13. Penny
THIRTEEN
PENNY
“Thank you so much for the ride,” I told Faye as she pulled into Ryken’s garage. Like Gavin had told me, it was on the edge of town, right next to the main gas station. I was shocked to get a phone call on a Sunday afternoon letting me know my car was ready, and more than thankful Faye wasn’t busy so she could drive me. Gavin might have offered up a friendship yesterday, but I didn’t want to push my luck and ask him for a favor too early.
“Please. The day I take the kids to Max’s is always hard for me. I needed an excuse to get out of the house. Need me to stay to make sure everything is good with the car?”
“No. I’ll be all right.” I climbed out and a gust of wind smacked me in the face. My hair blew every which way, blinding me. I ducked back into Faye’s car, wrapping my hair in a fist at the back of my neck so I could see her clearly. “Thanks again. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. See you tomorrow!”
As soon as I closed the door, I spied my car, parked right outside of the opened garage bay. A man stood by the hood, dressed in one of those full-body dark blue overall type suits, and no winter wear on to be seen.
“Penelope Pesco?” the man called out.
I greeted him with a smile and a nod. “You must be Ryken?”
“As the name suggests,” he answered with a handsome smile and a wave toward the painted name above the garage doors.
“Thank you so much for getting my car taken care of so quickly.”
“Damage wasn’t as bad as I originally anticipated, so it wasn’t a problem.”
“Wonderful. How much do I owe you?”
He pulled out a sheet of paper from a pocket and unfolded it, then handed it over. “Nothing. Mr. Kelley took care of it for you, even threw in new tires.”
He handed the paper to me. It rustled in the wind, but I was too frozen in shock to reach for it. My car had new tires ? A quick glance at them proved him correct. I noticed more than the tires. My car was clean , not a hint of dirt or dust or snow residue in sight.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Gavin Kelley? He told me it was on him. Figured you knew.”
A look of bewilderment settled on his face, only making his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones and square jaw more attractive.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I slipped the paper from his fingers and read through the list of things completed.
Things I didn’t understand at all, except for alignment and four in parentheses next to the word tires. Something about an axel, filter replacement…
“I didn’t need all this.” It didn’t make a lick of sense. “Did he call yesterday or something?” Maybe he was still trying to make up for Friday night, which had hurt, but this wasn’t necessary.
“Nope. He let me know on Friday when I had the car brought in.”
He had to know I’d learn this information and hadn’t said a thing to me about it on Friday. Why? So I didn’t argue about it? I would have, too, absolutely. There was no need for him to spend what had to be hundreds, if not closer to a thousand dollars on all of this for me.
There wasn’t a total on the sheet in my hand. Not a single price listed, so I didn’t know the cost.
I glanced up to find Ryken wiping a smirk off his face beneath his hand.
“I’d like to cover this instead. How much was it?”
“Don’t remember.” He shrugged. “Funny thing, isn’t it.”
“Why? I didn’t ask for this, and I don’t like the idea of it. I’d prefer to cover the cost and you can reimburse Gavin.”
“Can’t.” He shrugged. “I know better than to upset a Kelley in this town, and they’re generous people. Let him have this.”
The only thing I wanted Gavin to have now was a piece of my mind.
“Fine.” After all, my argument wasn’t with the mechanic who fixed my car, but the man who went behind my back and paid for it without discussing it with me. “Thank you, then, for your quick work. I appreciate it.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t a problem. Keys are in the cupholder, so it’s ready to go. But can I ask you a question?”
“Might as well.”
“Are you upset about his help because you’re offended by it or because you’re not interested?”
“Not interested?”
“In Gavin. My thought, he wouldn’t offer this up if he wasn’t interested in you, and I’m not one to get in the middle of something that might be happening.”
“Get in the middle of what?”
“You and Gavin.” He rocked back on his heels and as he did, his gaze dropped, slowly raking over my body in a way that was not at all uncomfortable. When he met my gaze again, there was warmth in his chocolate brown eyes.
“Are you… are you hitting on me?”
“Not if there’s something going on with you and Gavin.”
I shook my head, to clear it or to tell him absolutely not. Gavin wasn’t interested in me. He barely wanted to be friends with me. If anything, this was another one of his unnecessary apologies. And this man… what in the world was happening right now?
He was attractive, definitely. Older than me but only by a few years. And yet, did I want him flirting with me? Hitting on me? Getting in the middle of something that wasn’t there?
Maybe Maize was right. Maybe I needed to start taking some risks…
“I think I need to talk to Gavin.”
There wasn’t disappointment on the man’s face, only mild humor. “Figured you’d say that. It doesn’t work out, feel free to stop by someday and say hello.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“Take care of the car. She should be good to go now for a while.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
Ryken stepped back, giving me plenty of room to move around to the driver’s side door and as I opened it, he lifted an arm and waved. “Tell Gavin I said hello.”
