Page 5 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

Dean Owens sat at the desk in his office in Main Street Auto, the auto repair shop that he owned and ran. He twirled a pen in his fingertips as he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about all kinds of things.

Mostly he thought about his girlfriend, Noelle Calhoun. He loved thinking about her. He considered her to be the sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world, and he often occupied his time with remembering things she’d said and done on their dates.

A sappy smile spread across his face as he thought about her. He’d met her in a pretty unconventional way, since at first, she’d been his physical therapist. Recently Dean had received the tragic diagnosis of early onset osteoarthritis, and his family had urged him to go to physical therapy.

Best decision I ever made,he thought with a chuckle.

Not only were his symptoms now well in hand and much easier to manage, but he’d met Noelle through the process. He’d switched to another physical therapist before asking her out on a date, but they’d become friends almost from the first moment they’d met. She was kind and a great deal of fun to be around, and he’d given her a tour of Rosewood Beach which had helpedthem to bond even more quickly. She had a warm, affectionate nature that matched well with his.

A yawn overtook him in the midst of his reverie. He felt tired that day, even though he’d been doing a better job of pacing himself at work so that he didn’t aggravate his body too much, something that always resulted in aching muscles and fatigue.

He shook his head, reminding himself that he needed to get better at not doing all of the work that he wanted to. When he’d first opened his auto shop, he’d been able to take on the majority of the repair work himself and still find time to go to The Lighthouse Grill and assist his mother with odds and ends that needed doing there.

Ever since his diagnosis, however, he’d been needing to take it easy in order to not experience symptoms of aching muscles and fatigue. It had been hard for him to cut back on his work, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. There were still days, like today, when he realized that he should have taken a break sooner, but for the most part, he had energy again and he felt good.

I guess I should be glad I like my job so much,he thought with a chuckle.It’s a nice problem to have, wanting to do more work.

He was starting to think about Noelle again, reflecting that she was such an unexpected blessing in his life, when there was a knock on the door of his office.

“Come in!” he called, assuming it was one of his mechanics. The person who opened the door, however, had light brown wavy hair, warm hazel eyes, and a bright smile. “Noelle!” He stood up eagerly as soon as he saw her. “What a wonderful surprise.”

She hurried over and gave him a hug. “I had two clients cancel today, so I have a two-hour break. I stopped to get myself a treat at Seaside Sweets Bakery, and I bought you a cruller.”

Dean gasped in delight when he saw the white paper bag that Noelle was holding up. Crullers from Seaside Sweets Bakery were his absolute favorite. They were covered in an unconventional thin later of chocolate, and every time he bit into one, the taste blew his mind.

“You are the sweetest girlfriend in the world,” he said, rocking her back and forth a little. “I’m even more excited about getting to see you than the doughnut.”

She grinned at him and gave him a kiss. “There’s nothing I’d rather do on my break,” she told him warmly. “Speaking of breaks, I’m glad to see you’re taking one. You look tired, Dean.”

Noelle was always gentle when she reprimanded him, but it was something that she had to do fairly often. He struggled with taking care of himself, and he needed the caring reminders of his girlfriend, mother, and sisters.

“I am tired.” He nodded. “I meant to take a break earlier today, but I lost track of time. I got totally caught up in my work, as usual.” He grimaced, and she laughed.

“I know you love working on cars,” she told him, “but remember that you have guys here who can help you. They’re all ready to step in whenever you need to take a break.”

“I know, but sometimes we’re a little short on hands. If someone needs their car done in a few hours, I just can’t bring myself to stop working on it and call one of my guys over from another project that has a tight deadline. If I did that, we’d end up being late with finishing people’s vehicles. We’ve never been late before, and I don’t want Main Street Auto’s reputation to take a hit like that.” He sighed. “We’ve been doing so well. More customers than ever before, and people are trusting us with delicate, important work now. We used to be the kind of place people just came for basic stuff, but now they trust us with everything. If my company’s reputation is on the line, I’mgoing to just push myself a little and deal with being fatigued afterward.”

Noelle listened to him thoughtfully, nodding her head as he spoke to show that she understood what he was saying. “I know your company’s reputation is important to you,” she assured him, “but I never want you to feel as though you have to choose between your business’s wellbeing and your own.”

He smiled at her. “I wish it were that simple, but I think it’s just part of my situation.”

“I think it can be that simple.” She sat down on the desk beside him, suddenly looking excited. “What if you brought on another mechanic? You just said you have more business than ever before, and you still have more space in the garage. You could fit up to four cars in the garage at one time. That would speed up your business and prevent you from having to take on that extra work yourself.”

Dean’s eyebrows lifted as he heard her suggestion. “I mean, it’s a great idea, Noelle, but there aren’t a lot of mechanics in town. I think I’ve already hired everyone who really knows what they’re doing and wants to make a living at this. I take pride in the quality of work that we provide at the shop, and I want to make sure I don’t hire anyone that I can’t really trust to measure up to those high standards. I mean, you know how complicated engines are.”

Noelle grinned. She loved to fix cars with her grandfather, and her shared interest in them with Dean was one of the things that had drawn them to each other early on in their relationship. “I do, and I also know that there are plenty of smart, hard-working people out there that would love to work in your shop and would do an awesome job at it.”

Dean shrugged. “If there are, I don’t know how to find them.”

Noelle smiled at him flirtatiously and touched her forehead to his. “Well, lucky for you, you have a brilliant girlfriend. I knowjust what to do.” She sat down on Dean’s lap and pulled his laptop toward her. “We’re going to pay a visit to my trusty friend the internet.”

Dean laughed. “Wow, the internet! I think I’ve met the internet before.”

Noelle laughed as she searched for a job-posting site. “Here it is! This is where we’ll put up a posting about an available position at your shop. I’m sure you’ll get all kinds of candidates, and I’m also confident that at least some of them will be more than qualified. And if not, then we can explore other options.”

Dean considered the idea, cocking his head to one side as he watched Noelle start to type up a job posting. “But it’s not just about the expertise. I also want to hire people who are good-natured, and who will be respectful to customers. You know, people who don’t have to fake customer service skills. People who really care about doing the job right.”

Noelle typed “be nice” into the job posting she was writing up, and they both laughed.

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