Page 18 of Truck Up

Sophia is our head mechanic. Mac and my second youngest brother, Ash, work under her when the workload is high. Otherwise, they primarily work on the racing side of the business. Mac races the cars, and Ash builds them under the supervision of my twin, Chase.

Chase is the expert race car builder. He’s been teaching Ash and Mac everything he knows so he can step away from the auto business. He loves helping and getting under the hood of a car, but his passion is farming. If all goes well today, Chase will be able to spend more time on our family farm, and less time in the garage or at the tracks.

Ash finished his first solo racecar build and everyone else is at the tracks to watch it in action. Liam rarely goes with them. Normally, Chase and Mac are the only ones to go, but Liam wanted to see how the car performed.

If we didn’t have to have someone at the shop, Sophia would’ve gone too. Mac offered to let her go in his place, but she insisted she stay behind.

I’ve never really been that interested in racing. I’ll watch Mac compete, but I’ve no interest in watching them test cars or practice. That’s Chase’s thing.

I love bikes. I can spend hours working on a bike and never get bored. If I’m not working on one, I’m riding one. I hate that it’s almost fall. Before long, it’ll be too cold to ride my bike. I’ll keep riding though until the snow or ice hits the ground. Then it’s back to driving my truck.

I have two other brothers who don’t work at the garage, Garret and Warren. Though they are still part owners. We all own a stake in Mutter Truckers Auto & Racing regardless of the work we do. That’s how our grandfather set the business up years ago, before any of us were even old enough to think about careers.

It just so happened that most of us wanted to work here.

Garret owns his own general contracting business. He enjoys working on cars and bikes too, just on personal projects. He prefers working away from home, which confuses the hell out of me. Out of all of us, he’s the grumpiest and least social. I’d think he’d prefer to stay home.

Warren is the smartest one of the family. He moved away for college and ended up earning his PhD in some kind of automotive engineering.

Until recently, he lived in North Carolina and worked for some top racing company. He just showed up one day, said he quit his job, and was moving home. He still hasn’t told any ofus what happened and is mostly a recluse. I’ve only seen him a handful of times since his return.

“I heard the boys sent you to get the flowers for Grams’s birthday,” Sophia says.

I glance over my shoulder to find her smiling at me. “Yeah.” I shrug, not really sure where she’s going with this.

“Heard the Koch brothers showed up and tried to start something.”

“Those idiots couldn’t start something even if they were handed a how-to manual.” I grumble. “All talk. No action.”

Sophia chuckles, and I frown. I wasn’t trying to be funny. Just speaking the truth.

“I take it they didn’t stop you from ordering the flowers then?”

I furrow my brows. “Why would they?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She places her hands on her hips and smiles at me. “Maybe because you’re a Mutter and you have a crush on their sister.”

I whip my head up so fast it makes me a little dizzy. “What?”

She chuckles. “Oh, come on. I see the way you look at her when you think no one is watching. Not to mention the way she avoids you like you don’t even exist. You’re the only Mutter she does that with.” She taps her chin and gives me a curious stare. “Why is that?”

“She doesn’t avoid me.” As soon as the words are out, they feel like a lie. Does she avoid me? I’ve never given it any thought, but it makes sense. We go out of our way to make sure our relationship remains a secret.

Sophia’s smile grows. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

“There is no secret,” I lie, and all she does is laugh harder.

“You’re a terrible liar.” She shakes her head and turns back toward the car she’s been working on. Then she stops and looksover her shoulder at me. “Actually, that’s not true. You’re quite good at lying. But I see through this one.”

I open my mouth to respond but am cut off by the sound of a car door slamming. We both frown as we look out the open bay door.

“You expecting someone?” she asks.

I shake my head and reach for a hand towel to wipe off the grease. Sophia waves me off and heads toward the door. “I’ll see who it is. You finish up what you’re doing.”

A few moments later, I hear Sophia’s surprised voice say, “Hey, never expected to see you here.”

“Um, I’m having trouble with my car,” a familiar female voice says. I pause and focus on the conversation.