Save the Last Dance Read online

  This wasn’t new.

  As far as Gunnar could tell, the kid wasn’t ever bothered in the slightest to be the only high schooler in the vicinity. This time, he was also staring in the same direction as the small group of elementary age kids. He, along with at least half of the young kids, was watching the riled-up woman.

  Rolling down his window, he called out to him. “Jeremy?”

  The boy immediately stepped forward and climbed inside the truck.

  “Hey,” Gunnar said. “You good?” he asked as the boy tossed his backpack in the back of the cab and buckled up.

  “Yeah.” He paused, then blurted, “I was just watching Miss Klein. Gunnar, I think something’s wrong with her car. She looks real upset.”

  “Are you talking about that woman who’s standing next to the white Mercedes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I noticed her too.” He pulled over to the side so the cars behind him could leave. “Now, who is she? I don’t remember you mentioning her before.”

  “Miss Klein is a volunteer in the library. She reads stories to the kids while I shelve books. She’s nice.” Still watching her, he added, “She’s usually kind of quiet too. I’ve never seen her so mad.”

  Noticing that she was currently staring at her cell phone but not doing much else, Gunnar said, “I was thinking maybe we should see if she needs help. What do you think?”

  “I think we’d better do something. She looks pretty confused, Gunnar.”

  “All right, then.” He drove back into the parking lot, parked in the first empty spot that his truck would fit into, then looked at Jeremy. “Ready?”

  Jeremy didn’t say a word. Just hopped out.

  When they got to Miss Klein’s side, she was on the phone but didn’t look any happier. She frowned when they approached, but then smiled at Jeremy. “Hold on a sec, please,” she said to whoever was on the phone. “Hi, Jeremy, right?”

  Jeremy nodded. “Yep. We saw your car.”

  “I’m on the phone with a car place now.” Sounding aggravated, she added, “I couldn’t believe it, but the dealership said my flat tires weren’t their problem.” As if suddenly remembering that she had put the place on hold, she said, “Oh, shoot. Hold on!”

  Gunnar exchanged a glance with Jeremy as they listened to her try to convince whoever was on the line to take care of her problem immediately. She sounded both naive and bossy—the woman pretty clearly had no idea about cars, mechanics, or flat tires. She needed a hand.

  Luckily, he was in a position to help. “Excuse me. Ah, Miss Klein?”

  She pressed her hand against the face of the phone again. “I’m sorry, yes?”

  “I can help you out. Go ahead and tell whoever you’re talking to that you’ve got it handled.”

  “But I don’t—”

  “It’s okay,” Jeremy blurted. “Gunnar knows how to take care of things.”

  Miss Klein stared at him a moment before speaking into the phone again. “Thanks, but I’ve found someone else,” she said as she disconnected.

  He couldn’t help but grin. “Wow. That was abrupt.”

  “Ugh. I guess I was.” Seeming to shake it off, she shrugged. “I grew up in the city. Old habits die hard, I guess.”

  “What’s the city?” Jeremy asked. “Are you from down in Cincinnati?” Bridgeport was one of Cincinnati’s northernmost suburbs.

  “Not that one. I’m referring to New York City.”

  “Wow,” said Jeremy.

  Turning to Gunnar, she held out a gloved hand. “Since you’re saving me and everything, I should probably get to know you. My name’s Kimber.”

  “You’re name is Kimber Klein.” He couldn’t help but smile at that.

  Looking mildly sheepish, she nodded. “Yes. And before you ask, I also know that my full name has a cute little ring to it.”

  He shook her hand. “I’m Gunnar Law. And it looks like you and Jeremy have already met.”

  Smiling at the boy, she stuffed her hands in her coat pockets. “We sure have. We met at the library.”

  “So you’re the librarian?” He would have read a whole lot more when he was in school if the librarian had looked like her.

  She laughed. “Not at all. I’m just a volunteer.”

  “That’s nice that you take the time to do that.” He paused, hoping that she might give him more information, but she didn’t.

