6. Gabe
Chapter 6
I was not expecting that call. Honestly, when I got the call about the missed appointment, I was ready to be pissed. I hate dealing with the schedule but Kelly, our receptionist, is only part time in the mornings. She takes college classes in the afternoons. We could probably use someone full time, but her classes just don’t leave room for that. Also she’s like a little sister, so I’m not going to fire her. Besides, she does a great job; I just really hate dealing with customers.
Picking up my grease rag on the counter I make a failed attempt to wipe the handset off from where I rushed in to grab it earlier. The rag itself is already covered in grime, and just manages to smear an ever bigger mess around thanks to my attempts. “Shit fire fuzzy and save the matches!”
We always keep a jar of Gloop under the counter, and I am sure Kelly would rather the front desk smell like oranges than grease and alpha sweat, so I proceed to smear the slimy shit all over the countertop and phone and wipe them down with a handful of blue shop towels. I just got the last of the smear off the keyboard–I don’t even know how it got there in the first place–when Trey comes in from the back.
“‘Ey, boss, I’m ‘eaded ou’. Ya’ need anythin’ ‘for I go?” Trey is good people, but super relaxed about everything, and I don’t always understand what the hell he's saying. Pretty sure it goes both ways though. “Yeah, man, you opening tomorrow?” I ask, and he turns back. “Ya, boss, whatcha needin’?” I am honestly not sure if it is a regional dialect or just a Trey-ism…Hell, I am not even sure where Trey is from, but he had good qualifications, all the right certifications I needed for the shop, shows up on time, and works hard. Can’t fault a guy for how he sounds.
I reach up to rub the back of my head, realizing I’ve still got a handful of nasty shop towels just before I manage to slime myself, and explain, “I’ve gotta take the tow truck over to the vet clinic after we close up, somebody got their tires slashed. When you get in, can ya pull it into the bay and start gettin’ it sorted out? Xan’ll put the paperwork here on the desk. Looks like it’s gonna need a couple’a front tires and an oil change.” His only reply is a raised eyebrow. “It was already scheduled for the oil change before somebody got pissed off at it”
“Go’cha boss, no’ a pro’lem.” Now I’m not sure if he is just fucking with me, or if that’s seriously how he talks, but fuck it, I need to get over to Leo’s place and get that car. I should probably offer to stop and grab dinner at this rate. I better go ahead and call Jacks and let him know we’re all going to be late so he doesn’ t worry.
A bout 30 minutes later, I pulled up to the vet clinic. They’re already closed too except for the emergency line. Sometimes it feels like the town rolls up the road at 6 P.M. Only things left open are the diner, gas station, and grocery store, and they close at 8 most days. The car I’m here to pick up has seen better days. It looks pretty old, but well cared for. Not old enough to be considered a classic–just old enough to be considered almost worthless to anyone but the person who owns it. Why the hell would someone want to slash their tires anyway?
I park next to the police cruiser, and look over the clusterfuck taking up the clinic’slot–we’re going to need to get this thing backed up to get the bar under the front of it. I don’t want to fuck up the suspension or rims by trying to tow it on the flats if I can help it, and I didn’t think to bring a trailer to move it a couple of blocks. I step down out of the cab and head towards the group of people, easily picking Leo out as the tallest here. That man is tall even for an alpha, and he can look downright intimidating when he wants to–the closer I get, the more it seems he wants just that. But I can’t understand his reaction to these cops until I'm standing right next to him.
“Miss Manning, we can’t take your statement here, you need to come down to the station to file the paperwork.” The tiny woman standing next to Leo shudders, and I can barely make out her squeak of a reply. “I…I need to get home, I can’t…I…I can’t…” she curls her body into Leo and starts crying. Poor bastard looks gob-smacked for a few seconds before he curls an arm around her back and holds her loosely against his chest. What the hell is going on here?
Another Veterinarian is here too, Sarah, Sasha…Stephanie ! That’s the one!
Stephanie reaches over and puts her hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder, rubbing up and down. “Officers, I’ve already told you, Candy–Miss Manning has had a difficult day. I need to get her home. We can give you a copy of the surveillance files. If you can’t take her statement here, I will personally bring her to the station tomorrow, but she cannot do it right now.”
Stephanie puffs up looking like a protective mother hen, and I try to hide my chuckle with a cough.
