Page 50 of Cross Check Christmas
"You know what your problem is?" Sawyer says as we head out. "You're trying too hard. Let us married guys teach you how to sweep Teacher Barbie off her feet."
“I don’t think she’d appreciate being called Teacher Barbie,” I say.
"Look," Owen throws an arm around my shoulders, "What he means is, we've got your back. "First step is getting her to actually talk to you without running away."
"Or leaving you stranded at hockey games," Griffin adds helpfully.
"I hate all of you." I joke. “I'm just buying you guys hot chocolate to shut you up.”
16
COLETTE
The morning frost bites through my mittens as I poke around under the hood.
Perfect. Just perfect
I stare at the mess of metal and wires like it might suddenly make sense. Who am I kidding? I can barely tell which part is the battery.
“Need a hand?”
I freeze at the sound of Hendrix's voice. Of course he'd show up now, while I'm bent over my engine looking completely clueless.
"It's fine." I wave him off without looking up. "I've got this under control."
"Yeah? Is that why you've been standing here for twenty minutes making faces at your engine?"
I spin around to find Hendrix leaning against my car, arms crossed and wearing that insufferable smirk. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like Toronto?"
He pushes off the car and peers under the hood. "Try starting it again?"
Against my better judgment, I slide back into the driver's seat and turn the key. Click-click-click.
"Yeah, that's your starter." He straightens up, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Had the same thing happen to my first car. You'll need a mechanic for that."
I lean my forehead against the steering wheel. "A mechanic? That sounds expensive.”
“Want me to call Tucker? His brother-in-law runs the shop in town."
"No thank you." I get out and slam the door with more force than necessary. "I can handle it myself."
“Are you sure? He can probably get you the friends and family discount.”
I look at him sidelong. “So… hypothetically… How long do you think a repair like that will take?”
He shrugs and closes the hood for me. “I guess that depends where the part comes from. I’d say two or three days probably.”
“Two or three days? I need to drive to Whitestone today."
"What's in Whitestone?"
"My cousin's cat."
"You need to get your cousin's… cat?"
I groan and explain the situation to Hendrix
"My cousin Michelle got stuck an extra few days on her work trip. Her neighbor was watching her cat but had to leave for a family thing, so now poor Khan is alone in the house."