  When he realized Jeremy was trying not to smirk at his attempt to chat in the cold parking lot, Gunnar got down to business. “Look, this is your lucky day. I work at a mechanic shop, and I just happen to be buddies with the owner. His name’s Ace.”

  “Ace?”

  “I promise, he’s a good guy. I grew up with him. Let me give him a call and get you some help.”

  “You sure that won’t be any trouble?”

  “It’s a phone call. No big deal.”

  She seemed to need a minute to think. After glancing at Jeremy again, she nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. Honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

  Gunnar felt like he’d just passed some kind of test, and he was pleased about it—which was pretty odd, considering that he was trying to do the woman a favor, not date her. When he noticed her shoving her hands in her pockets again, he said quietly, “It’s cold, Kimber. Do you want to sit in the truck with us while we wait? We could turn the heat on.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I can sit in my car.”

  “All right, but it might be a few. Might as well sit with us, yeah?”

  Glancing at Jeremy again, she said, “Are you okay with that?”

  “Yeah,” Jeremy said.

  “Maybe try for a yes, ma’am?” Gunnar murmured.

  “Ma’am.”

  For some reason, the kid’s reluctant effort to adopt Gunnar’s old-school manners melted some of her veneer. She grinned at Jeremy. “Let’s go get warm then. It’s freezing out here.”

  Gunnar walked to the passenger side door and opened it for her. She got in. Jeremy hopped in the back cab. Already calling Ace, Gunnar walked to his side.

  “Law, what’s up?”

  “I’m calling in a favor. I’m at the elementary and there’s a lady here who’s got two sliced tires. She’s gonna need a tow.”

  “Can’t you just put on a spare?”

  “It’s a Mercedes, and no. Both of the tires are flat as pancakes. Honestly, I’d feel better if you helped me take care of it.”

  “I can’t go, but I can send someone out.”

  “Perfect. Thanks. You won’t miss us. I’ve got my green truck and it’s parked next to a flashy white Merc.”

  “I’ll tell Carter.”

  “I owe you.”

  “Nah, the lady will owe me. They’re her tires, right?”

  “Yep,” he replied, though for some reason he was feeling a little protective of her. “I’ll pass on the word.”

  Ace chuckled before disconnecting.

  Gunnar shook his head as he got into his vehicle. Immediately, he caught the scent of her perfume. It wasn’t sweet and cloying, or even flowery. He wasn’t good at descriptions—he could only categorize it as expensive.

  Why he was even analyzing her scent was a mystery.

  Hoping to cover up his awkwardness, he said, “Ace can’t come, but a guy who does a lot of work for him can. The guy is probably already on his way.”

  “This is really nice of you both. I bet I’m putting you out.”

  “You’re not. We weren’t going to do much tonight, except maybe go hunt down a Christmas tree.”

  The woman looked over at Jeremy. “Oh no! I’m sorry. I’m spoiling your evening.”

  Jeremy grinned. “I didn’t even know we were gonna do that. It’s fine.”

  “We don’t have our tree up yet.”

 
“Do you and your husband get a real one or an artificial?”

  “I’m not married. I live with some girlfriends.” Looking puzzled, she said, “To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about Christmas decorations yet. I guess I should.”

  “Probably. It’s coming up.”

  Kimber grunted. “I heard that. Hey, Jeremy, is he always so literal?”

  Jeremy grinned. “If you mean, does he always tell the truth, then yep.”

  “That’s a good quality,” Gunnar said.

  “It is if the person you’re talking to wants to hear it,” Jeremy joked.

  “You got me there, boy.” He was about to add more when he noticed that Jeremy was grinning widely. Like was exceptionally pleased. Gunnar was floored. Jeremy hadn’t looked this relaxed or happy the entire time he’d been living with him.

  Looking at him, Kimber said, “Where did you learn that? From your mom?”

  “From both of my parents, I guess. Neither are much for liars.”

