Page 14 of Finding You

She was visibly relaxing and Devin almost smiled when she reached over and broke off a piece of the lemon pound cake. Gotta love a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat.

Clearing his throat, he went on. “The head gasket is a must. No way around that. Or the radiator. And the tires? We can probably find you some used ones to help you get by. Considering how far you’re looking to drive, they’re kind of important. But I think once those are done, you should be okay. Just don’t wait too long on the hoses.”

“And the exhaust?”

He shrugged. “I can patch the worst spots and make sure everything’s secure until you’re ready to do it.” If it were him, he’d do it all just so the damn car would be safe, but he understood there was the cost to consider. He gave her the figures and then felt bad when she paled.

Looking up at him, she sighed. “I…I don’t know, but I guess I’ll put it on a credit card–or twenty,” she mumbled.

Devin was nothing if not fair. “Okay, let’s make a deal.”

She eyed him warily and he realized how creepy that probably sounded.

“It’s going to take me at least a week to do all the work. Between the labor and getting the parts in, that’s the soonest it will be done. If I had to guess, I’d say you’d best plan for that, but it could take longer.”

“Longer than a week?” she cried. “For real? How is that even possible?”

He shrugged. “Sweetbriar Ridge is a small town. I have to order the stuff from Richmond and–again–we’re not dealing with a run-of-the-mill car. It’s a classic and the parts are harder to come by.”

“Which is another word forka-ching!” she mocked.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Devin mentally counted to ten. “I can’t help the cost of the parts, MacKenzie. But we can certainly work something out on the labor.”

Once again, she jumped up from her seat, but rather than saying anything to him, she stormed from the room. Curious, Devin followed her. He found her in the guest room stuffing her belongings into her duffel bag as she muttered under her breath about men being pigs and not trading sex for car repairs.

“Hey!” he said, leaning in the doorway and feeling more than a little annoyed. “I get that you think all guys are scum, but I resent being lumped in with that.”

“Oh really? Well, too bad!” She never even broke stride and kept shoving stuff in her bag.

“I was going to offer you a job at the shop!” he shouted and then wanted to kick himself. His mother would have slapped him upside the head for raising his voice to a woman–even a woman who was getting on his every last nerve.

MacKenzie stopped and stared at him. “What?”

Pushing off the wall, he slowly walked into the room, crowding her into a corner. “That’s right–a job at the shop. Business has been a little crazy and we really need someone manning the phones and the desk. It’s not a great job, but it’s something.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…oh,” he mimicked. “And I figured you’d be able to keep an eye on things so you’d be comfortable in knowing I wasn’t trying to rip you off.”

“Oh.”

He was starting to feel a little smug. “Look, I’m sorry some guy hurt you or that some guy took advantage of you. But that’s not me, okay? All I’m looking to do is help you out and send you on your way.”

“Oh.”

She was sorely testing his patience again with her one-word answers. His mouth was set in a grim line as he forced himself to not say anything else to upset her.

“I…I still don’t have a place to stay. Between the reunion this weekend and the festival thing the week after, and…”

“You can stay here.”

She rolled her eyes and this time she didn’t try to hide it. “Seriously? And I’m not supposed to lump you in with all the creeps of the world?” With a snort, she shook her head. “I knew you were too good to be true.”

In that moment, Devin had no idea how to respond, but ultimately went with his go-to.

The truth.

“You might not believe this, but there are no strings attached to this deal. We can go to the shop and I’ll make some calls and find you someone else to stay with. A female someone,” he added for emphasis. “I can’t guarantee that you’ll find anyone, but we’ll go knocking door to door if that’s what it takes to make you feel better. I realize you don’t know me, but you can trust me. There are no ulterior motives here.”

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