19. Chapter Nineteen | Savannah
Chapter nineteen
Shit, shit, shit.
What is the point of having a ton of brothers if they're all too far away when I’m literally stranded on the side of the road?
I dropped the girls off at school this morning before running some errands.
I had to drive over to the neighboring town for a few things, but as I head back to Forrest Falls, my tire blows.
Daddy taught us how to change a tire, but the lug nuts were apparently tightened by Thor himself, and I can’t get them loose.
Jack is in New York, Liam is in some undisclosed location out of the US, Ryan is stuck in some meeting, Finn is at a conference in Atlanta, Vivian had an appointment in Nashville, and I know Walker is in Seattle this week.
I tried Daddy, but he didn’t answer. I check the time and I still have an hour before I need to pick up the girls, but no girl likes being stuck on the side of the road.
There is one other person I could check with …
he did say I could reach out if I needed anything at all, and being stranded on the side of the road feels like it qualifies.
Me
Hey, Theo. It’s Savannah… are you free right now by any chance?
I guess I could call the auto shop in town, but it seems silly to have them come out for something as simple as a stuck lug nut.
I turn to see a silver sedan pull up behind my SUV. “Hey there, is everything okay?” The voice belongs to Shane’s senior paralegal, Jimmy Edmonds. Jimmy has always been a nice guy, but I really don’t like that Shane is probably going to hear about this. But beggars can’t be choosers.
“Hey, Jimmy! I’m fine, just a flat tire but I can’t get the lug nut loose.” I point to the passenger rear tire.
“Well, let me see if we can’t get that loose. That’s not a big problem at all, Savannah.” Jimmy smiles as he moves to kneel down next to the tire. “Where were you headed from?”
Is he asking in a neighborly way or is he asking so he can give a full report to Shane?
Jimmy notices my hesitation and raises his hand in surrender.
“I don’t mean anything by it. I know things have gotten ugly with everything, but I personally think a lot of that is unnecessary.
You know me, Savannah, that’s not my style.
” He’s right. I’ve never had a problem with Jimmy, or anyone at their firm for the most part.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Jimmy. Yes, that would be great if you could take a look.
I was just headed back from Oak Point’s mall and I must have picked something up in my tire.
My sensors didn’t go off until just before it went flat.
” Jimmy quickly loosens the lug nut and then starts the process of changing my tire.
“You don’t have to do that, I can take it from here,” I insist.
He stops what he’s doing and looks up over his shoulder at me. “Ma’am, what kind of gentleman do I look like? Yeah, like I’m going to let a lady change a tire when I already started the process. If my wife heard about that, she would tan my hide.” He smiles and gets back to work.
“Okay, okay. How is June doing by the way?” Jimmy fills what could be an awkward encounter with stories of his wife and their four boys before another vehicle pulls up behind Jimmy’s.
The black SUV parks and Jimmy leans back to look at who it is, and of course, it’s someone else from Shane’s legal team. This is not my day.
“Hey, Kyle. I’ve got this handled. Just need to tighten up the lug nuts on the spare,” Jimmy calls out to him.
“Hey, Savannah; flat tire?” Kyle walks around to check Jimmy’s work, although Jimmy really does have it handled .
“It’s just my luck. Were you two coming from the same place … and am I to expect Shane next?” I look down the road, hoping that is not the case.
“We were with him for an appointment in Nashville, but he won’t be back until the morning.” Kyle can’t look me in the eye as I put the pieces together.
“Oh right, he’s probably staying at that damn penthouse of his, or well ours, right?” Snarky Savannah is going to come out and play today. “I bet he’ll get a kick out of hearing that I can’t even change a tire without help from him and his team.”
“Hey now, you know that either of us would have stopped regardless of who was on the side of the road. You may be on the other side of the aisle in the courtroom, but you’re still a neighbor and we take care of our own.” Jimmy doesn’t give me any room for argument.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, guys.” Color me embarrassed.
“I shouldn’t have assumed the worst. It’s just all a bit awkward when before this, the last time I saw you guys was at the holiday party in my own home, and just the other day, you had to pull my ex away from me as he yelled at me in the courthouse.
It’s all a bit uncharted territory, you know? ”
“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say that’s mutual for everyone involved,” Kyle says.
Jimmy nods in agreement and now I feel like a bitch for worrying about how Shane would twist this situation.
He is bringing out an ugly side of me, one where I don’t trust people that don’t deserve that judgement.
I sigh, but before I can respond, my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Theo
Hey, Savannah. Sorry, I’ve been in court. I’m free now, what’s up? Did you need something?
Me
No, sorry, I’m good now. It’s been a morning though !
Theo
Are you OK?
Me
Now it is, got a flat tire and couldn’t get ahold of anyone. What’s the point of having fifty-six siblings if no one can bail you out when you’re stranded?! But it’s ok, help came and I’ll be on my way here in a few minutes.
Jimmy finishes and Kyle loads the flat tire in my trunk.
It was easy to see the giant chunk of metal that I picked up, which looks more like a piece of rebar instead of a large nail like I originally thought.
I thank them both for stopping and they wait for me to get back in my car before returning to their own vehicles.
As soon as I get in my car, an incoming call lights up my dash’s touchscreen.
“Hey, Theo,” I answer and can’t help the smile that spreads just from seeing his call come through.
“Hey, Savannah. Where are you? Are you okay?” His warm tone fills my car, and suddenly, my day doesn’t seem so terrible.
“I really am okay; in fact, I’m already headed back home with time to spare before I have to pick up the girls from school. It looks like I picked up a piece of rebar on the highway on my way back into town from Oak Point.”
Theo hums in response. “Did someone stop to help?”
Crap. “Uh, yeah, actually two members of Shane’s legal team were coming back into town and both of them stopped to help.”
I can’t quite make it out, but it almost sounds like Theo growls in response to that. “Was Shane with them?”
“No, he wasn’t. They said he stayed in Nashville.
But Jimmy helped me get the lug nuts loose, which is why I couldn’t do it myself, and he actually changed the tire for me.
I’m sure Kyle would have done the same, Jimmy just stopped first. I was slightly rude with them initially, but I didn’t want Shane to somehow twist this against me. ”
“For a flat tire?”
“For being stuck. Like I’m unable to handle situations by myself.
” I’m not sure when it started happening, but fighting with Shane has me concerned about how the court will view my role in life.
Am I enough as a stay-at-home mom? Am I able to handle things without a partner?
I never would have questioned this before Shane left me, but now with him being mean and vindictive, I guess anything is possible.
“Savannah. No. We both know that’s not true and there is no way he could use this against you, unless you blew the tire because you were driving intoxicated, swerved to avoid a cow in the middle of the road, and popped it going off-road for a joy ride.
” I laugh at his ridiculous example. “Was that what happened, ma’am?
” He’s teasing me, but he’s also brightening my mood.
“No sir, that is not what happened. I was coming back from the mall because Emily wanted a specific yarn for the craft she’s working on and they had the exact one she wanted.”
“What a nice mama. Were Jimmy or Kyle rude or inappropriate in any way?”
“No, no. Not at all! They were perfect gentlemen and Jimmy even said this is what neighbors do, and he’s right. Anyone from Forrest Falls would’ve stopped if they saw me.”
“Why don’t you meet me at the auto shop and I’ll help unload your flat tire?
I don’t want you to have to drive around with that in your car, and you also shouldn’t drive more than fifty miles on that spare.
We can get your tire squared away before you have to pick up your girls.
” His request makes me smile even wider—even after I was okay, he’s still going above and beyond.
Who is this man and why do I feel like I kind of want to keep him?