“How old is the kid now?”
I shoot him a biting look. “Thatkidhappens to be my goddaughter. And she’s five months old.”
“That reminds me, I haven’t told you the news. I’m going to be a godfather myself.”
My foot eases off the gas as I try to keep my focus on the road while also looking side-eyed at Lincoln. “Really?”
He nods. “Mike found out he’s going to be a dad.”
“Mike?” I roll to a stop. “As in your certified bachelor friend?”
“Some chick he hooked up with late last year showed up pregnant.”
My eyebrows shoot up and practically touch my wool beanie. “Mike must be stepping up then if he’s already thinking about godparents.”
“You could have knocked me over with a feather when he told me.”
“Is he going to marry the woman?”
Coffee spittle spews from his mouth and dots the dashboard in front of him. “Mike get married? I seriously doubt it. But he wants to take responsibility for the kid. He actually said you were a good role model. The woman isn’t from Calloway Creek, so there might be some custody issues to deal with.”
“So we’re talking more than just paying child support?”
“Dude, he asked me to be the godfather. Yeah, it’s more than child support. He wants shared custody.”
Someone behind me honks, reminding me I’m blocking the road. I turn off onto another street and head toward the new part of town.
“You going to tell me where we’re going?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Two turns later, I see Lincoln’s face turn from amusement to irritation. He has an idea where we’re going now. And when two of those stupid, tall, inflatable, arm-flailing tube men dance from a nearby parking lot, he mutters, “Fuck.”
I park on the side of the road as we both stare at the ‘Grand Opening’ banner.
“How bad do you think this is going to be for us?” he asks.
We’ve known this was coming for six months. But today is the day the Cruz-In Auto Repair Shop is no longer the sole collision repair place in Cal Creek. There are plenty of oil-change places and a small service station or two. And while we’re a one-stop shop, doing both service and repairs, this new, larger competitor is sure to cut into our profits. I mean, it’s not as if the town’s population has recently exploded. There are only so many damaged cars to go around. And they probably have way more of an advertising budget than we do. Heck, being the only game in town meant we didn’t have to advertise. Will we now?
I shake my head. “I have no idea. I’m sure we’ll feel it. But they’re outsiders. Hopefully, most of the town will be loyal to us.” I pound the steering wheel. “But damn it. Why did this have to happen now? This year.”
“What’s so special about this year?”
“Remember when we took out that very large loan years ago? And we agreed to smaller payments up front in exchangefor a substantial balloon payment? Well, brother, the time has come to pay the piper.”
“Shit. Seriously?”
I rub my eyes in frustration. “We’re this close to outright owning the business, and then this happens. That’s some bad fucking karma.”
“Can’t we refinance or something?”
“Sure, if we want to pay closing costs and today’s interest rates, which are double what they were back then. We’d be practically going back to the beginning, with higher payments and a much longer loan period.”
“I take it you’ve already looked into it.” He chuckles. “Of course you have. You’ve always loved doing the books much more than the rest of us.” He sips his coffee. “I think it’s too early to panic. Like you said, maybe people will be loyal to us. After all, who doesn’t like the Cruz brothers? Not to mention our lovable sister.”
“Let’s see, just about every Calloway in town. And the Ashfords. Most of the Montanas. If they alone get all their friends to jump ship, we could be in for a world of hurt.”
Lincoln snorts. “Brother, I haven’t seen a Calloway or an Ashford in our shop ever. They go over to White Plains. Seriously, there’s no love lost there.”
