I smiled at her while I unwrapped the candy, popped it in my mouth.
A picture of Cameron biting that red lollipop invaded my mind. The candy made a cracking sound as I bit on it hard, imagining it was his hand.
“Oh dear, be careful. Might crack your teeth. You don’t want dentures, you don’t.”
“Might take a while before I need them, Mrs. Chung. Maybe by then, they’ll have invented uncrackable ones that can bite through metal.”
“Technology, eh. Gotta love it.” She nodded. “I’d have preferred to bring my car here,” she continued. She wasn’t done with the topic. Mrs. Chung sure loved to chat. I smiled at her. “Your dad doesn’t come up with ten other things to repair just to make a quick buck. He’s honest, Mike is. Good-looking too.” She winked at me. “But they have that shuttle service over there. Makes it convenient for me because I had my hair appointment that morning. They picked me up too when my car was ready.”
“That’s great, Mrs. Chung.”
“I do miss those times when you had that shuttle service.”
I didn’t bother sighing. In an effort to increase sales during the weekdays, we had offered the shuttle service twice a week for a while before we kiboshed it.
It increased the number of our weekday customers, but work orders were barely finished on time. Dylan and Ekon, both our maintenance mechanics, had to postpone their work to drive customers around. We simply didn’t have the manpower or a budget to hire a driver. Unless I cloned myself or suddenly shit a million bucks, it was a no-go.
“Say hi to your dad for me, won’t you? Where is he?”
“He went to Lockport this morning to pick up car parts for a friend.”
“Did he go fishing too?”
My dad and Dylan had left at three this morning, so they’d have time to go fishing before picking up the car parts. Dylan told me Dad had to stay there for a few hours to help his friend cut a giant tree on his property that was damaging his house.
“You bet your sexy tush he did.”
She giggled. “Tell him to give me a ring if he has fish to spare. They don’t sell them that fresh at the store anymore.” She tucked her purse in her armpit. “I’ll see you on my next oil change, dear. Bye now.”
I went back to my desk and was just about to sit down when another customer came in. I sighed and put on my sweet-girl smile. “Hi there. Here to pick up your car?”
When she left, I glanced at the clock. It had been a long, tiring day, and it was almost time for my shift at the coffee shop. I gulped my coffee and started closing.
I grabbed my phone, debating whether I should look at it or not.
Had the son of Satan texted yet?
It drove me apeshit wondering, waiting.
“Hey, Kara Koala.” My dad propped his elbow on the counter.
“Hey, Dad. I didn’t know you were back already. You just missed Mrs. Chung. She said give her a call if you got extra fish.”
“Sure thing.”
I tapped my cheek. “Got something there.”
He grabbed the rag from his back pocket—the one with more grease on it—and wiped his cheek. It only added more.
I let out a sigh, reached for the baby wipes I kept in my desk drawer.
“Left cheek, boyfriend,” I said.
He rubbed his eyes and leaned on the counter, turning his cheek to me.
I wiped it off.
“Am I handsome yet?” He looked tired. Really tired and—