“I am.” She pulled on her seatbelt. “The first rule of learning is to observe those who know how to do the task.”
He leaned back in the seat, stretching out. “All right. I’m observing.”
She pointed out the gas pedal, brake, gear shift, radio, and GPS. “The Jeep is an ancient relic, and so it uses an insertable key.” She put it in the ignition. “The gear has to be in park, and then you tap the gas while turning the ignition.”
She started up the engine. It roared to life without its usual sputtering. It always worked better with pure gas in the tank. “Milo says the Jeep is like a temperamental old lady. You have to know your way around her and occasionally appease her whims.”
Enzo nodded, taking in this information. “There’s an old lady out there somewhere who’d be offended by that comparison. Do you have a grandmother I should know about?”
“I do, but she’s perfectly pleasant and not at all like this thing.”
The other vehicles filed out of the drive and rumbled past the farmhouse. Giving instructions had delayed Charity, so they were the last of the caravan. She eased the Jeep on the road after them.
Enzo fastened his seatbelt. “Does your grandmother travel with you?”
Charity shouldn’t mention New Salem yet. Usually, they didn’t talk about the place to recent hires unless their father deemed them worthy of going.
Enzo hadn’t proven anything about himself yet. But since he was destined to marry her, didn’t that mean she could trust him? Charity settled on, “She lives with my uncle.”
“Whereabouts?” His voice was casual, not prying, but she still bristled a bit. She was too used to being wary of those sorts of questions.
“It’s a small place. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”
“Try me. I won the geography bee in seventh grade.”
Geography bee? She had no idea what that was but vaguely remembered that city kids were given grades in their schools. B’s weren’t as good as A’s. She and the other harvester kids had learned most of their lessons from recorded classes. No one gave them grades. You either learned the subject or you didn’t.
“I’m supposed to be teaching you to drive.” She arrived at the main road and put on the brakes. “Any time you come to an intersection, you need to stop and check for other cars. Sometimes there are stop signs, but don’t count on them.”
The way was clear. She pulled out onto the road. “The hardest part of learning to drive is figuring out where your vehicle is on the road. Fortunately, we won’t meet a lot of traffic on the way. If a car comes the other direction, make sure you move as far right as you can.”
She glanced at him to see if he had questions. He was gazing at the passing trees. She checked the GPS keyboard. “I typed in the address, but the signal usually drops once we’re away from the farming compounds, so we’ll want to stay close enough to the caravan that we don’t lose them.” Another glance at him. The trees still kept his attention.
Had he heard anything she said? “What are your questions so far?”
He stretched his arm along the side of the Jeep. The wind tousled his brown hair, lifting the ends. “You said the first rule of learning is to observe. What are the other rules?”
“Pay attention to your instructor comes to mind.”
He turned to her with a smile. “Am I not attentive enough? I apologize and promise to pay extra attention to you from here on out.”
Was that flirting? Probably not. With a man as attractive as Enzo, a woman’s mind just interpreted every sentence like it had extra meaning.
He was still watching her. “So what other rules do I need to know about?”
“About vehicles? Check your gas gauge each time you get in. Don’t drive too fast. And don’t stop for strangers on the road no matter how compelling they might look.”
Enzo cocked his head. “That answer implies you have other rules besides the ones for the vehicles. What are those?”
Was it too soon to scare him off? “My family has a hundred rules to live by. Honest men get up with the sun. There are two ways to do a thing: the right way and again. I won’t bore you with the other ninety-eight because you’ll hear all of them from my father before long.”
Despite Enzo’s insistence that he would pay attention to her, he went back to gazing at the passing trees. They drove in silence for a few minutes, then he said, “After Milo’s reaction to me, I was surprised your father put the two of us together.”
What was she supposed to say to that? Feign innocence to her father’s motives? Admit to his matchmaking? Her parents were likely to throw them together a lot.
“I told my father how Milo and Gregor made you chase chickens. I guess he figured neither of them should teach youhow to drive.” And the fact that her father had never asked anyone to teach a new hire to drive on the day they joined the group—Enzo didn’t need to know that. “Are you ready to give it a try?” They’d reached a part of the road without many trees so she could see the surrounding area. It was as safe a place as any to pull over and switch drivers.
She expected him to ask her to repeat some of the instructions. Instead, he nodded, “Sure. Doesn’t look too hard.”