Page 14 of Five Days in July
5
LENORE
Clearly, this morning was not a fuel gauge issue or something as simple as running out of gas. That blasted yellow check engine light is back on, and the stupid car won’t start again. I tried shutting it off and turning it on again—twice—but then I worried about flooding the engine.
I see the wrecker coming down the street and sigh in relief. Hopefully, this new complication will be over soon, and I’ll be able to get home and put my groceries in the fridge. There are two thermal bags full of food sitting on the ground next to me, and I can’t afford to let them go to waste. Who knows how much this fiasco is going to wind up costing.
“Thank you, Stan. I really appreciate you and your grandson. I couldn’t have gotten out of the intersection without your help.” The sense of panic that rose at first has been replaced by a deep, depressing resignation, so at least I’m not acting like an anxious wreck; instead, a very, very tired one.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay, young lady? We don’t mind giving you a ride home.” Stan is the sweetest person and is clearly doing a great job teaching his grandson how to drive, even though the kid still seems nervous behind the wheel. I glance at Sean, the grandson, and see him blanch. I don’t think he’s confident with his highway driving yet.
“That’s all right. Thank you both so much. My friend sent someone to help me out.” I nod toward the wrecker.
“Well, as long as Al’s here, we’re going to keep on practicing,” Stan claps a hand on his grandson’s back.
Sean pulls the keys out of his pocket and opens the passenger door for his grandpa before nodding a farewell to me. I wave goodbye to them both and watch the tow truck maneuver into place.
I start to walk over to see if I can help but to my surprise, Matt climbs out of the passenger seat. Based on this morning, I probably shouldn’t be so shocked that he came along to help.
“Hey, stranger.” I smile at him when we get closer but pull up short of taking that one more step that would put me within touching distance.
“Hey yourself. It quit again?” He scans over me like he’s looking for broken limbs and road rash. Not finding any obvious signs of injury, he focuses his attention on the car.
“Except this time, it didn’t start up again.” I wrinkle my nose at the useless hunk of metal. “I can’t believe this is happening. I just got it this spring, and the dealership said it passed all their used car tests with flying colors.”
“Do you think it might still be under warranty?”
Warranty? Warranty! I hadn’t even thought about that. God bless him for being so sensible in a crisis because that would be a huge blessing, especially if it covered all the costs, including towing.
“Do you think it might?” I defer to him.
“Wouldn’t hurt to check. It looks like it doesn’t have too many miles on it.”
A man even bigger than Matt steps around the tow truck and looks at the two of us with a curious expression before a big grin lightens the natural seriousness of his bearded face.
“You must be Lenore. Matty here told me all about you.” He steps onto the sidewalk and stretches out a hand. I reach out to shake it and get pulled into an enthusiastic hug instead.
“Al, Lenore. Lenore, Al.” Matt waves between the two of us. “Behave please, Al.” Matt gives him a quelling look, but it’s clear they’re friends.
Al holds up his hands before reining himself back in.
“You okay with us hauling your car over to Matt’s garage, or was there somewhere else you had in mind?”
“Dammit, Al.” Matt looks ready to combust.
Al’s definitely messing with him because I catch a quick wink from him while Matt’s not looking.
“Oh, I don’t know.” I smile at Al, feeling conspiratorial. “You know anywhere else that would do a better job for a decent price?”
Matt groans and walks back toward the tow truck.
“Nah. He’s just about the best in town. If you don’t mind, I’ll take your keys and start hooking her up.”
“Thank you so much for coming so quickly,” I say as I hand them over.
“It’s my pleasure, honey. And just so you know, he really is the best. I’m not just saying that because I’ve known him since he was in diapers.”
I’m too shocked by Al’s pronouncement to respond and stand frozen while he starts whistling and getting the car hooked up to the tow truck. A sudden image of a serious baby fiddling with tools makes me smile.