“This seems so much better than mine,” I admitted.
Beside Maxx, Charly smiled. “That’s the point.”
“Your SUV had low mileage, but it hadn’t been maintained long before you bought it. It was the rust eating away at it that made it dangerous,” Maxx explained. “Add in all the little things that needed doing, it was a disaster waiting to happen.” He patted the hood. “This little beauty has higher kilometers but has been maintained properly. It’ll run for another few years—especially if we take care of it. And since you’ll be representing the garage while you drive it, it will be.”
“It was all I could afford.”
“Understood. But now, you can drive something better. I can use your car. You can help my wife and me get more advertising out there. Everybody wins because we’re taking care of one another,” Maxx offered, his voice low and patient. “That’s how we work here.”
I tightened my hands on the steering wheel, swallowing down the sudden lump in my throat. Stefano’s words played through my mind.
“Life has a way of bringing us what we need when we need it.”
And I needed this car. I needed to keep Theo safe. The thought of not worrying that the SUV would break down on my way home or wondering if it would start after a long day of work would ease so much stress. Charly had shown me figures, a neat, well-structured document of the expenses needed to fix the car, the value of this one, and how it would be offset. I had studied it hard, not finding anything that would worry me. It was, as Stefano said, clear. No hidden price tags. I glanced at the couple standing beside the car. Maxx was a huge man, bigger than Stefano, and Charly looked tiny beside him. His arm was around her, resting on her bump, his love evident and his expression open and kind. Charly was warm and friendly, and I liked her a lot. I liked them both.
Maybe Stefano was right and I needed to stop being so stubborn.
I slid from the car and offered my hand to Maxx. “I accept.”
My errands were made easier since I didn’t have to worry if my vehicle would start or not. Theo was happy and chatty, exclaiming over the soft leather and talking about his new friends. When I told him I was returning to the garage the next day, he could barely contain himself. I had to promise his uniform would be ready.
“They need me, Mom.”
“Okay, baby.” I hid my smile, but his excitement made me happy. I was still smiling at work, even though it wasn’t as busy as I hoped.
I returned to the garage the next day. I sat with Charly, and she showed me how their system worked. It was slick and well organized. The mechanic entered the parts required, and that fed into a master sheet. Anything immediate was handled differently, but the list was printed, the parts ordered, and Chase picked them up the next day. Anything removed from the stock room was flagged in a particular way, and Charly kept the stock room full. I could easily print the lists and place the orders from home before I left for my shifts at the bar. I could use my days off to work on the stock room, which Charly said only took her a few hours since the system was so well utilized. It was obvious she was the brains behind the success. She was meticulous, clever, and ran the garage with ease. I could see why Stefano was so fond of her.
Stefano seemed to avoid me. He worked in his own space, his specialty the airbrushing and design of restored autos and motorcycles. He only worked in the garage on occasion, Charly told me.
“When we’re really busy or down a mechanic. He enjoys it, but his love is the design work. He’s brilliant.”
The pride in her voice was clear. Her relaxed, easy way with him made their closeness evident. When she took me through his area on my tour, he had been busy, hunched over a fender of a motorcycle, his arm sweeping in small arcs, his face a study in concentration. I watched him for a moment, then we moved on. He was either deep in the zone or ignoring our presence.
Theo was in his glory. All the mechanics welcomed him and made a fuss over him. I knew Stefano had spent a little time with him, letting him use a couple of tools and “help” him with a simple task. I had never seen Theo’s face so happy. It occurred to me how much he must have been wanting this. Missing it. He had very little male influence in his life. Alfie was really another kid, not someone Theo would look up to the way I saw him looking at Stefano or Maxx. He was sitting with Brett, who was showing him how to use a socket wrench. Theo ate it up and added another favorite guy to his roster. He talked nonstop all the way home, excited about his day.