That’s new.
“Whoa. It’s okay, it’s just me. Take a deep breath. Breathe with me, Jules.”
She’s not looking at me, but she follows my direction, pulling in a deep breath with me. After the third one, she’s calmed down considerably.
“Thanks,” she whispers.
“What happened?”
She bites her lip and won’t look me in the face, and I fucking hate that. I realize that I don’t just want to know what happened right now, to put her here at the side of the road, I want to know what happened to make her startle so bad, and every other moment from that day so long ago.
But for now, I’ll settle for why she’s sitting on the side of the road.
“My car sucks,” she finally says, her breath shuddering. “Ijustpicked it up from that asshole in Silver Springs, and it already broke down again.”
Unease moves through me, followed quickly by anger.
“Pop the hood.”
“Oh, you don’t have to look. I’ll call a tow?—”
“Pop the fucking hood, Wildfire.”
Her eyes widen at the use of the old nickname, and she reaches below the steering wheel to pull the lever. I walk around the front and push it up so I can see what’s going on.
And what I see is a huge fucking mess.
This engine looks like it’s being held together by duct tape and cotton swabs. Who the hell was the mechanic, MacGyver?
Knowing there’s nothing I can do right now, I close the hood and return to the passenger side, resigned to taking her with me.
On my bike.
Pressed up against my back for miles, just like the old days.
“Who did the repairs?”
“Barry in Silver Springs did it every time.”
I tilt my head. “How many times have you had it in to him, Jules?”
“Oh, geez, a half dozen? It always breaks down again. This time, I think it’s really dead. The noises were horrible. I’m more than six grand into repairs?—”
“You’re fuckingwhat?”
She jumps and then blinks at me. “Sorry. TMI. I’ll call?—”
“I’ve got this.” Jesus, I’m going to be making a trip to Barry’s garage, and I’m going to teach him a goddamn lesson. And get her money back. “I’ll tow it to my garage and sort it out. And I want you to show me everything he did.”
“Uh, how am I supposed to do that?”
“I assume you have receipts?”
“Sure.”
“I want to see them. Come on, you’re with me.”
Her jaw drops, and for a moment, she just blinks at me.
