Meet some folks?”
    â€œYes and yes.” Jess was about to elaborate, but Rita had apparently found out what she needed to know.
    â€œWell, good. If you need anything, the number’s right there on the phone. Good night, now.”
    Jess looked at the receiver, connection gone dead, for a moment before replacing it in its cradle. Egalitarian to her soul, she had always maintained that people