“Why should we?” Blade demands.
“It’s either that or I dock your pay an hour.”
“That’s not fair!” Blade yells.
“Fair?” I give both of them a hard stare. “This shop has rules and by choosing to continue to work here, you have agreed tothose rules. I made it clear that technicians should arrive at seven on the dot.”
“But the shop opens at eight,” Blade whines.
“Customersarrive at eight. If we’re to receive customers, how can we walk into work at the same time they’re walking into the shop?”
Blade scoffs.
Carlos looks away.
Jaw tight enough to break at least seven of my teeth, I swing to Jimmy.
He straightens like a rod’s attached to his back. “Boss?”
“Bring the logbooks. I’m going to walk everyone through our new system of operation.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jimmy scampers off while Carlos slinks to the other side of the mechanic bay. Blade cuts me a dark look as he puts headphones in his ears.
“Do you have something to say?” I challenge, my voice tight.
It’s unprofessional of me to address him right now. I’ve said all I need to say and, at this point, I’m just inviting a fight.
But after what Jimmy said about Nat, I don’t think I’d mind one.
Blade’s nostrils flare and I can see the annoyance in the kid’s eyes but, eventually, he looks down. “No, ma’am.”
I accept the logbook from Jimmy and gather my reluctant mechanics for a training session. Nobody seems excited about the structure I’m putting in place, but so what? If Nat can fight like crazy to get on the Lucky Striker’s team, then I can turn this garage around.
Or die trying.
Chapter Ten
NATHAN
“You’vegotto be kidding me!” The disgruntled outburst is followed by a string of expletives. “This is bull!”
I hear the distinct thud of an object crashing to the ground.
I linger in the hallway, wondering if I should head into the locker room or wait for the ruckus to subside. After clearing the air with Riley this morning, I’m in a great mood and whoever’s in there is… not. I’d rather not bring my energy down on a good day.
“Price, calm down, man. You got other teams.”
Oh. It’s Price.
That clears up a lot.
He must have been cut this week, which anyone with sense could have predicted.
Price’s voice gets loud. “It’s not about that. It’s plain disrespect. Nobody knows about this town or this team, but I could have put it on the map. I came all the way from Ironvale.Ironvale.”
“You’ve mentioned it,” someone says dryly.