  She smiled back at the boy. “I guess this means he’s raising you right. You’re a lucky young man.”

  “Oh, Gunnar isn’t my real dad. I’m just his foster kid.”

  And that . . . turned the atmosphere in the truck about twenty degrees cooler.

  “Ah. So how’s it going? So far, so good?”

  Gunnar bristled. What was that supposed to mean? They were strangers, so why did she think that any of what they were doing was her business? Feeling protective, Gunnar said, “Excuse me, but why are you asking him that? I’m his guardian.”

  She cut him off. “I’m not talking to you, Mr. Law. I asked Jeremy.” Her voice gentled. “So?”

  The boy rolled his shoulders. “I guess it’s going all right.” His eyes narrowed. “Why? What do you know about foster care, anyway?”

  “My sister was raised in foster care and then in a group home. She told me that it wasn’t easy.”

  While Gunnar sat there and processed that, Jeremy seemed to wake up. His focused sharpened, and he seemed to push aside some of his natural reticence.

  “Your sister was in foster care but not you?” he asked.

  Looking pained, she nodded. “It’s a long story, but I’m one of three sisters. We were split up when we were hardly more than babies. I was adopted, and so was Shannon. Our middle sister wasn’t.”

  “That’s tough,” Gunnar murmured.

  She turned to him. “I’ll be honest. I never knew I had sisters until recently. But when I realized that Traci’s life was so different from mine? Well, it was hard to come to terms with.” She lifted her shoulder. “But everyone goes their way in life, I guess. Even folks who grew up with their real parents don’t always have it easy.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Gunnar said.

  “I know she is,” Jeremy corrected.

  While Gunnar gaped at the boy, Kimber laughed, and the sound was low and husky while feminine enough to make every one of his nerve endings take notice.

  She winked at the boy before turning back to him. “If you aren’t certain about that yet, you just might be the best thing that has happened to Jeremy here.”

  This was really the oddest conversation he’d ever had. Who talked about such things so boldly?

  Luckily, Carter and the tow truck appeared. “Looks like we’re going to get you on your way real soon.”

  She smiled up at him. “You didn’t lie, did you? I don’t know what to say except for thanks so much.”

  “It was no problem.” He kept his words short and sweet, but the inside of him was already wondering about that comment. Who had been lying to her so much that she expected it from the get-go? And why the heck did that bother him so much, anyway?

  CHAPTER 3

  “O, Christmas tree, O, Christmas tree, how faithful are thy branches?”

  —”O Christmas Tree”

  Watching his foster dad was pretty entertaining. Though Gunnar was acting all cool and collected, Jeremy thought it was pretty obvious the guy only wanted to keep staring at Kimber Klein.

  Jeremy thought it was funny. During the five months that he’d lived with Gunnar Law, the guy had never acted like he’d even noticed there were women in the world. The man was stable, methodical, and completely focused on three things: his work, his friends from West Virginia . . . and Jeremy.

  Actually, he’d been really focused on Jeremy, which had been sort of nice but also a little overwhelming. He might’ve had a rough go of it, but he wasn’t a kid. He didn’t need Gunnar to worry about the little things like if he had eaten his breakfast or done his homework.

  Unfortunately, no matter how many times Jeremy had told him that, Gunnar still made him bacon and eggs every morning—

  and sipped coffee while Jeremy ate.

  But now? Well, now, the guy was acting like Miss Klein was all that. Jeremy didn’t really blame him—Miss Klein was really pretty. But he’d seen a lot of pretty women in Bridgeport. He wondered what Gunnar saw in her that was so special.

  After the tow truck disappeared and Gunnar was still frozen in place, Jeremy said, “Are you okay?”

  “Hmm? Oh, shoot.” Gunnar shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “Sorry about all that. Probably the last thing you wanted to do today was help some lady with her vehicle.”

  “I didn’t mind. She really needed some help. I’m glad you knew who to call.” He grinned. “She looked pretty clueless, standing there by her car and staring at her phone.”

