Page 3 of Forever Endeavor

She cracked the window a few inches. “I’m in a big hurry. Could you please take a look and fix whatever’s wrong?”

He leaned back and examined the side panel. “Car looks new. What’d you do to it?”

“I didn’tdoanything to it. I was driving along when the check engine light came on.”

“The check engine light?” He furrowed his brow. “Is there gas in the tank?”

She was in no mood to be mansplained why cars needed fuel. “Of course there’s gas in it, the needle has barely budged since I left.”

“If you don’t tighten the gas cap properly, the sensor can trigger the check engine light.” He walked toward the back of the car, opened the fuel door, reached in to check the gas cap, and then returned to the window. “Nope. It’s as tight as a nun on Good Fri—” he muttered before catching himself. “Oops, sorry ma’am.”

That second “ma’am” deflated her ego like a sad balloon but she instead swallowed her pride and pitched another plea. “Look, I really need to catch a flight. Can you please just look under the hood? Maybe some wires are crisscrossed.”

Judging by his smarmy grin, he was amused by her automotive expertise. “Did it make any noise before you pulled over?”

“It kind of sputtered and the engine started knocking.”

He tsked. “Well, that changes everything.”

“Wait, wait, don’t hold me to that,” Billie stumbled. “Maybe it wasn’t a sputter. I don’t know, I’m not qualified to describe engine noises.”

“Sounds like the injector system. Or the timing gear. Better hope it’s not the rod bearings or else the engine could seize and then you’ll be the owner of a shiny, twenty-five-hundred-pound paperweight. Think I’d better tow you into Janus Lake.”

“And how far away is that?”

“About twenty miles.”

No, no, no, that simply would not do. What she needed was a second opinion. “Are you the only tow company around?”

“Yes, ma’am, the only one with a hook truck within sixty-three miles,” he answered.

“But I’m going to miss my flight. Any chance I can rent a car or get a cab in town?”

“There’s a bus that comes through three times a week. But you’ve already missed it. Next one ain’t until Tuesday.”

Shit.She squeezed the steering wheel so hard it nearly bent. “This can’t be happening.”

“No promises, but I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “Grab your things and you can ride up front with me. The sooner you get in, the sooner we’ll get there.”

Sonny

It had been a hell of a week at the garage and Sonny was looking forward to knocking off early. By now, he should’ve been a couple of cold ones into happy hour if the auto club hadn’t thrown a wrench into those plans. Yeah, he could’ve pretended he’d already left and slid away, but ohhh no, something compelled him to pick up the phone as he was headed out the door. And gee, what a prize this was for answering the call of duty. Nothing but eye rolls and bellyaching from this city girl obviously used to getting things her way, right away. Well, your pretty little car says otherwise, sweetie, so grab some tissues for your issues and don’t take ‘em out on me.

With the coupe secured and tow lights hooked up, Sonny climbed back into the truck and threw off his gloves. On the far side of the worn bench seat, the redhead hung her head out the window like a skittish Irish setter poised to leap.

“Ugh, how do you stand it in here? It reeks like gasoline.” She coughed. “I thought I was going to suffocate.”

He stifled a laugh. “It’ll get better once we get moving. Hold on.” The truck bumped and jostled forward. Sonny checked the mirrors to make sure the swaying load had stabilized before pulling onto the highway. He glanced over and spied his passenger’s look of concern. “Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ve been doing this a long time.”

Her forehead creased. “Please, I implore you, stop calling me ma’am.”

“Sorry. What should I call ya?”

“Billy,” he thought he heard her say.

Billy?Nah, that couldn’t be right. Surely he misheard her what with the rushing wind whistling past his ears. “Sorry, it sounded like you said Billy. Like Billy the Kid?”

She rolled her eyes. “I did. But it’s not spelled B-I-L-L-Y, it’s B-I-L-L-I-E.”

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