Chapter One
RILEY
Take over a rundown auto shop in a small town, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
To be fair, no one actually said that.
If it were three months ago and someone told me I’d be fixing anything other than planes, I would have laughed right in their faces.
But… a lot can change in three months.
And some of those changes are better than others.
“Are thoseunderpants?” I stare at the raggedy pair of polka dot underpants hanging over the tail end of a car like a flag staking its claim.
Rebel Hart, my new boss, screeches to a halt beside me. “What onearth?Hello? Is someone here?”
A crash erupts from deep in the bay and a man with thin hair sticking up all over his head rushes to his feet. He’s got an unkempt grey beard, bony shoulders and scruffy legs—which I can see because he’s wearing nothing but a dirty undershirt and boxers.
Polkadot boxers.
I guess I found the owner of the underpants drying on the car.
Rebel’s jaw drops. “Jimmy?”
“Rebel, wh-what time is it?” Jimmy peers at his watch and then his eyes widen. “Just a minute. Let me clean up.”
I watch Jimmy scamper around, shoving his skinny legs into work overalls, hiding his gnarly toes inside of worn boots and then hopping around the mechanic bay to push trays of beer out of the way.
Rebel stomps forward. She’s the owner of the garage and the reason I’m not couch surfing in the city, draining what’s left of my life’s savings while questioning my entire existence.
“Jimmy, are youlivingin the shop?” Rebel hisses. Jimmy freezes and blinks once. Then twice. His Adam’s apple bobs guiltily.
Rebel’s nostrils flare and she turns to me. She’s dressed in a pink mechanic jumpsuit that matches the angry stain moving across her face. By the tremble of her bottom lip, I can tell she’s feeling a lot of… negative emotions right now. But she valiantly keeps it together and speaks in a tight but upbeat tone.
“Riley, I amsosorry. I asked Jimmy and the other mechanics to prepare the bay and wash everything down for today, but it seems like they had a busy schedule.” Rebel pairs the words with a sharp side-eye at Jimmy that could scrape off the most stubborn fuel tank sealant. “How about you head to The Pink Garage first? April, my business partner, has some welcome drinks for you. If you just head back down the road, you’ll see our sign?—”
“Hey, Jimmy. I’m Riley Carter.” I walk past Rebel and extend a hand to the older man.
Jimmy hesitates, glances at Rebel fearfully and then looks back at me.
I arch an eyebrow, keeping my hand extended.
“Oh, ah…” He wipes his hand on the side of his jumpsuit which dirties his palm even further with a new streak of grease. Noticing the mess, Jimmy starts to pull his hand back, but I catch it and give his hand a firm shake.
“Good to meet you, Jimmy. This place looks like it could use a decent sweep and mop. How about you tackle this half of the bay and I’ll take the other?”
Jimmy’s jaw drops like I just handed him a toothbrush and asked him to clean the roof in the middle of a heat wave.
A touch on my arm prompts me to turn around. Rebel is staring at me, a knot between her trimmed eyebrows. “You don’t have to do that, Riley. It’s not your responsibility.”
“You hired me to manage the shop, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but?—”
I roll up the sleeves of my plain black sweater. I’m sure Rebel did a background check on me. She heard what happened three months ago at my old shop, yet she still took a chance on me.
I need to prove she made the right choice.
