Chapter Seven
By the time they were ready to leave the café, it felt completely natural to Jake to take her hand on the way out.
It was only when she looked up at him with a big smile on her face that he realized he’d done it. He smiled back.
“Is this okay?” he asked, lifting their joined hands between them.
She nodded happily. “More than okay. I like it.”
“Me too.” He held the door open for her and waited while she zipped up her jacket once they were outside. When she was done, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side as they walked back up between the stores toward the parking lot.
“Is this okay?” he asked when it dawned on him that he kept holding on to her like that and had never once asked permission first.
She laughed. “It is. You don’t need to ask every time, you know.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “It just occurred to me that I’d never asked at all.”
“Well, you don’t need to. I mean, I’m glad you thought to check, but let’s just put it out there now—I’m good with it.”
She gave him a puzzled look.
“What?” he asked.
“I was just wondering if we should clear it up on both ends first. Am I okay to do this, too?” She tightened her arm around him as they walked.
“I’ll give you the same answer—more than okay. And just so we’re clear, you’ll never have to ask. Anytime you want to grab ahold of me, any way you want to, I’ll be happy.”
“Awesome.”
She made a face at him, making him laugh.
“Sorry, I must sound like a dork. I’m not totally brand new to this, but like I told you, I haven’t been out with anyone for a long time, and…
” She frowned. “I’m making myself sound even dorkier here, aren’t I?
But you might as well know the truth. I’ve done some dating, but I’ve never really had… ” Her cheeks turned pink.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
“I was about to say I’ve never had a relationship—not a real one. But that’s kind of presumptuous of me, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so, no. We’ve already said that we’re going to be honest with each other, and if you don’t know already, you should know—that’s exactly what I’m hoping this is. A relationship.”
He held her gaze for a long moment before adding, “A real one.”
His heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to say more, but he knew he shouldn’t.
It was too early, and they’d already had enough heavy conversation for one day.
Even though he didn’t want to spell it out, he hoped she would understand what he meant—and was a little disappointed when her gaze slid away from his to look over his shoulder.
Whatever was behind him had caught her attention. He turned to see when she said, “Oh no, look—we have to help.”
An older guy was sitting on a mobility scooter, trying to start it. When it wouldn’t go, he climbed off and leaned on it heavily, looking frustrated.
They hurried over, and the man eyed them warily as they approached. Jake loved the way his worried frown turned into a smile when he recognized Savannah.
“Hi, Walt,” she greeted him. “Is this thing giving you trouble?”
“Hello, Savannah. I have to say, I’m glad to see your face. The damn thing’s dead as a dodo. Don’t know what its problem is. It was fine just a minute ago.”
“Mind if I take a look?” Jake asked.
He loved that the man raised his eyebrows at Savannah before he answered. “Does he know what he’s doing?”
Savannah laughed. “He does, Walt. He’s the guy who bought Art’s garage.”
The man turned back to Jake, smiling now. “Right—you’re the Marine.”
“That’s me,” Jake agreed.
Walt chuckled. “Then yeah, have at it. I was thinking Savannah here would be the one to fix it for me.”
“And we all know that she could,” Jake said with a smile. “But I feel like I need to prove that I’m worthy of at least being her assistant.”
Walt smiled and turned to Savannah. “He might be all right, this one.”
A rush of warmth filled Jake’s chest when Savannah nodded happily and said, “He’s more than all right, Walt – and he knows what he’s doing.”
Jake noticed that she stayed close to Walt, who had tried to stand up straight when they approached but was looking like he needed to sit back down.
He squatted next to the scooter, glad that he’d worked on a few of them in his time, and was relieved to see that it was a simple fix. “Looks like your battery connector’s come loose,” he said after a moment. “Happens a lot on these if the clip isn’t tight.”
He reattached it, pressed the switch, and the scooter whirred to life with a cheerful buzz.
Walt laughed. “Well, how about that? Thanks, son.” He climbed on before turning to Savannah again. “He might be a keeper, this one.”
She glanced at Jake and nodded but didn’t reply.
“You must know your way around engines,” Walt said.
Jake grinned. “I’m used to fixing bigger ones, but…”
“Well, thanks again. I appreciate it—you’ve saved me a whole lot of trouble. Did you keep Art’s phone number?”
