Read Online Homecoming Hero by Renee Ryan - Free Book Online Page A

spicy, masculine scent and tapped her lightly on the nose. “Stella might be in desperate need of a paint job, but the old girl is in her prime.”
    Hailey slid a skeptical glance over the car—hood to tail, tail to hood. “I’ll have to take your word on that.”
    â€œCome on, sweetheart, where’s your sense of adventure?”
    â€œI think I left it in the house.” She deliberately turned her back on the car. “Maybe I’ll just head inside for a moment and look for it.”
    Chuckling, Wolf swung her back around with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “No way are you bailing on me now. You’ve come this far. Might as well go the distance.” He opened the car door for her. “Go on. Climb in. Stella doesn’t bite.”
    â€œI’m going to hold you to that.” Heaving a dramatic sigh, she lowered herself into the passenger’s seat.
    The crisp smell of lemon and new-car scent surrounded her. A single glance at the car’s interior and Hailey took back every negative thought she’d had about Stella.
    Delighted, she rubbed her hand across the butter-soft, blue leather seats and then eyed the shiny, chrome-plated dials.
    Wow!
    Wolf had clearly spent considerable time and money on restoring Miss Stella’s interior. Afraid to touch anything, Hailey perched on the edge of her seat, folded her hands in her lap and waited for Wolf to walk around to his side of the car.
    Now that her initial Stella-shock was wearing off, something Wolf had said earlier came back to mind. The moment he settled in behind the steering wheel, she addressed the issue head-on. “You mentioned that Stella has been your only constant for the last ten years. Does that mean you don’t have any family?”
    â€œThat’s right.” Staring straight ahead, he placed his hands on the wheel at the ten-and-two position.
    The tone of his voice told her not to press the subject. She did anyway. “Not even a distant cousin?”
    â€œNo, Hailey.” His hands clutched the wheel tighter. “No one. The Army’s all I’ve got.”
    She recognized the emptiness in his voice, understood the bleakness it represented. The emotion was so similar to what she felt herself that her heart skipped a beat. Yet even as she empathized with Wolf, she sensed his loneliness wasn’t as straightforward as hers. She feared his past held something dark, something she could never truly understand.
    Should she quote Scripture to him at this point, or maybe recite words filled with God’s truth about His unfailing love?
    No. Something in the way Wolf held his body slightly away from her, almost isolated, didn’t inspire her to introduce the fundamentals of God’s love into the conversation. Except…
    What if she started by addressing the one thing they had in common? “I guess we’re both alone in this world.”
    He made a noncommittal sound in his throat, one that clearly said the topic was closed. Without looking at her, he turned the key in the ignition and Stella roared to life.
    Hailey gasped as a succession of grinding metal, snarls and rumbles whipped through the air.
    Wolf pressed down on the accelerator. Stella responded with a loud, menacing growl.
    Gasping again, Hailey braced her hands on the dashboard and hung on for dear life.
    Stella wasn’t through. She shook. She shimmied. Until, finally, “the old girl” descended into a vibrating rumble.
    Needing a moment to collect herself, Hailey shut her eyes. She couldn’t think past the blood rushing in her ears. Or was that terrible noise coming solely from the car?
    â€œReady for a sweet ride?” Wolf asked.
    No! She slowly opened her eyes. Be brave, Hailey, be brave. “Sure.”
    He put Stella into gear and pressed on the gas pedal. Surprisingly, the car’s engine settled into a low-pitched purr as she slid away from the curb.
    After several blocks of