Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Michelle pushed open the front door of the auto repair shop, looking around warily for Theo.
She’d dropped off her car earlier that day for an oil change, and she’d overheard a couple of the mechanics saying that Theo wasn’t working that day.
Even so, she was on the alert for her nemesis.
She’d come to learn that he could appear at any moment in Coral Sands, often in places where she didn’t expect to see him, like the library.
It wouldn’t be all that unusual for him to return to the auto repair shop for one reason or another, even if he wasn’t scheduled to work that day.
You’re being ridiculous, she told herself as she glanced around the lobby, which smelled strongly of car tires and a little bit like grease, despite being separated from the garage. Gosh, you’re being so dramatic about looking for him it’s almost like you actually want him to be here.
She froze, immediately telling herself that was definitely not the case. She just didn’t want to run into him. She was feeling a little tired, and she wasn’t up for their usual sassy banter. Probably. She wouldn’t want to go into battle when she wasn’t feeling her best, after all.
“Hey, Miss Lowe,” said the young mechanic standing behind the counter. He was wearing navy coveralls and a lopsided nametag that read “Hayden.” “You here for your car?”
“Yup,” Michelle said. “And please don’t call me Miss Lowe, you can call me Michelle.”
As she got closer, she could see why Hayden had used her last name. The young mechanic was clearly still in high school, his face sporting a few pimples and his demeanor the blend of innocence and defiance that belonged only to adolescents.
“Um, okay,” Hayden said, the tips of his ears coloring slightly.
“Are you in high school?” Michelle asked, her tone friendly. She wanted to help the teenager feel more at ease.
Hayden nodded. “Theo got me this job. I come here and work after school and I get to learn about fixing cars. Some of my friends got hired too. It’s a really great job.”
Michelle nodded, feeling impressed that Theo had arranged the setup.
It would allow any of the high schoolers who worked at the auto shop to easily choose becoming a mechanic as their career path if they wanted.
It was a smart way to teach kids a valuable trade while also making sure the auto shop got the extra help it needed.
“That’s awesome,” Michelle said. “Is it hard to balance a job with your homework?”
Hayden shrugged. “It’s not too bad. I don’t work here a lot. I think the hardest thing to balance is my baseball practice with work and school—but school’s just about out for the summer, so that’s going to make it a lot easier.”
Michelle nodded. “I’m sure. And I heard your baseball team has been doing great, so congrats on that.”
Hayden grinned. “Yeah, we did all right for ourselves.”
“Are you graduating this year or next year?”
“Next year.” Hayden pretended to shudder. “I’m not ready to graduate yet.”
Michelle laughed. “Oh, come on, I’m sure you’ll feel more than ready by the time it happens. What do you want to do after you graduate?”
“Well, I’m really interested in Forensics, but I also do really enjoy working on cars. Theo inspired me to become a car mechanic—even though I might do something else too. He’s so good at what he does. The guy knows everything about cars. It totally blows my mind.”
“Huh,” Michelle said, trying not to be impressed with Theo and failing.
Well, I’m glad Theo is doing something constructive for the next generation, Michelle thought wryly. He sure didn’t have his life together like this when he was a kid. He was a rascal in school.
Despite her attempts to think negatively about Theo, she found herself being a bit attracted to the fact that Theo was able to inspire a future professional in his field.
It was clear that he must really enjoy his work as a mechanic, and Michelle was impressed by that revelation.
It was one thing for a man to do his job well but dislike it, and another thing entirely for him to find joy in it.
She had always admired people who were able to focus on what was fascinating about their work and find the fun in it.
“What do I owe you?” she asked Hayden, digging in her purse for a moment and pulling out her wallet.
Hayden gave her the price, and Michelle was pleased by how inexpensive it was.
She’d never been able to get her oil changed for a price like that in the city.
Corporate-owned mechanic shops overcharged in order to put money in the pockets of the businessmen who oversaw them.
It was clear that Theo’s shop was small enough to charge fair prices while still paying the mechanics well.
Michelle paid for the oil change with a swipe of her card. “Thanks again, Hayden. Are the keys in my car?”
“Yup. You’re welcome.”
She smiled at the teenager and turned around, getting ready to leave the shop. She froze in her tracks a moment later when the front door of the shop opened, and who should walk inside but Theo himself.
