Sidney helped Charles to his feet and walked him out to the sidewalk as the cab pulled to a stop in front of them. Light rain pelted the top of her head, but she opened the door and waited patiently as her date stumbled forward and crawled inside.

She turned back to Valerie, who was still standing under the covered area and waved. “Thanks, Val.”

Once Valerie had waved back, Sidney ran around to the other side of the taxi to hurry and get out of the rain. But when she threw open the door, she froze in place. A horrible retching sound came from inside the car, and the rancid smell of hot wiener smacked her in the face. Oh, God.

She’d never been able to handle the sounds and smell of someone throwing up and immediately covered her nose with her hand. She liked hot dogs, but not the kind that had been partially digested and thrown back up. Gross. To make matters worse, Charles had thrown up on her part of the seat. Great. There was no way she was going to sit in vomit, much less smell that odor all the way home. No doubt she would end up puking herself.

She sighed and glanced to the driver, who looked as annoyed as she felt. “Um, I’ll just wait for the next taxi.”

“I am the next taxi, lady. It’s a small town. Not enough business to run more than one taxi a night.”

Ah, crap. “Okay, then I’ll just find another way home.” She pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and passed it to the driver as she rattled off Charles’s address. “This should cover his fare.” Then she handed him another twenty. “And this is for your trouble. Sorry about the mess.”

The driver shoved the money in his shirt pocket and grinned. “Wouldn’t be the first time that has happened. But thanks for the tip. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” She gazed at her date in the backseat. “Charles, I hope you feel better soon.”

He only groaned in response so she shut the car door, and the cab pulled away.

Valerie looked as confused as ever. “Hey, what happened? Why didn’t you get into the cab?”

“Because Charles decided to throw up all over the backseat.”

“Oh no. Well, you could’ve ridden in the front seat, I suppose.”

“And smell that all the way home? No thank you. I’m just going to walk.”

Valerie shook her head. “But it’s late. And it’s cold and rainy.”

Sidney shrugged. “It’s not that bad. I’ll live.”

“I have a better solution. Stay right here, and I’ll get you a ride home.”

“Val, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to trouble anyone.”

“No trouble at all. Trust me, he won’t mind.”