Twenty Wishes (Blossom Street #5)(29)

“Then I’m sure I won’t.” Instinctively, she felt certain that Hector’s pledge was the only guarantee she needed.

“I’ve taken it out for a test drive and in my estimation it runs beautifully. However, if you’d like, the two of us could go for a short ride.”

Lillie knew this was above and beyond anything that was necessary. Nevertheless she nearly squeaked with joyful anticipation. Oh, she was behaving badly, wasn’t she? And she intended to go on doing it.

“I’d appreciate that very much,” she told him earnestly. “But only if it won’t keep you from your duties.”

“You are our customer, Lillie, and it is the goal of the dealership to exceed your expectations.”

“Oh.” His dedication to duty dispelled the notion that he was doing this for her and her alone. In fact, he seemed to be quoting from a policy manual. That gave her pause. Perhaps what she felt toward him was imaginary, something she’d dreamed up—but she knew it wasn’t. The real question was whether Hector reciprocated her feelings.

Hector held open the driver’s door for her.

Lillie slipped behind the wheel as he walked around the vehicle and joined her in the passenger seat. “You’re sure you have time for this?” she asked again.

“Yes, Lillie, I’m very sure.” He encouraged her with a smile.

She turned the key and the engine instantly surged to life. “Is there any specific place you’d like me to drive?” she asked, hoping he’d suggest a route.

“Green River in the Kent Valley should be a good test.”

That was where the vehicle had broken down the first time. It was also twenty minutes away. This was more than a short test drive, she thought excitedly. More than business.

Still, they didn’t exchange a single word as she drove down the freeway. It wasn’t until they neared the river that Hector spoke.

“The car is in perfect running condition,” he told her in a solemn tone.

“You can tell just by the sound?”

“Oh, yes. My wife, when she was alive, used to tease me. She said I could read cars better than I could people, and she was right.”

“You’re a widower?” Lillie had noticed that Hector wasn’t wearing a wedding band, but she’d assumed it was because of his work.

“Yes, almost ten years now.”

“I’m sorry.” Lillie knew the pain of losing a life partner, even when the marriage wasn’t ideal.

“Angelina was a good woman and a good wife,” Hector said. “And a devoted mother. We have three beautiful children.”

“My husband died in a plane crash three years ago.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Lillie focused her attention on the road, although their conversation was of far greater interest. She might be seeing more here than was warranted but she sensed that Hector wanted her to know he was a widower. She wanted him to realize she was unattached, too.

“How old are your children?” she asked, not reacting to his sympathy, which made her a little uncomfortable. David had been an excellent provider and an adequate husband, but he’d had his weakness. Unfortunately that weakness involved other women.

For years Lillie had turned a blind eye to David’s wanderings. It was easier to pretend than to confront the ugly truth of her husband’s infidelities. During the last ten years of their marriage, there had been no real intimacy between them. Lillie had swallowed her pride and pretended not to know about her husband’s affairs—as long as he remained discreet.

“My children are all grown now,” Hector said. “They have graduated from college and taken advanced training in the fields of their choice. Manuel is an attorney. Luis is a physician and my daughter, Rita, is a teacher.” His pride in his family was evident.

“My goodness, all three of your children are accomplished professionals.”

“Their mother and I believed in higher education.” Hector looked at her as she slowed the car’s speed to take a sharp curve. “You have children?”

“A daughter. Her husband was with mine in the plane crash.”

“He died, as well?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Hector’s eyes grew dark with compassion. “In one day your daughter lost both her husband and her father.”

“Yes.” It had been a horrific day and not one Lillie wanted to think about. David and Gary had been flying home from a business trip. The pilot and co-pilot had died, too.

The FAA had investigated, and after a thorough exploration of the facts had determined the cause of the accident—sudden, catastrophic engine failure. But that knowledge didn’t take away the shock and the grief.

“Your daughter has a family?”

“Two sons.”

“You are a grandmother, then?”

The boys were the very joy of her life. “I have twin grandsons, Eric and Kurt. They’re in their first year of college.”

“No.” Hector wore an astounded expression. “It isn’t possible you have grandchildren of that age.”

“Both my daughter and I married young.” Although she wasn’t in the habit of divulging her age, she felt she could with Hector. “I’m sixty-three.”

Again his eyes widened. “I would have said you were closer to your mid-forties.”