  “I thought the same thing.” Still not putting the truck into gear, Gunnar said, “Hey, I never asked. Do you know her well?”

  Jeremy tried hard not to smile that Gunnar was fishing for information from a teenager. Starting to feel kind of sorry for the guy’s instant crush, he said, “I don’t know her at all. She helps out in the library when I’m working in there, but it’s not like we talk or anything. I’ve only spoken to her a couple of times.”

  “Oh.”

  “She seems nice, though,” he added, because they still weren’t going anywhere.

  “She does. She’s got a heck of an accent, doesn’t she?”

  Jeremy privately thought Gunnar was the one who had a heck of the accent. But he knew better than to say that. “I should’ve asked her if everyone from the city sounds like that.”

  “It’s good you didn’t. That would be pretty rude.”

  “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” After a couple of seconds of silence, Jeremy cleared his throat and looked pointedly down the street. He was long past ready to go home. He had a ton of homework and was starving.

  Finally taking the hint, Gunnar put the truck into gear and started for home.

  Glad that they were finally moving, Jeremy leaned back in his seat, wondering what Miss Klein’s real story was. All he could think about was her comment about how she’d been adopted but her sister hadn’t. That didn’t seem right.

  Though he usually would have kept his question to himself, his question bubbled out: “How do you think that works, with her being adopted and her sister going into a group home? What do you think happened?”

  Gunnar glanced his way when he came to a stop sign. “I wondered the same thing. I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t know much about how the whole system works except for how things went with you. You probably know more than I do.”

  He’d told Jeremy several times that after considering fostering for a good year, he called his social worker, who he’d known through church, and asked her questions. It turned out Melanie had been anxious to put Jeremy someplace better and had expedited the paperwork and house calls. Just six weeks after Gunnar’s initial call, Jeremy had been moving into his house.

  “I thought I knew some stuff, but I didn’t think child services did things like that.”

  “Did what, exactly?”

  “You know, I didn’t think the social worker
s and courts split up siblings.”

  “I don’t think they do anymore. That would make a hard situation even harder, I reckon.”

  “Yeah.” Jeremy had always wished he’d had a sibling, but after hearing about Miss Klein’s situation, he was kind of glad he didn’t. What would he do if they were separated? “Do you think she was telling the truth?”

  “I do.” He rubbed a hand over his face and seemed to contemplate that. When he looked at Jeremy again, his hazel eyes looked puzzled. “I mean, why would someone make that up?”

  That made sense.

  As Gunnar pulled into the driveway, he said, “Jeremy, since we’re being real honest and all, I have to tell ya that you caught me off guard when you pointed out that you were just my foster kid.”

  “How come? It’s the truth, right?” What he didn’t want to say was that he was too afraid to call Gunnar his real dad. What if Gunnar changed his mind?

  “You’re right. But we’ve been together for a while now. Five months.” He unbuckled but didn’t move. “Listen, when we talked about going through with the adoption, I thought you were on board with wanting to make things permanent too. But, if you think it’s too soon, or you’re not sure . . . you just have to tell me. There’s two of us, you know.”

  Even thinking about leaving Gunnar’s house and getting stuck in some stranger’s house made him panic. “Are you saying you changed your mind?”

  Gunnar shook his head. “No. No, not at all.”

  “But—”

  “Jeremy, bud . . . this is all hard enough without you putting words I wasn’t even thinking into my mouth. That’s not what I said at all. You know I want you with me, but you’re fifteen, not five months. You have a say in your own future,” he added gruffly. “I want you to feel good. Not just settle, you know?”

  Jeremy knew what he should say. He knew he should say that he hadn’t changed his mind, that he liked Gunnar. That he wasn’t settling. But it was like all the words in his head got sideways before making their way out of his mouth.

  So instead he just nodded. He felt like crap keeping silent, but he didn’t know if he had it in him to give Gunnar anything more.