“So, how the hell have you been?” Axel asked. “Feels like forever since we talked.”
“I see you almost every day at the shop.”
“You’re always so damn busy.” Axel cast me a concerned look. “You doing okay without Bailey?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “Of course.”
He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel. “It’d be okay if you weren’t, though. It’s a lot of responsibility to take on.”
“I can handle it,” I said, a defensive edge creeping into my voice.
“I know you can,” he said. “You’re doing great work.” He laughed. “You’re a better fit than Matteo, that’s for damn sure.”
“Matteo is great,” I said.
Axel nodded. “He is. This ex-con program he’s doing is awesome. Giving guys like you an opportunity.”
“Yeah. It really is.”
“Flynn, I know you’re not used to people worrying about you. I know what that’s like, you know? But we’re not just your employers, okay? We’re your friends.”
The truck made a lumbering turn onto the blacktop, and Axel pushed down the gas pedal as we straightened onto the highway.
The engine roared.
“You can do it, sugar,” he said, patting the dash.
“You call the trucksugar?” I asked, incredulous.
He chuckled. “She deserves all the compliments. Tell her she’s a pretty girl.”
“Uh, you’re a pretty girl,” I said, giving the dash a love tap.
Axel chuckled. “See, girl? You’ve still got it!”
“You’re a weirdo, Ax.”
He snorted. “And proud of it.” He cast me a glance. “So, is Holden being a hard-ass with you?”
I startled. “What? No?”
“He can be. He doesn’t mean it. Holden is all bark and no bite. He’s like a cornered animal sometimes. He needs to feel in control. But he thinks very highly of you.”
“He does?”
“Hell yes. When Bailey left, you stepped up in a big way. You’ve worked hard and without complaint. He’s noticed.”
I chewed my lip. “It’s just, no matter what I do, I’m still an ex-con.”
“You think that matters to us?”
“I don’t know. It matters to a lot of people. That’s why we have the Redemption Road program.”
Axel nodded along. “I guess that’s true. But we’re not most people.”
No, but they’d still hired me through the program. They hadn’t offered to keep me on permanently yet. If I were optimistic, I’d say they planned to. They didn’t have any other mechanics coming in to interview for the job. No part-timers who could step into my shoes. But…my time in prison had shown me that the rules were different once you were a felon.
They might very well let me go and bring in someone else from Redemption Road so they could continue to get the financial break they got from the program. Or they might decide to hire in a much more experienced mechanic. I wouldn’t even blame them, because I still floundered at times. I was no Bailey.
