“I’ll start as soon as it gets here. You get her number from Ry?”
Nodding to him, I tell him to get back to work and I head back to the office. Fighting the urge to text her right away, I shove my phone into my pocket and stare down at the dreaded invoices. If someone had warned me that I’d spend my life doing paperwork instead of holding a tool, I might have listened better to Pa when he talked about the importance of delegating. That shit starts now.
Hearing a text notification ping, I look at my phone and see another text from Ry.
Ry: When you call Jane with what’s goin’ on with her car, be nice. She’s had a really shitty day. And if you or Juan see her, don’t freak out on her.
Me: What do you mean, don’t freak out? Y would we?
Ry: ’Cause she got kneed and punched in the face by a client this morning and has a black eye and bruising on her face. BEFORE you freak out, that client is being moved into a facility today and won’t be able to hurt her again.
Me: I’ll be nice. I’m not freaking out.
Ry: Liar. I texted the same thing to J so you both are probably about to fucking lose it. Damn, it I’ve got to go to work.
Me: Fucker.
He sends me a GIF of someone laughing. Asshole.
I scroll back up on our messages, clicking on her cell number. Without thinking, I save it in my phone. I open up a message and type before I really put any thought into it.
Me: I hear you were having some car problems. It’s being towed in now and we’ll take a look at it. But even if it is worth fixin’, it probably won’t be ready today. You need a loaner or a ride to work in the morning?
Jane: I know it might not be worth fixing but I would still like to know. I would also like to know who I’m talking to. I only like mysteries in my books.
Me: I should have started with that. This is Jon. But the question remains. Do you need a loaner while you figure things out?
I realize that while I’m asking her this, the only loaner vehicle I’m thinking of letting her drive is my truck. She needs to be safe. Yep, that’s the only reason why.
Jane: I can get an Uber to work. I only have two clients tomorrow.
Me: No reason to waste your money and get a ride with a stranger when I’ve got a truck you can use. Plus, Ma would have my hide if she heard you took an Uber and I didn’t offer you a loaner.
Jane: LOL Okay, I like it when a grown man is still scared of his mom. I appreciate a loaner. I can stop by and grab it in a couple of hours if that works? I’ve got a friend stopping by and they can drop me off there.
Me: That works. Just come into the office when you get here and I’ll give you the keys.
Jane: Will do.
I need to get back to work. Letting my mind wander is a dangerous thing. I look out and see that Juan has her SUV on the lift and is checking it out.
Juan
“Why are we even looking at this POS?”
I take a second before I snap at the prospect’s reasonable question.
“Because a customer asked us to assess what’s wrong with it and give her a number it would cost to fix it. She’s the one who has to decide if she wants to pay the money to fix it or not. We can make recommendations, but it’s her decision.”
One, I am going to do my damnedest to get her into something newer and safer,I think to myself.
“It’s the whole, customer is always right thing, right?”
“Somethin’ like that. Some people just need to see it in writing, everything that’s wrong before they pull the plug on something. Sometimes, it’s also about what they can and can’t afford and we aren’t here to judge that.”
Holding up his hands, he says, “Hey, I get it. I grew up dirt poor and ya gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.”
Nodding, I direct him, “Let’s get this done.”
