Read Online The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks - Free Book Online Page B

the owner, I can’t make heads or tails of it. It’s right over there.”
    Dawson found the order and scanned the list before inspecting the car. She watched as he opened the hood and leaned in to look, his shirt stretching tight around his shoulders, and Amanda turned away, not wanting him to realize that she’d noticed. After a minute, he turned his attention to the small boxes on the workbench.He pried back the lids, nodding as he sorted through the parts, his brow furrowing.
    “That’s strange,” Dawson said.
    “What?”
    “It wasn’t a restoration at all. It’s mainly engine work, and minor stuff at that. Carburetor, the clutch, a few other things. My guess is he was just waiting for these parts to arrive. Sometimes, with these old cars, it can take a while.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Among other things, it means there’s not a chance the owner can drive it out of here.”
    “I’ll have the attorney contact the owner.” She brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “I’m supposed to meet with him anyway.”
    “The attorney?”
    “Yeah.” She nodded. “He’s the one who called about Tuck. He said it was important that I come.”
    Dawson closed the hood. “His name wouldn’t happen to be Morgan Tanner, would it?”
    “Do you know him?” she asked, startled.
    “Just that I’m supposed to meet with him tomorrow, too.”
    “What time?”
    “Eleven. Which I’m guessing is the same time as your appointment, right?”
    It took a few seconds before she grasped what Dawson had already figured out—that Tuck had obviously planned this little reunion all along. Had they not met here at Tuck’s, they would have done so tomorrow no matter what. As the implication became clear, she suddenly didn’t know whether she wanted to punch Tuck in the arm or kiss him for it.
    Her face must have telegraphed her feelings, because Dawson said, “I take it that you had no idea what Tuck was up to.”
    “No.”
    A flock of starlings broke from the trees, and Amanda watchedas they veered overhead, changing direction, tracing abstract patterns in the sky. By the time she faced him again, Dawson was leaning against the workbench, his face half in shadow. In this place, with so much history surrounding them, she swore she could see the young man Dawson used to be, but she tried to remind herself that they were different people now. Strangers, really.
    “It’s been a long time,” he said, breaking the silence.
    “Yes, it has.”
    “I have about a thousand questions.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Only a thousand?”
    He laughed, but she thought she heard an undercurrent of sadness in it. “I have questions, too,” she went on, “but before that… you should know that I’m married.”
    “I know,” he said. “I saw your wedding band.” He tucked a thumb in his pocket before leaning against the workbench and crossing one leg over the other. “How long have you been married?”
    “Twenty years next month.”
    “Kids?”
    She paused, thinking of Bea, never sure how to answer the question. “Three,” she finally said.
    He noticed her hesitation, unsure what to make of it. “And your husband? Would I like him?”
    “Frank?” She flashed on the anguished conversations she’d had with Tuck about Frank and wondered how much Dawson already knew. Not because she didn’t trust Tuck with her confidences, but because she had the sudden sense that Dawson would know immediately whether she was lying. “We’ve been together a long time.”
    Dawson seemed to evaluate her choice of words before finally pushing off the workbench. He walked past her, heading toward the house, moving with the liquid grace of an athlete. “I suppose Tuck gave you a key, right? I need something to drink.”
    She blinked in surprise.
    “Wait! Did Tuck tell you that?”
    Dawson turned around, continuing to walk backward. “No.”
    “Then how did you know?”
    “Because he didn’t send one to me, and one of us has to have