After a few more attempts, Ryan was finally able to coax the engine to life. “Ah, there we go.” He pumped the gas pedal harder, which brought forth a heavy rumbling from beneath Amy’s feet. There was an almighty grunt, the truck’s chassis momentarily shook, and then a plume of brown smoke erupted out of the exhaust. Even with the windows up, the acrid stench managed to seep its way inside. Amy put her hand to her mouth and coughed as Ryan wrenched the gearstick into reverse and rolled the truck out of the carport.

“Sorry about the smell,” he said.

Amy rolled down her window in a desperate attempt to cleanse the air of fumes. “Hey, if it gets you from A to B, then that’s all that matters, right?”

His mouth dropped open. “She can do a great deal more than just get from A to B! Don’t be fooled by her looks now, this truck has got all the same fancy extras of those flashy ones you get up there in that big city of yours.”

She grinned as she contemplated the cab’s sparse, utilitarian interior, which seemed void of anything built during her lifetime. “Uh-huh.”

“It does!”

“I believe you.”

Ryan brought the truck to a stop outside the main gate. With the engine idling anemically, he leaned over and popped open the glove box. “Look there,” he said wittingly, “it’s got full navigation.”

Amy pulled out an oversized, crumpled map of Oregon. “Very funny.”

“A little cumbersome and unwieldy, sure, but it works.” With a self-satisfied grin, Ryan stepped on the gas and headed off down the road. “And that’s not all,” he said as he rolled down his window and stuck his hand outside. “There’s air-conditioning too. And none of that recirculated air, only the good stuff.”

“Thought of everything, haven’t you?”

“No, wait, there’s one more thing.” He tapped the central console of his dash, drawing her attention to the radio. “See? There’s even music as well. All the modern comforts.”

Amy leaned forward to inspect closer. “Is that—”

“—a tape deck?” he said, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. “Yes, it is.”

“As in . . . cassette tapes?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I didn’t know they were still a thing!”

Ryan let out an audible gasp. “This might be hard to believe, but there was a time when that there would have been a luxury addition to any vehicle. That’s how people used to listen to music before everyone started carrying those fancy toys around.”

“Phones, you mean?”

He laughed. “Yeah, those.”

“All right, let’s hear it, then. Play me something. Where are all your tapes?” But no sooner had she started searching than she noticed his expression turn bashful. “Ah, you don’t have any, do you?”

“I do, actually.”

“Come on, put one on then.”