4. Landon
Chapter 4
Landon
Candy apple red assaulted my vision as I stepped into the shop. Olivia’s sporty little two-seater sat atop the center lift. Murphy stood beneath it, peering into the underside as he attempted to diagnose the problem. There were other cars that had been here longer, their owners waiting for their only mode of transportation to be fixed, but Princess Duprey’s car had somehow found its way to the front of the line.
“Hey, Landon,” Bobby called from beneath the hood of a minivan with half a dozen bumper stickers announcing their kid had made the honor roll. I grunted my response and brought my cup to my lips, releasing a quiet sigh as the first drop of blessed caffeine hit my tongue. I was pleasantly surprised when I started getting my coffee from Jitterbug after the bakery closed down following Odette’s passing. For the longest time, she’d been the only one who'd made my coffee just the way I liked it. Part of me resented the fact I was supporting a business owned by a Duprey, but Odette was different. She wasn’t flashy like her daughter or spoiled like her granddaughter. We didn’t talk much since she typically stayed in the back, but occasionally she came out to work the register. She always offered me a warm smile and a kind word, so I’d put aside our families’ differences and swung by for my morning coffee every day.
Until the morning she didn’t show up to open the bakery.
Murphy entered the break room as I tossed my keys into my locker and slipped on my coveralls. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair before picking up his thermos and taking a long draw of black coffee.
“I hate working on these damn foreign cars,” he muttered and swiped the back of his hand over his mouth. “Gotta order parts that will probably take a week to come in. Poor girl’s gotta drive her grandma’s boat of a car around town now.” He chuckled, shaking his head, and I gritted my teeth. Poor girl my ass . Did everyone forget what she’d done to my brother, how she'd destroyed my family? Murphy looked up, clocking the tight set of my jaw, and paled. “I’m sorry, Landon. I know there’s bad blood between you and Olivia.” I cut him off, not wanting his pity.
“It’s fine.” I shut my locker door and headed out of the break room, unwilling to think about Olivia Duprey for one more second. There was a blown transmission waiting to be fixed, and I needed to get my head on straight so that Mr. Landers could get his farm truck back as soon as possible.
As much as I wanted Olivia to have to wait her turn like everyone else did, I couldn’t deny I was a little relieved Murphy was making her repairs a priority. The sooner her car was fixed, the sooner Magnolia Grove would be rid of her again. I had no doubt she’d go scurrying back to Atlanta once her precious BMW was in working order again. That was fine by me. This town was better off without her. I just hoped her driving had gotten better over the last six years, and she didn’t destroy another family on her way out of town.
“Dad?” I called into the quiet house as I wearily stepped inside. After knocking several times with no answer, I used my key to let myself in. The blare of the TV greeted my ears, and I wondered if he simply hadn’t heard me over the sound of Gunsmoke playing from the other room.
I placed the two grocery bags on the kitchen counter and went in search of my old man. Moving through the house, I closed in on the sound and found my dad asleep in his recliner. He looked so peaceful, his chest rising and falling evenly as he slept. Unease prickled the back of my mind as memories assaulted me. I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead, finding his skin warm and dry, and released a relieved breath.
I’d been terrified the day I found him in this exact same position, a cold sweat dampening his brow. I couldn’t wake him no matter how hard I tried. He didn’t even flinch when I pricked his finger to check his blood sugar. It had been so low, it didn’t even register on his monitor. Springing into action, I found his emergency kit and gave him an injection that would raise his blood sugar, then called the squad. He came to just as paramedics loaded him into the ambulance.
He now wore a glucose monitor twenty-four seven that continuously checked his levels. It was a lifesaver, literally. After several ER trips, a week-long stay in the hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis, and fighting with his insurance for weeks, they finally approved his monitor. We’d been able to keep him out of an ambulance ever since. Considering the medical bills that still hung over his head, that was a relief. Speaking of which…
I went to the counter where my father kept his pile of mail and sorted through the stack. Snagging the envelope from the hospital’s billing department, I tore it open and scanned the pages, wincing when I came to the outstanding balance. I paid what I could on it every month, and he pretended not to know. We never spoke of it. It was easier that way. After all he’d been through the past six years, his pride was all he had left.
