Crazy on You by Rachel Gibson Page B

control her feelings. They were too big—too much—but unlike her thirty-year-old self she wasn’t losing it. She couldn’t control loving Tucker, but she wasn’t out of control. She knew exactly what she was doing when she grabbed her coat and purse.
    “Pippy, I need to go somewhere.”
    “Where?”
    She wasn’t quite sure, but she had a good idea. “Just out for some air.”
    She called her mother and made up a lie about having forgotten something at her salon. When Louella walked in the door, Lily shoved her arms in her coat and walked out.
    She jumped in her Jeep and headed to Highway 152. She wasn’t crazy, she was going after what she wanted. What she’d been afraid to want for a long time.
    Tucker had mentioned he liked to hang out behind the Welcome to Lovett sign, waiting for speeders. She drove past—and sure enough, a Potter County cruiser sat several feet behind the sign. She flipped a U, floored the gas pedal, and hit eighty as she passed. She was still in perfect control. Not feeling crazy at all. She glanced into the rearview mirror and saw nothing but the inky black night.
    “Okay,” she said, still in control and not the least crazy. She flipped another U and this time got up to ninety-six. She glanced into the rearview and smiled as the red, white, and blue lights lit up the Texas night. She pulled over and waited. She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead, waiting. Her heart thumping and her chest aching. If she wasn’t careful, she might hyperventilate. A Maglite tapped her window and she hit the switch.
    “Lily.”
    “Neal?” She stuck her head out the window and looked down the highway. “What are you doing here?”
    “My job. What are you doing out here driving like your tail’s on fire?”
    “I’m looking for someone.” If Tucker wasn’t on highway 152, where was he?
    “I need your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance.”
    Lily gasped. “You’re not giving me a ticket are you?”
    “Yes, ma’am. You were doing ninety-eight.”
    Ninety-six, but who was counting. “I don’t have time Neal,” she said as she dug around in her jockey box. “Can you just mail it to me?” She found her registration and handed it over with her license and insurance card.
    “No. I’ll be right back.”
    “But . . .” She didn’t have time to sit around. She glanced in her rearview mirror and watched him move to his car. She called Tucker on her UConnect but hung up when his voicemail answered. Where could he be? She didn’t want to kick in the back door of a jewelry store on the off chance he’d respond. She wasn’t that crazy . Yet.
    Within a few minutes Neal returned. “Sign here,” he said and shined his light on a ticket clipped to a board.
    “I still can’t believe you’re giving me a ticket.”
    “I can’t believe you sped by me twice. What the hell is wrong with you, girl?”
    “I thought you were someone else.” She signed the ticket and handed him back the pen.
    “Who?”
    He was going to find out anyway. “Deputy Matthews.”
    Neal rocked back on his heels and laughed. “Tucker?”
    Lily didn’t have a clue what was so funny. “We’re dating.” She raised a hand and dropped it back on the steering wheel. “Sort of.”
    “Poor bastard. Are you going to drive your Jeep into his house?”
    “That’s not funny, and I can’t believe you’re bringing that up.” Actually she could. Neal had been one of the first responders that horrible night of infamy. And this was Lovett. No one could just let anything go.
    “Tucker’s at the Road Kill with some of the guys. It’s Marty’s birthday and someone got him a stripper. If you go there, don’t get all crazy.”
    She frowned. “I don’t get crazy anymore.”
    “Then why are you out here speeding up and down the highway?”
    It might not look like it, but she was in control. “I’m not crazy.”
    He tore off the ticket and handed it to her.
    “I thought you were my friend,