Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
BODEN
Two Years Later…
“Rowley, I need you to run a diagnostic on this car and let me know what you think we’ll need from the results,” I tell my new guy.
He moved here recently from the deep south, and he has no professional training in mechanics, but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s a fast learner.
With only a little guidance when it comes to the diagnostic computer, he’s been able to run with whatever he’s given.
*I hand him the keys for the car in the third bay and lean back on the driver’s door as I watch him walk around the whole SUV, checking for anything visibly wrong with it before grabbing the scanner.
Some of these new techs have no idea what it takes to actually work on cars because they’ve only been trained by the book—and sometimes the problems aren’t by the book.
Corbin and Nico have been with me pretty much from the start, but it was time to bring in at least one more tech to help out, especially with the more basic tasks.
Business has been so good that we have been turning people away because we’re so booked out, and there’s nothing I hate more than turning away business.
I started this business fifteen years ago, doing side work in the garage, and over time, I’ve been able to bring on multiple employees and become more successful than I ever imagined.
Are there days when I hate it?
Hell, yes.
But working in an environment I control, directly with the customers, is my favorite part of the job. Do I like being in charge of people or their livelihoods?
Not necessarily… but I know I give them the best work environment they can find as a mechanic.
Here at The Greasy Rhino, I pay my guys well above a livable wage, and commission isn’t a thing in our shop.
So there’s no requirement or pressure to upsell, which in turn, is great for customers because they hate that shit as much as we do.
People already put off getting their car worked on as it is.
Who wants to make it worse by trying to shove even more products down their throat?
And our shop reviews speak for themselves. It’s one of the things our customers appreciate most about us. We don’t need a marketing budget when customers recommend us to all their friends and family.
“On it, boss.”
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing the twang in Rowley’s southern accent.
I’m about ninety-nine percent sure Piper’s car just misfired based on how she explained it, but I need to let him figure that out on his own.
Heading to my small office tucked in the back corner of the garage, I work on finishing up some paperwork and billing a few customers out so Peggy, our shop manager, can contact them to pick up their vehicles.
The rest of the day goes by on autopilot, and before I know it, I’m locking up the shop to go meet my beautiful wife for dinner.
My eyes immediately land on Audrey as she walks to the booth I’m sitting in.
She’s still in her scrubs from the hospital after just finishing her third twelve-hour shift this week.
Like we do every week, we decided to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.
I stand and press my lips to hers. “You look edible, Darlin’. ”
She smacks my chest lightly but not before I catch her inhaling me.
Her obsession with oil and fuck knows what other fluids are on my clothes, always brings a smile to my face.
“I look like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck.
” She sits down on the opposite side of the booth and immediately picks up the margarita that’s already waiting for her, licking the flaky salt from the rim and taking a sip.
*She’s so fucking beautiful.
While we drown in chips and queso, Audrey asks, “Did you figure out what was wrong with Piper’s car?”
This is one of the things I love about my wife; on top of everything she has to do, she always remembers if others are dealing with things that are out of the norm for them.
“I have Rowley on it, but I’m trying to let him get through the whole process himself, so it may take a little longer than normal. ”
Piper isn’t just Audrey’s hairdresser, she’s also her friend, so when she notices me worrying my lip and reassures me, “She won’t mind.
Her dad doesn’t use his car anymore, so she’s driving it now.
Plus, that’ll be good for Rowley to get more comfortable.
” Then I remember that Piper drops off her son with her parents while she works, so I’m sure they figured something out.
A hum vibrates my throat. “Enough shop talk, how was work? How many babies did you bring onto this floating rock today?”
She licks the rim before taking a sip of her margarita, and then her smile fades to a sadness that I immediately recognize as bad baby news. “We almost lost a mom today…”
I grab her hand across the table. “Oh, Audrey, I’m sorry.”
“She made it, though… Just going to be in the ICU for a couple of days.”
I don’t even need to ask; I know she must have relived her own birth today.
It doesn’t happen often, because the team knows what she went through and tries to take the patients who might trigger her, but sometimes there’s no other option than for Audrey to care for them.
Especially when she’s the charge nurse for her shift.
I give her hand a squeeze and murmur, “You’re safe, the mom is safe, and so is the baby, thanks to you and the amazing team around you.” She gives me a nod, but I can tell she’s still not fully in her head, but I can’t blame her for needing time to process.
The reason we only had Daniella is because Audrey developed HELLP syndrome after delivering and almost didn’t make it herself. So now when she has a patient develop it, it usually makes for a rough day for her.
On top of Audrey almost not making it through delivery, watching her struggle through postpartum left me feeling completely useless in more than one way when it came to trying to make her feel better.
We decided before Daniella’s first birthday that we were done having kids.
A quick vasectomy on my part, a sample left a month later, and we never had to worry about that again.
We were able to spoil Daniella without endangering Audrey’s life again, and honestly, my life has been more than complete with the two of them.
Now that Daniella has been away at college for almost three years, Audrey and I have fallen into our new normal, and it’s been amazing.
We, of course, miss our daughter, but she visits on the holidays, and she is enjoying being away from her boring old parents, so I don’t question a thing.
* BOB BARKER - Cowboy Killer, Yelawolf
* HER - Chase Atlantic