It took Jake a moment to understand what he meant.
“I did,” he said with a smile. “I figure it’ll take me a while to build up the business, so if anyone still has the old number for the garage, I’ll be more than happy to take their call.”
“And I’ll be happy to spread the word for you, son.
There’s plenty of old-timers like me who’ve been none too happy to go all the way out Route 20 to that Taylor’s place.
It’s not the same over there. He’s a good enough man, but it’s just not the same.
” He smiled. “We’d rather give our business to one of our own. ”
“Thanks. That’d be awesome.”
Walt winked at Savannah. “It’s good to see you out and about, young lady. Thanks again, I’ll see you both around.”
~ ~ ~
As they watched Walt drive back down the cobbled walkway toward the main plaza, Savannah’s heart felt like it filled up and overflowed when Jake’s hand found hers again.
“I like him,” he said. “Art warned me that the old-timers might give me the cold shoulder.”
“And he was right,” she told him. “But it’s like Walt just said – folks around here would rather give their business to one of our own.
The good thing is, you’ve now been accepted as one of our own.
Now that Walt’s given you his seal of approval, I think business will start picking up for you very soon. ”
“Why?” He raised his eyebrows, and she could guess what he was thinking.
“I know it might not seem that an old man on a scooter would have much influence or be able to send much business your way, but Walt’s very well connected around here.
He used to be on the town council. He and his wife used to run the convenience store in town.
Everybody knows him, everybody loves him—and more importantly, at least when it comes to you building your business, his opinion still carries a lot of sway. ”
“And I thought he was just a nice old guy,” said Jake.
She laughed. “He is. And I guess that it meant more to him that you were prepared to help when you didn’t know who he was.”
He frowned. “I’d help anyone.”
“I know. But you know what I mean – he didn’t know that, but he does now.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Her heart sank when he checked his watch.
“Hey, don’t look like that,” he said quickly. “I’m trying to be considerate, not wanting to get rid of you. If it were up to me, we’d hang out all afternoon and tonight—but I know you have to get back over here to work, don’t you?”
“I do. But I wish…”
“I do, too. Did you figure out your schedule for tomorrow?”
She blew out a sigh. “Taryn asked me to work a split shift, and Tiff said she’d come over here to hang out in between. So…”
“That’s okay. I knew it was asking a lot for you to fit me in again so soon.” He looked so disappointed that she didn’t want to leave it there.
“But I will ask Taryn about getting next Saturday night off. And if you want to go…” She hesitated, wondering if she was over-offering.
“To watch Clay sing? I’d love to—but only if you’re going. It’s not a problem if you have to work.”
“Hi, Jake. Hi, Savannah.”
They were making their way back up toward the parking lot and stopped when someone called them. She smiled when she spotted Cara waving as she came toward them with her dad in tow.
“Hey,” Savannah called back.
“Hi, Cara. Hi, Mr. Bennett,” Jake greeted them.
Cara’s dad extended his hand. “Call me Troy. I’m glad we’ve run into you. I’ve been meaning to call again to say thank you for getting this one home safely the other night.”
“There’s no need. We were glad to be able to help,” said Jake.
“You guys were awesome. Thanks so much. I was so scared till you turned up.”
“You were doing fine,” said Savannah. “You did everything right.”
“You were amazing, I love that you knew how to fix it,” Cara told her.
“It was only because I used to drive a Civic just like that when I was about your age.” She smiled at Jake. “This guy would have fixed it if I wasn’t there.”
She didn’t want Troy thinking she’d known something Jake didn’t.
“Oh, I know that,” Cara added hurriedly, and from the way her cheeks turned pink when she glanced at Jake, Savannah guessed she might have a little bit of a crush on him.
“You’re both awesome.”
Troy chuckled beside her. “I’m not often as enthusiastic as my daughter—especially about people—but in this case, I have to agree.
You guys really were awesome. I was in a tough spot.
I’d had to go down to Sacramento for the day, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back and get to Cara before it got dark. ”
“Like I said, we were happy to be able to help,” said Jake.
“I hope you mean that,” said Troy, “because in the future, we’re both going to be calling you for anything and everything to do with our vehicles.
I planned to call you on Monday about getting the relay fixed on Cara’s Civic.
My truck could use a service as well—I’ll get that booked in whenever you can do it. ”