Chapter Nineteen
Roadkill turned the lock on the back door of Savage Iron then got in the truck. He hadn’t bothered to go back to the clubhouse to trade out vehicles after dropping off Jenna this morning.
Not that there would have been much point since he knew he’d have to pick her up this afternoon. He didn’t know if Papa Smurf had told her yet, but her car was going to take a few days. He needed to order a couple of parts, and delivery would take almost a week.
Roadkill didn’t mind. He would pick her and her sister up and drive them around every day for as long as it took, especially if he got to kiss her every morning. He was hoping for more than the quick brush he got this morning, soon, at least.
It only took him a few minutes to reach Savage Repair. He parked in front then went inside, not at all surprised to find the door still unlocked, despite all the bay doors being closed.
“Hey,” he said with a smile to Jenna. “How was your first day?”
“Not bad,” she said with a sigh as she reached under the counter and pulled out the cashbox, a legal pad, and a clipboard with a stack of invoices attached.
“Better than a shift at the Driftwood?”
“About a billion times better. I’m sorry, I still have a couple of things to wrap up. I’ll work on being done on time while you’re stuck driving us.”
He waved away her concern. “It’s no big deal. Where’s squirt?”
“In the shop. One of the guys helped her with her homework then they took her into the shop and gave her something to do.” She bent over the invoices and legal pad, and from what he could tell, she was putting the total of each one on the legal pad. She was totaling up for the day.
“I’ll duck in here until you’re done. I don’t want to accidentally mess you up.” Roadkill went to the door the shop.
Jenna nodded, not looking up as she continued to flip through invoices and transfer numbers.
In the shop, he found Papa Smurf, Joker and Lacey all looking under the hood of Jenna’s Focus. Lacey wore a too-big pair of overalls like all the mechanics wore. Roadkill couldn’t help but smile. He liked that they’d given her a set, though he wasn’t sure if it was to protect her clothes or what.
“Figured out what’s wrong yet?” Roadkill asked as he got closer.
“A couple of things,” Papa Smurf said not looking up, “but they’re secondary. Things that need to get taken care of but not the main problem.”
“What do you think it is?”
Joker glanced up.
“It needs a lot of work. We can do it, but it will take some time. It needs a bunch of new hoses. They should have been replaced years ago.” Joker shook his head.
“I don’t like the idea of her driving it like this, even if we could get it running today.
” He stuck one hand down into the engine, twisted around and made a face then pulled his arm back.
“Hey, squirt, your arms are thin, can you reach down there? I think there’s some kind of burr on the pully.
Just slide your finger along that wheel there and tell me what you feel. ”
“Which one?”
Joker pulled what looked like a pen light from his pocket, but when he hit the button to turn it on, Roadkill realized it was a laser pointer.
“This one. Do you think you can reach it? Rub across it really gently. You don’t want it to cut you if there’s something sharp.”
Lacey bent over and stuck her arm down into the engine. She turned her head to one side as she stretched to reach then straightened. “It’s rough, but not sharp. Does that make sense?”
“It does, squirt. Good job.” Joker looked at Papa Smurf, “Are we writing down the list of what needs to be done to this or are you keeping it in your head?”
“I’ve been keeping it in my head, but I’m thinking we should write it down. It’s getting long enough, I’m starting to worry about remembering it all. And the last thing we want is to put our girls out on the road in something not safe.”
Roadkill grabbed a clipboard off the top and offered it to the older man. Papa Smurf took it without a word.
“We about to ready to call it a day? Jenna’s adding up the invoices, and I was going to try to talk her into pizza tonight.”
“Pizza? Like take out, not homemade or frozen?” Lacey looked up at him, an excited light in her eyes.
“Well, that’s half the battle, I think,” Joker said. “With squirt on your side, she’ll either give in quicker or get pissed you’re enlisting her sister to gang up against her.”
“Yeah, I’m going to have to be careful about that.”
“How about you talk her into going to the clubhouse for a few. Introduce her to Elizabeth,” Papa Smurf said. “If there’s pizza there and you all eat, what can she say?”
“Good idea.” Roadkill pulled out his phone. “What do you eat on your pizza, squirt, and what’s your sister’s favorite?”
She told him and he typed up a message to Shawn with what to pick up then hit send. Then he sent a message to Hex asking if they were around and letting him know he was brining someone to the clubhouse that he’d like for the president and his old lady to meet.
“How long till you’re ready to go?” he asked the girl.
“Any time. I just need to grab my backpack from the breakroom and we can go.”
He nodded, watching the way Papa Smurf and Joker stood on either side of the girl, as if protecting her from both sides. They’d taken to her fast. He just hoped the rest of the job worked out for Jenna.
A screech behind him told them the door opened.
“You really need to fix that. I can’t imagine how irritating it gets all day,” Roadkill said to Papa Smurf.
“I know. But I have a hard time reaching it and there’s never a stool nearby when I’m thinking about it.”
“I’ll add it to the list of things I started this morning,” Jenna said from where she’d stuck her head through the door. “I’m done. The cashbox with today’s invoices is sitting on your desk. Do you need anything else before I go?”
“Nope. You did great today. See you at eight tomorrow?” Papa Smurf turned to look at her.
“I’ll be here,” she said.
“I’ll get my bag,” Lacey said, as she moved around him.
“Wash your hands too. You’ve got grease on them,” Jenna called as Lacey headed into the back. When the girl was gone, she turned her gaze back to the three of them. “She’s not getting in the way and causing trouble, is she?”
“Not at all,” Papa Smurf said.
“She’s been helping,” Joker said.
Jenna watched him a moment as if she wasn’t sure if they were telling the truth or not, then she nodded once and looked at Roadkill. “Want me to wait in the truck?”
“I’ll come with you.” He looked at the guys. “See you later,” he said before heading outside.
“I know you’ve been working all day, and you’re probably tired, but I’ve got a friend I’d like you to meet.”
She took a deep breath and pushed it out in a rush.
“You’re right. I am tired. But it’s a different tired than I’m used to. I worked double my usual number of hours, but my feet don’t hurt. It’s more mental tired, but I’ll get used to the new schedule. Sure, I guess we can go meet your friend. Is it okay if Lacey’s with us too?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t have suggested it if it weren’t.” He watched as the girl in question burst through the door, running at full speed around to the passenger side of the truck. She’d gotten rid of the overalls and her backpack bounced on one shoulder. She opened the door and climbed in.
“Sorry. That took longer than I thought.”
“No big deal, squirt.” He turned and looked pointedly at the seatbelt, she didn’t need any more hints, but buckled up. He started the truck and backed out of the lot.