“You know my father?” I tilted my head inquisitively.
“Not really. He took off a long time ago. I knew your grandmother though. I hope you like cats.” He turned and started back towards his car. “See you around.”
Cats? I’m deathly allergic to cats.
I got back in my car once Jesse was gone. The donut seemed to hold up well once I started moving, but I knew I couldn’t get very far on it. Luckily, Granite Falls wasn’t too far away. I rolled into the tiny town that had only one stoplight in the middle of town. From that location, I could see the repair shop Jesse mentioned and The Water Barn. There wasn’t much else to see except for a grocery store and a gas station. I could see the courthouse further downtown and while I wanted to head straight to my grandmother’s lawyer, I really wanted to make sure I could leave once everything was done. I pulled my car into the parking lot of Steve’s Auto Body, assuming it was Jesse’s brother’s place based on the name and the fact it was the only repair shop I could see. There wasn’t much going on at the repair shop. There was a car lifted off the ground in one of the repair bays and some parts scattered along the ground. The slim line of grass on the edge of the shop had a couple of broken down cars that looked beyond repair. A couple of cars were parked in the parking area, but I didn’t see anyone actually working.
“Hello?” I called out as I stepped out my car and slammed the door.
Chapter 2: Steve
“Axe already got a date with her, huh?” My brother’s voice echoed in the phone and I could tell he was annoyed. “Okay, I’ll be on the lookout for her car.”
I couldn’t really tell if my brother Jesse was trying to stake a claim on the beautiful girl he described or set me up with her. He was vague, like always, when talking about women. I took a break from watching television and walked out to the front of my garage. We hadn’t seen a serious client in weeks outside of general maintenance, so if there was a customer coming, I was more interested in her money than her looks. My brother didn’t like Axe, so there was a chance he just didn’t want him to find a shred of happiness, but I really didn’t mind our resident bad boy. He was harmless for the most part, but he usually ended up in trouble because he found dishonest ways to make a living. He hadn’t been out of prison long enough for me to get my motorcycle out of storage and go for a ride like we used to do before he got locked up. The fact he had managed to already secure a date in Granite Falls was pretty damn impressive. I lit a cigarette and took a drag as I watched the only road into Granite Falls. A car approached, but it wasn’t the newer model gray sedan my brother described, it was a beater that belonged to Major Baldwin. He turned into the parking lot and got out as soon as he was parked.
“Any work today?” He rolled his eyes, knowing there wasn’t likely to be anything available, but he always stopped by.
“We might get something.” I shrugged. “Jesse said he ran into a girl on the edge of town with a flat tire that's headed our way on a donut.”
“A girl? If she doesn’t have a name, she must not be a local.” He slammed his door and walked towards the garage.
“She’s Mrs. Grant’s granddaughter, here to deal with her estate.” I relayed the information given to my brother. “According to Jesse, she’s quite a looker.”
“I don’t care how pretty she is, but if she can cook a pie like Mrs. Grant, I might have to roll the dice with her.” He leaned against the garage and fanned away some of the smoke from my cigarette that drifted his way.
“Jesse said Axe already beat everyone to the punch.” I took another drag from my cigarette and blew smoke away from him.
“How the fuck did that happen?” Major put his hands on his hips.
“Axe changed her tire—you know pretty much anything is foreplay with that guy.” I laughed and shook my head.
“Shit, he’s probably already fucked her by now.” Major let out a sigh of defeat.
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” I nodded. “Anyway, outside of getting her a new tire, I don’t think I’ll have anything today.”
“Ah well, I guess I’m just going to go home and drink then.” He rubbed his chin for a moment and nodded.
Another car appeared at the end of the street and I turned to see if it was her, but I saw the mayor’s fancy Cadillac instead. Joe Danvers had been the mayor in Granite Falls for a couple of years. He was barely more than a kid, but he was the only one that ran for office when our last mayor retired after twenty-four years of service. He was a bit arrogant, but most of us liked him when he wasn’t on some holy quest to make Granite Falls better. The locals were already fairly happy with the town as it was, outside of the fact that we had a pretty terrible population demographic when it came to women. For some reason they seemed to flee Granite Falls, not wanting to live in the aging community. Instead of passing by the shop like he normally did, the mayor turned his Cadillac into the parking lot and parked next to Major. Major stopped and watched as the driver side door opened.
“Hey guys.” Mayor Danvers raised his hand and waved to us. “I’m having some trouble—I keep hearing some kind of knocking sound.”
“I guess we have a customer after all.” I snickered and looked over to Major.
“I’ll get it up on the rack.” Major walked towards Mayor Danvers and took his keys.
“What do you think it could be?” Mayor Danvers walked over to me and watched as Major climbed behind the driver’s seat and pulled the car into the garage terminal.
“Could be a number of things.” I shrugged and dropped my cigarette on the ground, pressing a boot to it as soon as it hit the pavement. “Want me to give you a ride over to City Hall?”
“No, I can wait around for a little bit. Things haven’t been that hectic the last couple of days.” He leaned against the wall. “I hear there’s a new girl in town.”
“Yeah.” I nodded and cut my eyes towards him with suspicion. “Interesting that you showed up the one place everyone seems to know she’s headed.”
“I told you.” He cut his eyes at me the same way mine were aimed at him. “I got a problem with my car.”
“He ain’t lying.” Major walked out of the garage shaking his head. “There’s a rod loose. We’ll have to order a part. Good thing you brought it in when you did—you could have sent that thing clean through your motor if you kept driving it.”
“See.” Mayor Danvers smiled, which was an odd reaction for a man who was just told he was about to spend a fortune in repairs.