The Mason Dixon Line (A Horizons Novel) Read Online Free

threatened to truly run out of control. “The only strings my
aunt holds on me are emotional, not financial.” He adjusted his hat. “And what’s
wrong with this hat, anyway?” Truth be told, he’d been dreading this meeting
and wore it to be ridiculous, to annoy the middle-aged teacher type he thought
Dunne would be pairing him up with.
    Carolyn Hart wasn’t middle-aged, but she was
every bit the closed-minded prig he’d expected. He had knocked her back on her
heels, that much he could tell. Good.
    She shook her head. “That hat is soooo wrong. If you don’t know what’s
wrong with it, I can’t explain it to you.” The diversion seemed to cool things
off, though. Anger seeped out of the conversation like air out of a punctured
tire.
    “Look,” she continued. “I don’t like your
hat, and you don’t like my job. Neither one of us wants to be on this project,
but we are. We might as well make the best of it. Deal?”
    A part of him, the contrary part that
always got him in trouble, wanted to keep arguing, keep fighting. To tell her
no, insult her profession some more, and generally be difficult. Five years
ago, he would have.
    But that was then, this was now. He was a
productive citizen now. Mostly. He’d gotten smarter about picking his battles.
    Mostly.
    “Fine. But maybe we ought to call it a day.
I’m staying outside of town. You live in Indy?”
    “Yeah. You got your cell phone? I’ll enter
in my number. You can call me tomorrow and we’ll set something up.”
    “Nah. I’ll give you the number where I’m
staying, but I don’t have a cell phone.”
    “Seriously?” She gaped at him. “What kind
of person doesn’t have a cell phone in this day and age?”
    “I like being inaccessible sometimes.” Most
of the time. Besides, when he’d had one, he’d never been able to remember to
keep the damn thing charged. Worse, he’d lost it and had to replace it three
times before he gave up carrying one entirely.
    He had the feeling she had to work hard to
hold back a sigh.
    She rummaged in her purse for a scrap of
paper and jotted down her own number, and then took his number and plugged it
into her own cell phone. It had a pink leopard-print case covered with
rhinestones.
    Of course it did.
    He shoved his sketch book and pencils into
his bag. He’d roughed in the basics. He’d finish the sketch later. He had
another priority now. Dunne wanted to see a draft of the kids’ story and rough
sketches at the end of Horizons' spring break.
    He walked her out to her car, expecting a
shiny compact or something cute and trendy, like a Mini Cooper.
    “Good God, what’s that? What are they
paying you at Horizons?” He stared at the wreck. He’d never expected a woman
like Carolyn Hart to something like this.
    “Very funny. My car’s at the school parking
lot. My friend was the designated driver last night and I haven’t had a chance
to get back there to pick it up.”
    “Whose car is this?” He circled the car in
disbelief. Only one hubcap remained. The rear bumper sagged, held on with duct
tape.
    “My neighbor’s. And she’s a very nice elderly
woman, so don’t you dare make fun of her.”
    “Oh, I wasn’t. I was making fun of you.”
    “I see. I should have known.”
    He peered at a series of scratches that
went down to bare metal. At one point, the car must have been painted
lime-green.
    “Why don’t you take this back to your
neighbor? I’ll follow you, and then drive you to the school so you can get your
car.” As usual, he spoke before he thought.
    “Really?” She looked as if she didn’t quite
believe him.
    Dammit. Why had he just offered to spend
even more time than necessary in this woman’s presence? She annoyed him,
embarrassed him, and attracted him all at once. Not a comfortable combination.
Still, he’d made his offer, so he plowed on.
    “It’s good for a laugh to imagine you
behind the wheel of this thing, but my conscience pains me too much to let you
drive it any