Page 71 of Without You

“That’d be good. I’ll be leaving here pretty soon and I’ll try to hurry. It probably won’t take you long to get through what you need to do there, right?”

“Right. Thanks so much, B. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I feel like such a burden.”

“Of course. It’s not a burden at all, though. See you in a bit.”

We say good bye, hang up, and I drive straight over to the tire shop, glad to see the service truck parked in its usual spot.

“Hey, boss!” Johnny shouts, wiping his hands on a grease rag.

“How’s it going today?”

“Good. Good. Transport go okay for you?”

I shrug. “It’s out of my hands now so hopefully. Client was incredibly happy with it.”

Johnny grins. “Of course he was. You’re the best.”

“Damn right, I am,” I joke. “Gotta go help Katie. She had a flat this morning and someone she didn’t even know ended up helping her.”

“What the hell?” Johnny asks, irritated.

“My thoughts exactly. She took some side roads today on the way to meet someone for coffee, got a flat, didn’t have a spare, couldn’t call anyone because she had zero service. Some random guy was there and let her use his spare tire. He’s going to pick it up here. At least that’s what she said she planned.”

“Not cool, man.”

“I agree.”

“She okay?”

“She’s okay. She’s safe, but yeah, it could have been bad.”

He nods and my stomach tightens. I won’t let my mind go the direction of how bad it truly could have been. “Need my help? I can come with ya.”

“Nah. I’ll be fine. Y’all good here?”

“Well-oiled machine, man. Must be the excellent management,” he says, puffing out his chest and complimenting himself since he’s the “excellent management” he speaks of.

“Definitely.”

After checking in with the rest of the staff, I take off in the service truck toward Katie. The town is less than an hour away so it doesn’t take me long to get there and find her car in the parking lot of the Starbucks.

Me: I’m here.

Katie: Don’t yell at me but I left it unlocked just in case you needed to get in.

I groan and drop my head back. This woman is going to kill me.

I’m about to reply when another text pops up. This one from my mom. And seeing it immediately reminds me that I had told her I’d come over today to help her fix her washing machine.

Mama: Where are you? I’ve been waiting here for hours!

I groan. Of course she has. I do feel bad because I told her I’d be there and just plain forgot.

Me: Sorry, Mom. Had to take the service truck to fix a flat tire.

It’s not a lie, even if it’s not entirely true.

Mama: You could have told me so I wouldn’t have been sitting here all day. I really needed your help today.

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