“Don’t walk around naked down here. Upstairs is fine.”
She rolled her eyes and I chuckled as I pulled the door closed behind me.
*******************
Steve grinned at me as I offloaded the remaining overalls and other protective gear he had ordered. “So, you had a damsel in distress?”
I chuckled. “Yes, and you have an overall short. Ok if I bring it around on Monday?”
“Sure thing. So, this young woman you found next to the road. The car still there?”
I shrugged. “Yip. Nothing I can do right now anyway. Without the keys it may be damaged if it is towed away. If it stays there it may grow legs and run away. Catch twenty two.”
Steve looked around his factory as he rubbed his chin. “Get her to phone her insurance. They have guys who do this type of thing for them and if they damage the car, it is not her fault and the insurance will have to pay for any repairs.”
I shook my head. “Never thought of it.”
“The advantage of knowing guys like me,” he laughed and stood aside as I opened the car’s door.
I waved goodbye and drove home. The rain had lost its anger but it was still falling quite hard and if anything, it was colder than earlier. As I walked into the house I was met with soft singing from my bathroom. It sounded great. She had a lovely voice.
I made myself some coffee and sat in the kitchen drinking it. Before long I heard the door to my bedroom open and the singing came down the stairs but stopped suddenly when she reached the bottom and saw me.
“You’re back soon?” she queried and I laughed but did not even try to hide the fact that I was scoping her out. She looked damn sexy in overalls but with a towel wrapped around her and her hair in a curly mess around her face she looked more than edible.
“Couldn’t stay away,” I grinned and looked at my watch. “Just for the record, I was gone for more than two hours.”
She gave me a funny look and went towards the laundry where I heard the tumble dryer being opened. She was busy for a few minutes and then she came out with our clothes, neatly folded.
“My dress is dry so I guess I can go and get dressed. Where can I put your clothes?”
“Just dump it on the bed, but before you go, do you have your insurance’s number?”
“On my phone in the car, yes,” she grinned. “Why?”
“We have to phone them so that they can have your car recovered.”
She nodded and raised her eyebrows. “I was wondering about it. What will it cost?”
I shrugged. “Depends on your policy I guess but leaving it there is not a good idea. It may be wrecked by someone crashing into it or it can be stolen or stripped. Any one of those will be much more expensive than whatever it will cost to recover.”
She sat down next to me. “Can we use your phone to look up their number and phone them?”
I gave her my phone and she went about finding a number on the internet, dialled it and then we sat there listening to that irritating voice telling us that the call is important to them. Yeah right! But at last Steffi had an operator’s ear and after having had to explain the situation a million times, we had a reference number and a confirmation that a recovery truck will go out and take the car to a safe holding until she could get the spare keys.
I looked at my watch. “We have about an hour of daylight left. Want to try and find a place for the weekend?”
Steffi nodded and went up the stairs with our clothes and I sat there wondering what I should do about her until she came downstairs again. Back in her dress she looked quite presentable right down to her bare feet.
She caught my glance and chuckled. “My shoes are still sopping wet and it looks as if one of them may be falling to pieces soon. So, it is barefoot for me.”
“Sit down,” I invited as I got up to rinse my coffee mug. “I guess we can do a number of things, all of which need doing but maybe we should do some planning to do the important ones first.”
“Like getting new shoes with no money,” she giggled.
I just shrugged. “There is a mall not far from here. Shoes are not a problem.”
“Then what is?”
“You need a place to stay and I think we should get that ball rolling. Boyfriend?”
She shook her head and for a moment I felt strangely glad but then she shattered it. “He’s out of town for the weekend. Well actually, until Wednesday. Except for my parents who are on holiday, my nearest family is a couple of hour’s drive away and the only friend I have that may be able to offer me a bed for the weekend has her in-laws staying with her while they do some renovations in their house.”
I pursed my lips. “Guesthouse?”
“Sounds good.”
I handed her my phone. “See what you can find. We can go to the mall for shoes and then I can drop you at whatever Guesthouse you choose.”
“And use Uber for the weekend,” she giggled. “Never done that.”
“Adventurous travel,” I laughed. “It is something like a Christmas cracker. You never know what you may get.”
After a little searching she found a Guesthouse to her liking and reserved a room. We got into my car, drove to the mall and after a quick search she found shoes to her taste. To me that was surprising. My last girlfriend would have spent an hour going from shop to shop and possibly may have made me drive to another mall to find something she liked. I paid and got a thankful smile and a soft squeeze on my arm. I liked the feeling but disliked the idea that soon I would be dropping her at her Guesthouse and that would be that. She was pleasant company. I looked at her and saw her biting her lip.