Page 7 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
Having never been the religious type but a stickler for due respect, Greg looked down the table at his wife and said, “Thank you, my dear. This looks fantastic.”
Peggy smiled lovingly at her husband as the others at the table, including Trixie, echoed Greg’s gratitude. “You all are quite welcome, but this was not cooked by me.” She indicated down the table and said, “This was all Cayden.”
“So be ready to call 911,” Cayden snapped quickly before anyone could send praise his way. “I can’t guarantee I didn’t poison any of you.”
A laugh rumbled through the room, but Trixie didn’t partake. Why had he deflected Peggy’s words so? She didn’t doubt he was a bad cook, but also didn’t think he was trying to be modest just for her sake. It was as if Cayden didn’t like being in the spotlight.Interesting, she silently mused.
“Let’s eat.” At Greg’s words, the forks were picked up and immediately filled. Trixie was slower to follow the routine.
Conversations started between various parties, though none were directed at her. Not waiting for Cayden to try to start one, she looked at the young man across the table from her. He was maybe eighteen or nineteen, which made Trixie wonder what he’d done to land in a halfway house after barely reaching adulthood.
“Hi, I’m Trixie.” She reached across the table to extend her hand.
“Paul.” He took her hand. “I’m a hacker.” At Peggy’s throat clearing, he amended with a small smile. “I’m an ex-hacker.”
“Wow.” Trixie twirled some spaghetti onto her fork but didn’t bring it to her mouth. “I’m envious. I have trouble checking my email. If that little button didn’t tell me I had one, I probably wouldn’t even remember to look.”
Paul chuckled. “I don’t like people, but computers?” He sighed longingly. “I like computers.”
“I get it.” Because she did. “That’s exactly the way I feel about cars. People are complicated and stupid, but cars? I get those.”
Paul indicated with his fork. “You and Cayden will get along great then.” Trixie forced herself not to follow the direction the fork was pointing. “He used to run with the Black Pythons.”
Trixie tried to look surprised, but she wasn’t that great of an actress. She already guessed that he’d been with the outlaw MC. Herabuelohad lost more than one exotic to the Black Pythons, their President Carver, and his club over the years. The first time she’d heard Carver’s name had been herpapáyelling it into the phone, cursing the man.
“I prefer my cars legally obtained.”
Paul grinned. “Don’t think too poorly of us, Ms. Romero. We’re lost souls who just need a purpose.”
“And what is your purpose?” She didn’t know his last name so she couldn’t call himMr.in return.
“To serve my time so I can get back to my wife and daughter.” At the mention of his family, Trixie thought perhaps she’d misjudged his age. “Want to see them?” Before waiting for her reply, Paul dug his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it up to a photo of two smiling teens and an infant. “We had her when we were sixteen. I promised I’d take care of us when Shelly’s parents kicked her out for getting pregnant.” Guilt crossed his face as he admitted, “I took one too many shortcuts and got caught with my hand in the cookie jar. She’s been on her ownraising our daughter for almost two years. Once my term here is done, I get to go home to them.”
Trixie matched his smile. “Good for you, Paul.”
Rather than putting it away, Paul set his wallet next to his plate with the photo facing him before he took another bite. “What about you, Ms. Romero? Any relation to the dealership down the road?”
She nodded proudly. “Mi abuelofounded it, passed it on to me when he died.”
“So, you own it? That’s cool.” Paul took a sip of his water, reminding Trixie that she hadn’t even taken a bite of food yet. She twirled noodles around her fork earlier. “Do you just manage operations or do you work in sales?”
Trixie paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. She’d had this question put to her too many times for her to show anger about it. “I work on the cars. My specialty is exotic restorations, but I can do it all if needed. One of my painters is out on paternity leave right now so I had to pick up the slack there too.” She made a face. “Not my forte, to be honest, but I get by.”
Paul looked impressed. “You actually work on the cars?”
She nodded, trying not to get annoyed with the kid. It was either talk to him or silence, because sherefusedto talk to Mr. Cocky Biker. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d already told Cayden she didn’t break her client’s confidentiality, she’d start bragging about the GTO waiting for pickup in her bay. That babypurrednow that she was done with her.
“That’s so cool!” Paul’s shock turned into respect and awe. The kid was easier to read than an audiobook. “I wish I was good at cars. I never got my license, so it never made sense to learn how.”
“You don’t have your license?”
He shook his head. “I dropped out of high school when Shelly got pregnant. I had my dad’s laptop at the time. It was this olddinosaur,” he scoffed. “But I used it to teach myself code. It was like a hidden language that just spoke to me. I kept learning, kept teaching myself. Got into this underground network and met this hacktivist group.” He shrugged. “I just wanted to provide for my family. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
Trixie wondered if his use of the word ‘hurt’ was physical or financial. If he’d actually hurt someone, she couldn’t imagine him being out on parole after only two years, or that the Wynns would take him in.
One of the men across the table from her stood to refill his water glass. He paused to make sure Peggy didn’t need anything while he was up. Trixie’s eyes wandered down the table where another man and Greg were deep in conversation about the house’s plumbing of all things and then back towards Peggy. They were an aging couple who had opened up their home to strangers. Some might think this to be a crazy and irresponsible action, but Trixie knew it for what it was at its heart.
They were lonely. The loss of their son, whether he was dead or not, was a hard one to bear. Taking in these men was their way of atoning, even when they had done nothing wrong. Trixie’s love for the couple rose. They were truly amazing. Beyond that, they had demanded respect from these men and had gotten it. There wasn’t a rude word or gesture amongst any of them.
