“Bloody hell,” he muttered under his breath. “When was the last time you got an oil change?”
“I don’t know. Whenever the sticker says I did.” I shrugged and pointed to the small rectangle of white on the upper corner of the windshield. When I took a closer look at it, I noticed it was faded and starting to peel. I decided to change the subject. “Where are you taking me?”
“To get a proper tire put on this car, and an oil change apparently.” He pulled out of the parking lot and onto a main road. “How long has the car been making that sound?”
“What sound?” I rolled my eyes at my would-be savior. The very last thing I wanted or needed today was a lecture about self-neglect. I gave myself enough of those.
“This sound…” He glared at me while tilting his head toward the front of the car. I didn’t hear anything unusual. The car sounded like it always did. I shook my head and shrugged. He rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like “Christ” under his breath and continued to stare at the road.
“Are you always this rude to people you’re helping?”
“Ha!” He barked out a laugh. “You think I’m rude? That’s rich coming from the woman who stripped down to her knickers in the men’s toilets and had the nerve to get pissed off when a man came in to piss!”
“I didn’t know it was the men’s room,” I shot back. “I was in a hurry. I was running late and made a mistake, which is very rare for me. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me. So don’t think you can—”
“Oh, you didn’t know, eh?” he interrupted. “The same way you didn’t know that this car is an accident waiting to happen. And no, I don’t know you, but I know all about you, love.” He was seething, and it was odd how someone could take a word likeloveand make it sound venomous.
“You’re so well put together and you’ve got everything figured out. You don’t need help from anyone, but I bet you bend over backward helping everyone else in your life, not because you want to, but because you feel like you don’t have a choice. And when it comes to taking care of yourself, you can’t be bothered to read the door on a loo, take your car in for maintenance, or feed yourself.” My stomach gave another betraying growl. “And you’d rather walk around with your bra strap showing, drive around on three and a half tires while starving, than accept an offer of help. How did I do?” He turned tome after he put the car in park. We were outside of a garage/auto body shop. All the lights were off and it looked like it was closed, adding confusion to my anger.
“I’m well put together because I have to be. And I don’t need help from anyone because I am used to taking care of myself. My job is taking care of other people. I don’t do it because I have no choice, I do it because I’m damn good at it. You met me a few hours ago and you think you’ve got me all figured out. Well, you don’t. And if your idea of helping people is making them feel like shit on what has to be one of the shittiest days they’ve had in recent memory, you’re great at it.” I felt my eyes prickle with tears as the combination of stress, grief, and exhaustion took its toll. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve had a day from hell, and being yelled at by a stranger is the last thing I need.” Tears fell from my eyes, and I wiped them away furiously.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.” His voice was soft as he placed a large, warm hand on my shoulder. “I’ve had an off day as well. An off month if we’re being honest…” He sighed. “Look, it’s like in chess. The queen can do anything she wants in the game, but she can’t win by herself… fuck, I don’t know what I’m saying. George always said it better…” He muttered the last part to himself.
I didn’t answer him, I just stared out the window. I knew exactly what he was trying to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. His use of my grandfather’s name also ignited a flicker of memory, but it was gone too quickly to grasp.
He let out another sigh and exited the car. A few moments later, he returned with a man in a jumpsuit with the name Terry stitched in red letters on the front.
Dan and I sat in the waiting area of the body shop, not speaking.As it turned out, the shop was closed, but Dan, upon seeing mystepney, called Terry before I’d even made it to my car. I hoped that Terry could change my tire and the oil quickly so I could get on the road and away from this town—and its occupants. Well, one occupant in particular.
“I checked out the car.” Terry entered the waiting area after fifteen minutes, wiping his hand on a greasy rag. He was addressing Dan, even though it was my car. “She’s gonna need some work, but luckily I have all the parts here.”
“What do you mean by work?” I asked. “How long will this take?”
“At least four or five hours.” He shrugged. My entire body deflated, and I sank back into the chair. “So should I get started?”
“Yeah,” Dan answered for me. “Get started.”
“And how much is this gonna cost me?” I interjected, shooting a glare at Dan.
“For George and Harriet’s granddaughter?” Terry raised an eyebrow. “Nothing.”
“Thank you,” I whispered in astonishment to Terry. He gave me a smile and wave before turning to leave the waiting room. My grandparents were so beloved that the people of this town were willing to help their granddaughter, a total stranger. It made me even surer that I couldn’t handle the responsibility of the farm. I couldn’t even handle leaving this town.
“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” I moaned out loud to no one in particular—definitely not to Dan.
“I know the last thing you’d want or need is more unsolicited help from me because I… what was it… I suck at it, but, might I offer a suggestion?” I slowly turned to him to see his eyebrow raised.
“What?” I said with a sigh of resignation.
“You’re obviously not going anywhere tonight, and you’ve just inherited a farm. You should probably go there, get a good night’s sleep, and drive home in the morning.”
It was the most obvious solution. I don’t remember being to a farm outside of a school field trip, and even then, it didn’t seem like a place I’d want to spend a night. I’m sure if I weren’t so tired and frustrated, I would have thought of it myself. I was still annoyed at Dan, partly for the way he’d barged into my life and ruined the rest of my day, partly for the way he talked to me in the car, but mostly because his assessment of me was spot-on. And I hated it. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging that he was right again, especially if he was going to be so fucking handso—I meant smug. If he was going to be so smug.
“Fine,” I grumbled.
“Okay. Let’s go.” I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, but I could hear the smirk in his voice.
CHAPTER TWO
