Page 35 of Weather the Storm

“Brother, you’re singlehandedly gonna keep me in business.” We all share a laugh then Mateo suggests we step into his office to get out of the sun.

Once inside, he starts laying it on real thick. “Simon, don’t you want to introduce me to thismujer muy hermosayou have with you?”

I nod toward Magnolia, grinning like a fool, because damn straight, she is a very beautiful woman. “Gladly. This here is mygirlfriend, Magnolia Ellington. Magnolia, this is Mateo.” I nod toward the elder Reyes brother. “And that’s his baby brother, Arrón,” I say, nodding toward him as well.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Mateo murmurs, a knowing smile plastered across his face.

“Sorry about your ride,” Arrón says to her as he shakes her hand.

“It’s really good to meet y’all,” Magnolia replies in that sweet voice of hers, sounding like an angel sent just for me.

“Now, about your car. Luckily, all we really have to do is replace the back windshield and order four new tires and mount them. So, while it sucks that this happened, it’s a good thing the littleestúpidodidn’t do any damage to the body. I just need you to sign off on the paperwork.”

“H-how much will that be?” Magnolia asks, worry evident in her tone.

“Insurance will cover the costs, but you do have to pay your deductible.” Mateo drops into his desk chair and rolls over to his computer. He clicks around for a few seconds and announces, “It looks like your deductible is five hundred dollars.”

Magnolia brings a hand to her chest. “F-five hundred?”

“Sí,” Mateo says, “I know that seems likemucho dinero, but when you think about what the out-of-pocket cost would be, you’re coming out on top.”

“I guess you’re r-right,” Magnolia says, tripping over the words. I know she’s worried about the money, but I also know she’ll be annoyed if I swoop in and offer to pay.

“Tell you what, I’m gonna give you the same discount I gave Simon here on his truck the other day—themujer enamoradadiscount.”

“The what discount?” Magnolia asks, tilting her head to the side.

Mateo and I exchange a knowing glance as Arrón blurts out, “The woman in love discount.” I rotate my head to look at Magnolia, and sure enough, her cheeks are a pretty red.

“Oh…um…th-thanks?” Her voice rises at the end, making her gratitude seem like a question.

Mateo tips his chin to her. “How do you feel about one hundred today and the rest over the course of four months?”

“So, one hundred a month?” Magnolia asks.

“Sí.”

Magnolia tilts her head to the side and scrunches her eyes closed. Mumbling under her breath, I hear her running the numbers. “Um, yeah, that should w-work. Thank you so much!”

Mateo smiles widely at her, as does his brother. “You’re very welcome. We should have your car ready by Tuesday. That okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Magnolia replies, looking relieved.

Mateo runs her card for the first one hundred and after he locks up, the four of us file out of the shop. I help Magnolia back into my truck and tell her to give me just a few seconds to talk to Mateo.

Walking over, I wrap my right arm around him, giving him a manly hug. “Thanks for coming in on a Sunday for us, brother. Appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Simon. See you Tuesday.”

They both hit me with one-armed bro hugs as they file past me toward Mateo’s sweet-as-hell GTO.

I climb up into the truck and crank the engine. “Ready to head home, pretty girl?”

“Yeah, Simon, I am.”

With her hand in mine, I make the short drive back to my place.

Chapter Eighteen

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