“The mechanic doesn’t come back until Monday.”
There was a silence on the phone, and then my friend Doug, who I had known for years to be an insensitive, unhelpful shit, burst out laughing. “Dude, you start to hear banjos, you better guard your ass.”
“Don’t be a dick,” I reprimanded him as I fought the smile, knowing that I already had someone watching my ass in this small store. “So…do you want to tell Pierce I killed the car?” I asked Doug, counting on the fact that they hated each other, and Doug would love to tell him the news.
“Are you crazy? He’ll kill you. Then me.”
Pierce, as the older sibling, was fucking anal about most things. Had it not been the day after his wedding, and he was still floating on cloud nine, I don’t think I would have been offered the car. He loved that damn thing.
“So…what? I wait until Monday for the mechanic and hope he has a spare radiator and never tell my brother?” I mulled it over. It could work…maybe.
“You need to be here on Thursday,” Doug reminded me sharply.
“Ah fuck!”
“Language.”
Wincing, I turned to look at Janice, who was listening to every word. “Sorry.”
“Who’s that?”
“Janice. The lady who owns the store that I’m in.”
“Hot?”
“She’s been very kind to let me use her phone,” I said, the warning clear in my voice. “You’ll need to do the presentation without me.”
“Fuck that, I need you here.”
“Not so funny now, is it?” I replied dryly.
“We’ll set up a TEAMS, Skype, Zoom or something,” Doug started.
“I have no cell service, and Janice went next door to use the card machine.”
“Fuck, dude, you’re going to die in the Rockies.”
“Okay, well, you helped, so I’m going to go, and we’ll catch up real soon.” I muttered a goodbye and then turned to Janice. “So…other than Will, the nearest mechanic is?”
“On the mountain.”
“Is this not the mountain?” I asked and hated that I sounded irritated.
“Motor show. Every mechanic that could help you will be there.” Janice grinned at me. “They’ve been looking forward to this the whole year. You’re just going to need to wait for Will.” She looked over her shoulder. “And Iris.”
“Iris? Can she fix it?” I felt hope rising.
“Why don’t you ask her? Here she comes.”
CHAPTER TWO
IRIS
Ever since I was a child, the pull to Janice’s store when she was baking could call me home. She was like the Pied Piper, only instead of a flute, she used baked goods. Her nut bread could make every person in Clearwater Pines salivate at the mere thought of a thick slice with butter.
“Janice!” I called when I went in and stopped short when I saw the shotgun on the counter, and then looking around wildly, I saw her towards the back of her store, staring straight at me, with a guy beside her. He looked like he had been in the back, but she never let anyone back there. Darting forward, I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. “Let her go!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” he asked as he threw his hands up in the air. “Seriously, I live in New York, and not once has anyone pointed a gun at me. I’m in this crazy town for twenty minutes, and this is the second time!”