Read Fixed up in February (Spring River Valley Book 2) for Free Online Page A

and I’m finished with men. I’m either going to join a convent or the French Foreign Legion.”
    “I think the French Foreign Legion is full of men, so you might want to put that idea on the back burner.”
    “Convent it is, then.”
    “You’re overreacting. Have you talked to Cassandra? Maybe he told her how he really felt.”
    “I’m not ready to talk to Cassie. She vouched for him. She told me he was harmless.”
    “It’s usually the harmless guys you have to watch out for.”
    Audrey had to agree with that. They’d reached Colette’s, and she scanned the newly plowed parking lot for her car. Instead of a white mound, she found her little Civic drying in the sun, clean as a whistle. Someone had brushed all the snow off of it, scraped the windows free of ice, and dug the drifts away from the tires.
    “Hey, look at that,” Harper said. “The plow guys must have done that for you.”
    Audrey gaped, astounded. “Wow. Maybe they thought the car belonged to someone who worked at Colette’s.”
    “Probably. Well, that saves me having to shovel, so I’m thrilled.” Harper pulled up next Audrey’s car. “I’ll follow you home just in case your ankle gives you problems.”
    Audrey opened the passenger door and stepped out of Harper’s car. “You don’t have to do that. Really. I can drive.”
    “Stop being so independent. It’s okay to need help once in a while.”
    “You know that’s not me. I rely on myself.”
    “Well, get over that.”
    Audrey waved off Harper’s concern and moved to unlock her car. She saw the white sheet of paper folded under her windshield wipers and winced. Damn, someone had either left her a ticket or a bill for the snow removal. So much for the kindness of strangers.
    She grabbed the paper and opened it up, mentally calculating how much a snow-related parking ticket might cost her.
    Large black letters on the page read: You ’ r e Welcome
    “Oh. Sarcasm. Nice.”
    “Did you get a ticket?” Harper yelled from her car.
    “No, it’s a smart-ass note.” She flipped the paper over and found a phone number scrawled on the back and the words: “Call me. Max.” Damn. Worse than sarcasm.
    Muttering under her breath, she stuffed the paper in her pocket and climbed into her car. It hurt to put pressure on the gas pedal and the brake, but not enough to stop her from making it home in one piece.
    Once back in her apartment, she spread the note out on the kitchen table and stared at it. Part of her wanted to set fire to it and watch it burn up in her kitchen sink. Another part of her wanted to jump on her phone and call him, just to hear his voice.
    Choices. Choices. After twenty minutes of ranting to herself about what a fool she’d be to let Max Shannon get the best of her, she decided the best course of action was none at all. She crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the trash.
     
    * * * *
     
    “So she really hasn’t called you yet?” Max sipped his coffee and eyed his cousin who sat across from him idly stirring her tea. The diner was fairly empty this morning, probably due to people still shoveling out their cars after last night’s snowstorm.
    “No. I’ve left her a couple of messages, and she hasn’t called me back. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.” Cassie looked glum. Something told Max his normally bubbly cousin had more on her mind than his date with Audrey, but he didn’t want to pry.
    “What’s to forgive? I swear I was a gentleman.”
    “I didn’t get that impression when she called me last night. If you really weren’t into a blind date, why didn’t you just tell me, instead of giving the poor girl a hard time?”
    Max spread his hands in supplication. “What hard time? I found her in a sea of people milling around in the parking lot at Colette’s—you told me she was wearing a red coat , which I could barely see through all the smoke , so I figure I did pretty well. I offered her a ride, which she initially refused because she