Not that it mattered. It wasn’t my fucking problem. Frankie was a grown woman who could take care of her own shit. I didn’t need to be worrying over her or her fucking tire. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t even notice Lynch had walked up until he asked, “What’s with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure about that?” He stepped behind me and poured himself some coffee. “Cause it sure looks like you got something on your mind.”
“I already told ya. It’s nothing.”
“Then, why am I sensing all the hostility?”
“Maybe because you’re interrupting my morning coffee.”
“Nah, that’s not it.” He studied me for a moment, and it wasn’t long before a mischievous smirk crossed his face. “Well, I’ll be damned. You got some chick that’s eatin’ at ya. Don’t ya?”
“She’s not eatin’ at me.” I took another drink of my coffee before saying, “I just helped her and her boy change a flat tire.”
“Oh, yeah?” His smirk grew even wider as he asked, “Was she hot?”
“She was attractive, but that’s irrelevant. I’m not interested in gettin’ tied up with some chick and her kid.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
I watched the smirk fade from his face as I told him, “The spare I put on was pretty shoddy. I told her to get the flat fixed, but I’m not sure she did.”
“How is that your problem?”
“It’s not my problem. Not at all. Just hate to see her or her kids get hurt cause she’s driving around with an unreliable spare.”
“Um-hmm.” He didn’t smile. He didn’t mock or tease. My brother knew better than that shit. Instead, he replied, “Well, I guess you could always drive by her place and see if she got it changed out.”
“Nah. I’m just gonna leave it. Frankie’s a smart girl. She knows she needs to get the damn thing fixed.”
“Maybe. Or it could be that she doesn’t have anyone around to help her out.” He made a point. Frankie hadn’t tried to hide the fact that she was divorced and was feeling overwhelmed by all the things she had going on. If I had to guess, I’d say she hadn’t given that damn spare a second thought. He’d almost convinced me to stop by when he teased, “You could be her knight in shining armor.”
“Fuck that.”
“You know I’m just fucking with you. Go by there and check it out. If nothing else, it’ll set your mind at ease.”
I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was after eight. Frankie was more than likely at her coffee shop, so it would be easy to circle by and check out the tire without her ever knowing I was there. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
“You do that.” He gave me a brotherly slap on the shoulder, then turned and started for the door. “I’ll catch up with ya at the club tonight.”
“Yeah. Sounds good.”
I stood there going back and forth over whether or not I should run by Frankie’s until I was at the point of fucking losing it. Grumbling a stream of curses, I grabbed my truck keys from my pocket and headed out to the parking lot. I had it set in my head I was just gonna drive by the coffee shop. I wasn’t going to say a fucking word. Hell, I wasn’t even stopping. I was just gonna go by to see about the damn tire, and then I’d be on my way. That was it. That was my plan. Unfortunately for me, nothing ever goes as planned.
As I got closer to the coffee shop, I noticed Frankie’s car parked in the rear parking lot. I pulled up next to it, and I’d barely gotten parked when I spotted the spare. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to talk to Frankie, but I couldn’t just leave there—not without doing something. I sat there stewing for God knows how long when I finally decided what to do. I grabbed a scrap sheet of paper and wrote her a note, reminding her to get the spare taken care of. I got out of the truck and stepped over to her car. I’d just slipped the note under her windshield wiper when I heard Sean shout, “Hey, Widow!”
Hoping it was just my mind playing tricks on me, I slowly turned and found Sean racing in my direction. “Hey there, Sean. How’s it going, man?”
“Pretty good.” He stopped and inhaled a deep breath before asking, “What are you doing here?”
“Came by to see about your mom’s tire.”
“Oh, yeah. She’s been meaning to get around to that, but she never has the time for stuff like that.”
“I see that.” I could’ve left it at that and just left, but I didn’t. For some reason, I couldn’t just blow him off, so I told him, “She mentioned she had a lot on her plate.”