A sweet deal

When Caroline borrows her brother’s dirty truck to haul furniture, she’s in for a handsome surprise at the car wash

- Marti Attoun

Caroline plucked a crumpled carton with two furry french fries from under the seat of her brother’s pickup truck and aimed it at the giant trash bin at the car wash.

“Gross,” she muttered before diving into the truck again and removing more trash too big for the vacuum.

“Looks like you need some gloves for that job,” a husky voice sounded behind her.

Startled, Caroline looked up to see a smiling man dangling a pair of brown work gloves. He was having trouble containing a full-blown laugh, which meant he’d definitely seen her fling the fossilized pizza too.

She’d been so absorbed that she hadn’t paid any attention to the vehicle beside her —or to its handsome driver who suddenly made her hyper-aware that she was wearing her hair in a slapdash ponytail.

“Thanks.” Flush with embarrassment, Caroline rushed to explain. “This is my brother’s pigsty…I offered to clean it in exchange for borrowing it to haul a bench.”

He nodded thoughtfully as his eyes roamed over the inside of the old Chevy truck. And Caroline’s eyes couldn’t help but roam over his friendly face framed with thick dark hair smudged with gray. He wore a baseball cap that advertised Kirk’s Furniture Repair.

“I’d say you made a good deal…for your brother, at least.”