I’d be saying several things to Gavin next time I saw him. Hello for Ryken wouldn’t be one of them.
My car, that was not only fixed from jumping the curb but now included shiny new tires, had also been detailed on the inside. I drove back through town, alternating between being over-the-top grateful for not only the repairs but the cleanliness of it that came complete with a new car smell it hadn’t even had when I first bought it, and furious with Gavin for taking this upon himself.
I wasn’t going to bother wasting my time with the other things Ryken implied.
Gavin and I had enough to talk about. I drove straight to his house, not bothering to go to my own driveway, and then stared at his front door with my hands wrapped around the steering wheel.
His truck wasn’t in the driveway like it’d been every other day since I’d moved in. Given the size of it, there was no way it’d fit in the garage, so he wasn’t even home.
I added that to my list of things I was mad about. The moment I wanted to unleash my anger on him, I couldn’t. Heck, he could have planned this for all I knew. Intentionally stayed away so I’d have to get over my anger before seeing him again. I wouldn’t put it past him.
“Screw that,” I muttered and shoved my shifter into reverse.
As soon as I pulled into my own driveway and garage and hopped out of my car, I grabbed my phone and opened my texting app. I tossed my purse and keys onto the counter and furiously typed away.
We need to talk.
My car is clean.
I hit send and then groaned. My car is clean? “Way to tell him off, Penny.”
My phone dinged and I groaned at his response.
???
Oh, sure. Like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
My car, Gavin. It’s clean. Inside and out and I didn’t ask for that. Or the tires.
Oh. You got it back? Good. That’s good.
Yeah. I have it back, with no bill to pay.
We need to talk.
Nothing to talk about. I didn’t know the car was going to be cleaned.
I HAVE FOUR NEW TIRES! I don’t care about the clean car!
Then why’d you tell me it was clean? Twice?
“Ugh!” I stomped my foot like a child. This man. Was he stupid or being intentionally obtuse? Either way, I wasn’t handling this the right way at all.
I inhaled a calming breath, counted to ten, and then repeated until my grip on my phone loosened enough that I wasn’t in danger of throwing it. I wasn’t angry at my phone.
I was irritated as hell with the man on the other end of it.
When will you be home? Paying for this was not okay. I want to know the cost.
I’m guessing the cleaning was on Ryken. Ask him…
The entire bill! I am not okay with you paying for that. OR the tires.
Most friends say thank you when someone helps them out, you know….
We weren’t friends when you paid for it.
But we are now. Right?
We WERE.
This was the strangest argument I’d ever been in with someone. Clean cars and tires and friendships weren’t the point, and I had no doubt Gavin was intentionally trying to distract me, but strangely, I was enjoying this.
The ache of the smile I discovered from my sore cheeks proved it. I wiped away my smile and tried again.
I’m not comfortable with this. Please, let me know the cost so I can cover it.
You needed new tires. I need to know your car is safe if I need your help with Josie.
I blinked at the text. Blinked again. He’d made it clear he’d never ask me for help with his daughter. He had to know I’d soften at the mention of Josie.
Gavin…
I’m not telling you how much it cost. Your tires were practically bald. Winter is coming. You needed new ones and I have the money and I wanted to know you were safe. Can we leave it at at that and you can say thank you and stop being mad that I did something nice for you?
No. I still want to yell at you some more.
I think I’d like to see that. I’ll be home in an hour.
Come yell at me then?
Was he teasing me? Flirting? Ryken’s words popped into my brain, the way he’d looked at me. The suggestion in his tone about Gavin being interested.
He had to be wrong.
I had to be reading into this.
Never mind.
I typed back.
Several moments went by, so long, I figured I wouldn’t hear from him anymore, so I went to my fridge and pulled out Friday night’s soup.
I was warming it up on my stovetop when my phone dinged.
I still haven’t gotten that thank you…
A wink followed the dots. He was definitely teasing. Possibly flirting.
Fine. Thx. Happy now?
Getting there.
Now what did that mean? I could spend all night rereading these texts, overanalyzing, and driving myself crazy.
Or I could push it out of my mind, eat my dinner, and get ready for school the next day.
In the end, I did all the things. I ate, I got ready for another work week, and I did it all while overthinking.
If Gavin was flirting and Ryken was right, did I want that?
Gavin was attractive. He made my pulse race and being around him made me feel like a teenager with her first crush. But he came with Josie, my student, and we both had what sounded like complicated backgrounds, making it difficult for us to trust.
Would taking a chance be worth it?
Or would I end up with my first broken heart in a small town where I’d never be able to escape him?