After the accident, and everything that followed, he was a mess. He didn’t take care of himself. He let his diabetes get out of control, and eventually needed to have his lower leg amputated. He could no longer work and was forced to give up his job as the elementary school janitor. The pay wasn’t great, but it was enough to get by. Plus, he had benefits and had summers off for the most part, which was great when Lyle and I were still in school.
Now he was on disability, and his check was barely enough to cover the house and utilities with little extra for groceries and medicine. I tried to help where I could, but I had bills of my own. Sometimes I thought it would be easier to give up my place and move back in with him to help with the bills, but I couldn’t do that, not with who he kept letting come around.
I curled my fist, crumpling the papers still in my hand as I thought about the way my father had been treated. He’d been taken advantage of time and time again, but he never would stand up for himself. There was no way I could live here and watch him get mistreated, stolen from, and lied to repeatedly.
Straightening the papers, I smoothed out the bill before refolding it and stuffing it into my pocket along with the overdue electric bill. He should’ve had enough money to pay it last month, especially considering I covered the gas and water, but he kept giving his money to someone he shouldn’t, someone who knew Dad would never tell them no.
Gritting my teeth, I quickly unpacked the groceries and put them away. Dad let out a soft snore and stirred in his chair but didn’t wake. I scrawled out a quick note and stuck it to the fridge. My hands froze as I took in the faded picture on the magnet I’d absentmindedly grabbed. It was a photo of my brother in his football uniform his senior year, his dirty blond hair and aquiline nose so much like our mother’s, it hurt to look at. He barely remembered her, but he was a carbon copy of the woman who'd left us when we were little. Being a wife and mom had just been too much for her.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the emotion threatening to crawl up my throat. Memories of my mother always made my chest ache, but it was the shattered hopes and dreams of my baby brother that made me feel like someone stole all the breath from my lungs. Lyle had been trying to make something of himself, and despite growing up without a mom and living just above the poverty line, he was on the road to success. He was a talented and dedicated athlete with a scholarship to play for a D1 football team, but it was all stolen in an instant.
And Olivia Duprey was the thief.
Her actions that night caused our family immeasurable sorrow and devastation. If it wasn't for her, my brother would’ve gone to Tuscaloosa for college where I had no doubt he would catch the eye of a recruiter. His future was bright. And it was snuffed out with one careless act.
I needed Olivia out of my town. Seeing her brought back too many memories. She was a painful reminder of all that was wrong in my world. I wanted her gone.
So when the parts for her car were delivered late on Friday afternoon, I saw my chance to hasten her exit. Murphy was about to close the shop when I approached him with the box containing the parts.
“These just came in,” I offered, and he scanned the label on the box.
“Those the parts for Olivia’s car?” I nodded. “Great, I’ll get started on that Monday.”
What? No, Monday wouldn’t work. It needed to be done this weekend. Murphy opened the shop half a day on Saturdays and was usually here until the afternoon. He could get it fixed. He was the fastest, most experienced mechanic in the shop.
“Can’t you work on it tomorrow?” I blurted out before I could think better of it. He quirked a brow, and I winced. He was my boss, and although he was easy going, he didn’t tolerate disrespect from his guys. Before I could mutter my apology, he shook his head and clamped a hand on my shoulder.
“No can do. I promised the wife and kids we’d go camping all weekend,” he explained.
Shit. I wanted that damn car out of my sight. I wanted Olivia out of this town. There was only one way I could think of to make that happen sooner rather than later.
“What if I stay late tonight and work on it? I could have it ready by tomorrow.” Murphy sucked on his teeth as he considered my proposal. He would have to pay me overtime, of course, but the garage was the busiest it had ever been. It was making money hand over fist. He could afford to give me a few extra hours, and I could really use the money. Dad’s property taxes just went up again, and his house needed a new roof. Even though I could provide the labor, materials weren’t cheap, and I was buying more and more groceries to offset the rest of his expenses.
I held my breath as Murphy mulled over my offer. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and planted his hands on his hips.
“Why not?” he replied, and I did my best to suppress a triumphant grin. “If you can get that knocked out tonight, that’ll free Bobby up for that SUV with the blown head gaskets tomorrow.”
“Ah man,” Bobby groaned from the next bay over. Nobody liked working on those. They were a nightmare. Murphy chuckled and shook his head.
“Thanks, Landon,” he said before ducking back into the office to pack up for the day, and I settled in for a long night of work.