She was about to blurt, “What are you doing here?” but Hayden beat her to it.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” he said to Theo, crossing his arms. “It’s your day off. You can trust me, you know. You don’t have to come check up on me.”
“Relax, Hayden,” Theo said, grinning. “I have plenty of reasons to come into the shop other than checking on you.”
“Yeah?” Hayden looked suspicious. “What are they?”
“Well, um…” Theo coughed, and Michelle noticed that he seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her. “I bought a new pair of shoes that I wanted to bring to work so I could wear them here tomorrow. They’re in my car, but I was planning on bringing them inside today so I would have them tomorrow.”
Hayden crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing at Theo. “You want to bring in your work shoes and leave them here?”
“Yeah.” Theo smiled innocently.
“Why not just wear them to work tomorrow?”
There was a moment of silence, and Michelle tried to keep the amused expression off her face.
“Well, uh—I don’t want to get my regular shoes full of grease, so I figured I’d just wear those shoes only at the shop here,” Theo said, stammering a little. “Hey, Michelle!” He turned to her with a grin, his tone overly bright. “How’s it going? How’s your car running?”
“It’s great,” Hayden said defensively. “Her car is running great. Why don’t you go get those shoes, Theo?”
“I will.” Theo pointed finger-guns at Hayden. “I’ll be right back.”
He hurried out of the auto repair shop, and Michelle felt suddenly awkward, wondering if she should wait for him to come back. Would it be rude to just leave?
You want to see him again, don’t you? she thought, feeling her stomach do a somersault. Good grief, get out of here.
Before she could leave, however, Theo burst back into the lobby, carrying his new pair of work shoes.
Michelle hid a smile, amused by the way Theo was breathing heavily. It was clear that he’d run to his car and run back. “Your place sure has a great price for oil changes,” she said to Theo. “It was only half the cost of what I paid in the city.”
“We usually charge more than what we charged you,” Hayden said. “Not that much more, but it’s usually a little more expensive. Your oil change price didn’t even totally cover the cost of the oil and the filter.”
“Really?” Michelle cocked her head to one side, feeling confused. “Why was it so cheap?”
“Uh, we have a promotion going on,” Theo said, reddening slightly.
“No,” Hayden said, choosing honesty over tact the way most teenagers did. “We don’t have a promotion going on.”
“It’s a special promotion,” Theo said. “Only certain customers get it.”
Hayden opened his mouth, about to ask a question, but Theo kept talking.
“Well, great to see you guys,” he said. He flashed a grin at both of them. “I’ll just be on my way then. Have a good day.” He waved cheerfully and stepped out of the shop, taking his new work shoes with him.
“Oh man, that guy,” Hayden said, shaking his head. “He must really like you.”
“What?” Michelle felt her whole face grow hot, and she felt worried that she was as red as a tomato.
Hayden shrugged. “There was only one pick-up on the schedule today, and it was you. Theo must have planned to come in exactly when you got here to pick up your car.”
“Oh my goodness, no,” Michelle said, pretending to laugh the suggestion off even though she still felt her cheeks flushing. “He wouldn’t do that. Well, thanks Hayden. I’d better run.”
Hayden shrugged. “Sure, your keys are in your car. Bye, Miss Lowe—I mean, Michelle.”
“Bye, Hayden,” she said, smiling and waving.
She hurried out of the shop and across the parking lot to where her car was waiting.
She climbed inside, frantically checking her reflection in the mirror.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she wasn’t as red as a beet, although her cheeks did look a little pinker than usual.
Wow, that was awkward, she thought, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. There’s no way Theo dropped in when he did just to see me. Right?
She did find it odd that he’d shown up right at that moment—and for such a silly reason. She shook her head wryly when she thought about the way he’d raced in with his work shoes, only to leave with them still in his hands.
Maybe he did show up to see me so that he could give me a hard time, she thought wryly. I wouldn’t put it past him to take advantage of any excuse to tease me.
As soon as she’d had the thought, however, she paused. Theo hadn’t given her a hard time. He hadn’t teased her at all. Apparently, he’d even arranged for her to get a massive discount on her oil change.
She thought about it for a few more seconds and then shrugged.
Maybe Theo had just accidentally put down the wrong price for her oil change, and maybe he really had just wanted to drop his shoes off.
She wasn’t going to let herself read into it too much.
If she read into it, it led her to speculations that she was absolutely not ready to contemplate.