“Oh no, that’s not goin’ to happen.” Senior folded his hands over his chest, his forearms resting on his slightly rounded belly. “A Jenkins man is a man of his word. Your yes means yes, and you’re not backin’ out.”
“Fine,” Rusty said, blowing out a frustrated breath. “It was worth a shot. All right, I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’ll be dandy, son.” Senior opened the truck door. “Just dandy. Whatever happens, it’s gonna be a lark.”
Rusty stayed back, still stunned that his grandfather wanted to participate in the auction. Then he shook his head and chuckled. Of course Senior would be game for this. He’d have a lot of attention on him, something he never shied away from. Not to mention he already had a good attitude and was geared up for the event to be fun. Rusty wished he had his confidence.
The morning went by at a brisk pace. The part for the Merc showed up an hour after the garage opened, and it didn’t take long for Rusty to get the car up and running. Around eleven he called Harper. When she didn’t answer, he sent her a text.
Your car is ready. Let me know when I can bring it over.
An hour later, while he worked under the hood of Pastor Jared’s Dodge Neon, his cell rang. After wiping his greasy hands on an old rag, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the phone. “Hey, Harper,” he answered after seeing her name pop up on the screen.
“Hi, Rusty. My car is running now?”
“Took it for a test drive, and she runs fine. Hopefully this is the last fix she’ll need for a long time.”
“I hope so too. I’m at the office, so you can drop the car off whenever you can. Also, I found two more houses for you to look at. I have some time around noon today if you’re free.”
Rusty thought for a moment. They had one car up on the rack and an oil change waiting in the parking lot. Percy and Hank could take care of those while he was gone for an hour or two. “Sure. I’ll be there around twelve.”
“See you then.”
He went to the office, where Senior sat talking to Granger Hendricks, the Maple Falls police chief. He waited for his grandfather to take a breath, then said, “I’ve got an appointment at noon. Could you take care of the oil change for me?”
Senior’s eyes lit up. “Sure can.” He turned to Granger. “Hate to cut this short, but I got work to do.”
Granger nodded, his usually stern expression showing a hint of a smile. Whenever the man was around the mayor, Granger jumped at his command. But to everyone’s surprise the sheriff had quietly gone along with the fall parade idea, even offering his and his deputies’ services during the afternoon. “You better hop to it, then.” Granger gave Rusty a nod and walked out of the office.
Rusty finished up Pastor Jared’s car, washed up in thebathroom, wished he had brought a brush with him to smooth down his hair, gave up on taming it, then drove the Mercedes to Harper’s office. When he walked inside, he immediately felt out of place. The décor in her office was similar to her home. Lots of white and lots of opportunities to literally leave his mark on something. A glass and chrome desk was situated in the center of the room near the back wall, the chair behind it empty. He stood and waited for the receptionist to come to the front.
A few minutes later Harper appeared. “Hey, Rusty,” she said, her heels clicking against the gray wood-planked floor. She grinned. “I’m so excited to get my car back.”
“I’m sure you are.” He dangled the keys in front of her.
She took them, then gave him the key to Lois. “Mind if we take my car?”
“Nope. I expected you’d want to.” Which was why he’d put a clean towel down on the passenger seat so he wouldn’t get it dirty. As they walked outside to the Merc, he said, “There’s a bill in the glove box for the part. I do have to charge you for that.”
“What about labor?”
“Don’t worry ’bout that. Workin’ on that car is like takin’ a mechanics class.” He opened the driver-side door for her, then got into the car on the passenger side. She started the Merc, and it purred like a contented kitten. “Ah,” she said, leaning back against the white leather seat. “Perfect.”
“She sounds good, doesn’t she?” Rusty couldn’t help but smile. She really did love this car, and he was glad he’d made her happy. It felt good. No, better than good.Satisfying.“Have you thought of a name for her yet?”
“I haven’t had a chance to think about that. After I went back home Saturday night, I fell asleep on my couch. I didn’t realize I was that tired. Then yesterday I had an old client call me. He wasn’t looking for a house, but he referred one of his friends, so I spent the whole day taking her around Hot Springs.”
“How did that go?”
Harper looked at him, and he thought he saw a flash of weariness in her eyes. Then she went back to her usual bright self. “Not great. She’s thinking about one of them, though, so that’s good.”
“We don’t have to go lookin’ at houses today,” he said, not wanting to put her out after such a busy weekend.
“Yes, we do.” She put the car in gear. “I never heard from Brielle,” she said. “I did leave two more messages for her, though.”
He scratched his chin through his beard. “She did say she was busy.”
Harper glanced at him again as she put the car back into Park. She turned and looked at him. “I need to tell you something about her,” she said. “Just know I don’t ever talk about other agents with my clients. Not personally, anyway. But I want to be up-front with you.”
