“I’m not working, so yep, let’s do it. Eight o’clock work for you?”
“It’s a date.”
Brad suddenly came walking into the kitchen, wagging his finger at me. “Watch it, bud. She’s still my sister.”
I put up my hands defensively, and all three of us laughed. Brad had a joking tone, but there was a level of seriousness beneath it. He still thought dating his sister was crossing a line.
Great, I thought to myself.And here I thought he might be cool with the whole thing.
We ordered Chinese for dinner. I wolfed mine down and returned to the garage because I had made a lot of progress and was ready to test the engine. I didn’t expect it to turn over—I thought the spark plug was corroded and needed replacing, along with the alternator. But when I turned the keys in the ignition, the engine roared to life. Like a lion stretching after a very long nap.
“Ha hah!” I laughed behind the steering wheel, barely able to believe my ears.
Brad and Erica came running into the garage, cheering when they saw the car. I hopped out and ran over to hit the button to open the garage door.
“I need to let it run a few minutes, just to make sure everything’s firing right.”
“Can it drive?” Brad asked.
I nodded. “I think so! Just need to top off the air in the tires and check a few other things. You guys want to go for a test drive around the block?”
“Hell yeah I do!” Brad gave me a high-five, then walked back inside. “I need to grab my shoes.”
“Will all three of us fit?” Erica asked me.
“You’ll have to squeeze into the backseat.”
She lowered her voice. “I’d like to squeezeyourbackseat.”
We grinned at each other, and then she went inside to get her own shoes. While she did that, I used an air compressor to top off the tires. Then I checked the engine temperature to make sure it was cooling itself properly, and verified that the pressure in the transmission fluid system was stable.
It was good.Everythingwas good.
When Brad came back into the garage, he was on the phone. He covered the receiver and told me, “I just got roped into a sales call.”
“This late?” Erica asked.
“Seattle company. Pacific time zone.” He removed his hand from the receiver. “Yeah, this is Brad Porter. I’m here in case you have any questions about software licensing.”
“Want us to wait?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You two go without me. You can be the guinea pigs in case it blows up or something. I’ll ride in it tomorrow.”
Erica and I looked at each other.
“If you insist,” I said.
Erica moved her car out of the driveway and I backed the Mustang out of the garage. The sun had just set and it was pretty dark out, so I had her check all the lights while I tapped on the brakes. Everything worked without an issue.
She hopped into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. “Let’s go!”
The car purred as I drove through the neighborhood. I had driven vintage cars before, but this Mustang was an absolute gem. They didn’t make them like this anymore, that’s for sure.
I exited the neighborhood so I could shift into second, then third gear. The clutch felt like it was brand new, and the car shifted smoothly.
Erica leaned over and gently kissed my neck.
“What are you doing?” I asked softly.