A Poor Dad Drove An Elderly Neighbor Home, Not Knowing The Woman He Passed Was A CEO Falling In Love
Unexpected Sparks
Darren Dawson didn’t expect the day to go sideways until his beat up sedan coughed twice and stalled in front of the grocery store. It happened right in front of a woman in heels too expensive for this part of town. He turned the key again. Nothing.
“Come on don’t do this to me now,” he muttered. He wiped sweat from his brow as the sun beat down on the hood. His six-year-old son Theo twisted in the back seat.
A juice box was in one hand and wide eyes watched his dad struggle. “We stuck again Dad?” “Just for a minute buddy.”
Darren forced a smile. “It’s just tired like us.” From the sidewalk an elderly voice called “Darren.”
He looked up to see Mrs. Hartley, his 80-year-old neighbor. She was clutching two paper bags that seemed heavier than she could manage. He jumped out of the car.
“Let me help you with those,” he said jogging over. “You walking all the way home?” She nodded.
“I was going to take the bus but I didn’t expect these to weigh a ton.” “I’ll drive you.” “Car’s being dramatic but it’ll move.”
He took the bags and glanced back at Theo. “Just hop in the front seat Mrs. H.” What Darren didn’t notice was the woman he passed on the sidewalk.
She was tall in a sharp suit with dark sunglasses and a phone pressed to her ear. She paused midstep to look at him. Her heels clicked to a stop.
Elina Foster had just stepped out of a meeting at the community outreach center. She was walking back to her car when she saw him. She didn’t know his name.
She didn’t know anything about him. She just saw that he had this easy way about him. The way he crouched to meet the old woman’s gaze stayed with her.
She noticed his laugh as he opened the passenger door. She saw how gently he buckled her seat belt. It caught her off guard.
“Miss Foster?” Her assistant’s voice piped through the phone. “You still there?”
Elina blinked. “Yeah I’m here.” But she wasn’t, not really.
She was watching that man, his son, and the elderly woman drive away. They left in a car that clearly needed a miracle. By the time Darren dropped off Mrs. Hartley and got Theo home his work boots were soaked in sweat and his stomach was growling.
