“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I‘m great, in fact.” She was being a smartass.
“Great. Me, too. Let me explain what I meant, because you took my question the wrong way. I asked if you had a boyfriend, not because I thought you needed one, but because I hoped you did not have one. And, once more, I was hoping you were single.”
Her face looked like I’d just told her I was Batman.
“You did not just say that.”
“Yes, I did. And I meant it,” I said and walked back into my house.
She followed.
For it only being the first day, I’d say we killed it. Three rooms painted and ready to move into.
When we finished what we could for the night, and after she helped me clean all of the paintbrushes and put stuff away, I asked if she wanted to hang out and eat a sandwich with me. I hadn’t eaten anything except an apple all day.
She said no, thank you and quietly slipped out the door without even saying much of a goodbye. I’d just heard her truck start, and when I looked out the front door, she waved as she pulled off.
I thought about her the whole night as I found more things to do. As surprising as it had been when she walked into my house, it was just as unexpected when she occupied my thoughts after she left.
The check engine light was on in my Escalade, just like it had been on Saturday night when I rolled into town, and I dreaded taking it in.
I had to return the U-Haul to the trailer place up by the highway first thing in the morning. Afterwards, I stopped at O’Fallon’s garage to see if they could tell me what was wrong with it.
Hopefully it was just something minor or a sensor gone bad.
I pulled into the lot and stopped just short of the double garage doors that were wide open, then walked into the door on the side that had the hours of operation stenciled on it. It was a small waiting room with a counter.
“Hey there, how’s it going?” an older gentleman said from a chair in the corner, looking quite at home. “Whatcha needin’?”
Maybe the guy was on a break.
“Well, I drove in from Cleveland over the weekend and the check engine light came on in my Escalade,” I answered, pointing outside to where it sat.
He stood and looked out at the lot.
“Don’t say. Was she doin’ anything funny? Actin’ up?”
“Well, it was shifting a little hard on the way in, but I thought it was just because of the trailer I was pulling.”
“Don’t say,” he said again and sat down in his seat and slapped his paper open again.
“Well, can you take a look at it?” Did I need a password or something?
“Hell, kid. I don’t work here. Mutt walked down to the post office and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are in the shop.”
I looked out the window and saw O’Fallon walking up the street. I stepped outside to meet her. When she saw me, she smiled brightly and sped up.
“Good morning,” I said as she got near. “Think your dad can check this out for me?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. He’s in here, come on.”
I followed her into the garage area and saw two guys near a smaller dock door in the back.
“Dad, can you hook his…” she paused, looking for the make of my vehicle.
“Escalade.”
“Look at his Escalade?” The older of the two handed the younger guy a clipboard and headed for us.
“Well, shit, who are you?” her dad asked me.
I held out my hand and answered, “Vaughn Renfro.”
“Nice to meet you, Van,” he said, but I didn’t correct him. I didn’t have to.
“He said Vaugh-n, not Van, Dad,” O’Fallon clarified. It was clear that they were close and enjoyed one another by the animated faces they were giving each other and the way they bantered back and forth.
“That’s what I said. Van.” And he gave her a take that look, sticking his tongue out.
“I told the guy in there, I drove it from Cleveland this weekend pulling a trailer and it didn’t really act too bad or anything. It shifted weird a few times, but other than that, it was okay. Then when I pulled into town the check engine light came on. It’s still on.”
“You told all that to Kenny?” he asked.
“Well, I thought he worked here.”
He looked around me into the waiting area and saw what Kenny was doing. “Do you call that working?”
O’Fallon shoved her dad’s arm and said, “Knock it off. You don’t have anyone coming in this afternoon or anything. Want him to pull it in?” Her tone wasn’t one to play with.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said and waved over his head, motioning for me to bring it inside as he walked back over to the other guy.
“Just pull it in on this side and they’ll hook it up,” she instructed.
It was nice knowing someone, and the fact that she looked even better after a night’s rest and a shower, was a wonderful bonus.
“So did you get anything else done last night?” Her voice was a little softer, laxer than it had been.
“Yeah, after you left I took all of the doors off the cabinets, carried some boxes with clothes and stuff upstairs.”