Page 29 of It Started With a Scarf

"You're making other changes to my car besides just the radiator leak?"

"Yes, we'll do those other repairs and replacements I talked to you about. I didn't realize they were covered. None of this is any charge to you. The whole thing is taken care of."

"You're kidding me."

"No, ma'am. But the pick-up time has changed. We've got a little more work to do."

"Yes sir, six o'clock. Is that right?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you, I'll see you then."

I made my way outside after barely pausing to acknowledge Mitzy and quickly saying goodbye to Joan.

I opened the door to Dominic's truck. It was a large vehicle with a lavish grey interior and I climbed inside. There was wood trim, and it looked like a luxury vehicle even though it was a pickup truck. The windows were tinted and we were high off the road. I sat up and peered out of the windows. "I feel like I'm in a plane or something else besides a vehicle. This is a nice truck."

"My dad had a contract with Ford, so we get the hookup. This was Christmas from my parents."

"Whoa."

"I know. It's not like that every year, but this year, there were trucks in the driveway with big ribbons."

"Well, Merry Christmas to us all," I said. I sat back and put on my seatbelt with a smile. "Thank you for the ride. This is great." I ran my hand along the armrest, which was made of soft leather.

"I could go for a smoothie," he said. "I know a place."

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that before we go anywhere. We don't have to go to the mechanic anymore. My appointment got pushed back to later this evening, so I'll just get a ride over there later. Thank you, though. We can still get a smoothie or hang out for a minute if you want."

"You don't need me to take you to the mechanic?"

"No, and you are not going to believe what just happened in there. This day has been unbelievable. I got the scarf back, and now, I'm… a guy from the repair shop called me while I was inside and told me that I—" I gasped. "Oh, my gosh, Dominic, you know what I just thought of? Mitzy. Joan's dog. She was going nuts on me just now when I went in the house, trying to talk to Joan, and it dawned on me that Patrick made this big deal about her going crazy on you in the store and yelping. You went to Joan's store to pick up some pajamas for—"

"Ohh,that dog? You know that dog?"

"That's Joan's store you were in, and that's her dog who was whining so bad that day. It just dawned on me that it might have been my scarf that made her do that. Did you have it near your stuff?"

"Oh, definitely. I had it on the same hanger as my coat. That dog was stuck to me like glue that day. That's insane. I can't… are you serious? That was Joan's store? Back at Thanksgiving?"

"Yes. She was all excited about your mom shopping there. Patrick told the whole story about how Mitzy wouldn't let you let her down."

"She wouldn't. She yelped like I had hurt her."

I laughed. "Patrick told us all about it. She's never done anything like that before then or since. Do you think it was because you had my scarf?"

"Yes, definitely," he said with an amazed laugh. "That's for sure what did it. I had that scarf on the same hanger as this coat. You saw it in the picture. And she was scratching right at my chest."

"Oh, Mitzy… " I said, shaking my head. "But I'm so sorry. I got off track. My car. I was telling you about my car. I don't need a ride anymore because it's so late now. I'll take the bus later tonight, or Joan might be back by then, but it's not going to be ready until six o'clock. And I'm trying not to doubt what I just heard, but the guy said it was going to be zero dollars. Free. Zilch. Na-da, Dominic."

"That's awesome. Are you happy?"

I squinted at him. "Am I happy?" I said, teasing him. "I'm feeling like I'm dreaming. This whole day. I mean, with the car, I'm still cautious about believing it's going to happen like the guy said, but yes, I'm extremely happy. I'd still love to go with you and get a smoothie, though, if you want. We can just go somewhere close, and you can just drop me back here after."

"Or we can hang out all afternoon and I could take you to your mechanic later," he said with a little smile.

I wanted to hang out with him for the rest of my life, but I just smiled, nodded, and shrugged, not knowing how serious he was. Dominic backed out of Joan's driveway like he knew where he was going.

Chapter 10

We pulled into a gigantic parking lot, and I realized we were on some sort of small campus. I saw a sign that told me it was Chicago ETC, and I knew that was Dominic's gym. I had no idea how big of an operation it would be.

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