Leo finally meets my eyes, his own pleading with me to step in. Leo looks big and intimidating, but he doesn’t handle confrontation well unless he has to–and then, well, let's just say I don’t want to have to bail him out tonight. That man has the patience of a saint, but when it runs out…damn.
“Sorry, officers, I'm gonna need y'all to move outta the way here so I can get this car hooked up,” I drawl, trying to play up my country more than usual. I never subscribed to the Good ‘ol Boy way of thinking, but sometimes sounding like you do gets shit done–and right now, I just need to get shit done and go home.
I look down again and see the short woman under Leo’s arm, her cheek pressed against his chest, eyes closed but facing me, and wow, ok yeah…I can see why Leo would let her cling.
She is so small next to him, but she looks soft and curvy pressed against his stomach, her dark reddish brown hair is up in a bun, but falling out in wild curling flyaways. When she suddenly opens her eyes, I’m dumbstruck. Her pale blue eyes are flecked in green and gold, with a dark, almost black circle around the edge.
I've never seen eyes like that, and I stand there gaping like a slack jawed idjit for a moment–trying to shake myself out of whatever the fuck this is. I need to get this wrapped up and get gone, now .
I rub my hand up Leo’s back, palming the back of his neck and skull. He glances at me and unwraps his arm from her–gently passing her off to Stephanie. “Come on, man, let's get this thing hooked up, I left Xan to fill out paperwork, and we need to grab him before we can head home for the day.” I release his neck, sliding my palm down to his shoulder, giving him a final squeeze before pulling away.
I step over to Stephanie and Candy Manning–wow this girl’s parents had a sense of humor, bet that name bit her in the ass in high school. “Ms. Manning,” I can’t bring myself to call her Candy, “Do you still have your keys, or didja give ’em to Leo, over there?” She looks up and up, meeting my eyes and sways slightly on her feet. I suddenly can’t remember what the hell I was asking her for. Her voice is small, and a bit hoarse, I would guess this is not the first cry she has had today. “No, sir, I still have them.”
Sir?
“Gabe, call me Gabe. Please.” I try to swallow, my throat suddenly dry– and what the hell is wrong with me.
“Ms. Manning, if you could back your car up so I can hook the truck up to it, I sure would appreciate it.”
There, a full sentence, great job Gabe.
“But, um, the front tires…” she trails off.
“Don’t worry ma’am, we’re gonna take care of that. Backin’ up that far won’t hurt em any more than just sittin’ on the rims right now.” She lets out a little squeak of surprise, and quickly scrambles into the car. It starts up quickly, and I realize that everyone else has moved out of the way and I have to jump to the side to keep from getting flattened when she puts it in reverse.
It stops and I knock on the hood. “Thank you ma’am, that’ll do it, you can shut ‘er off.” The two police officers are still standing there like useless statues. I hop back up into my truck, and holler, “Anybody who doesn’t want to get run over better not be standing in front of that car when I get turned around.”
Ms. Manning scrambles out of the car and trots back over to stand between Stephanie and Leo. The two officers wander over and I can hear the bigger one’s obnoxious drawl, “You better come down to the station tomorrow, Miss. Manning. We can’t do anything without a statement.” It’s a shitty power flex before they get back into their patrol car and leave. Finally moving enough that I can get my truck lined up right. Jackasses. What’s their problem? I mean sure, she’s kinda cute, but stop trying to strong-arm the woman into the station–that just sounds creepy. Hell, they caused so many delays I’m tempted to call the station myself and see if they were lying about not being able to take a statement on site.
My mind is wandering as I get parked and get all my cables hooked up. “Sir..Sorry, um, Gabe?” I try looking over my shoulder but end up having to turn around to actually see her face. “Yes’m what can I do for you?”
“Oh, no, please, call me Candice, if I call you Gabe it just feels weird to have you call me ma’am…I’m not that old.” I can’t help the smile that breaks free.
“A’ight, Candice, what can I do for you?” Better than Candy anyway. Then I realize, she is at the Vet’s office, she probably has to get her hamster or something out of the car before I hook it up. She kind of looks like a hamster actually, now that I think about it, short and cute, but cuddly. Something to put in your pocket and carry around so you can feed it snacks. “If you need to get your pet outta the car, can you please do it before I connect it to the lift, we don’t want anybody gettin’ hurt today.” The second the words leave my mouth, the light in her eyes fades too.
I hear a sharp intake of breath from Stephanie and look up at Leo to see his face in his hands…Shit.
Foot meet mouth.