Good.
“It sounds like knocking,” he repeats impatiently.“Anyway, I need it fixed right away, I have an important meeting I need to get to first thing in the morning.”
“Ah, now that might be a problem.”I point at the Toyota Corolla up on the lift I was working on.“This afternoon I’ve got one more job after I replace this muffler, and I’m booked solid in the morning.I won’t be able to even have a look at your Mercedes until maybe sometime in the afternoon.”
“Well, that’s simply unacceptable,” Merrick blusters.“Surely you can give me priority.I have important town business to attend to.”
I press my lips together, mostly to keep from smirking, and shake my head.
“Terribly sorry, but I’ve made commitments to my customers,” I inform him, not sorry in the least.“Who would your regular mechanic be?Surely they’ll be able to work you in?”
The man’s face is slowly turning purple.
“It’s the dealership in Spokane, but they advised against driving it any distance and recommend I have it towed in or find a local mechanic to look at it.”
“Good advice.Depending on what is causing the knocking, you could wreck the engine.If it isn’t wrecked already.Leave your vehicle with me and I’ll do my best to have a look at it tomorrow afternoon.Unless, of course, you’d prefer to have it towed to the dealership.”
He sharply shakes his head while muttering a few un-mayorly expletives under his breath.
“I’ll be by at five to pick it up tomorrow,” he grinds out, handing over his keys.
“Whoa.”I chuckle and shake my head.“The knocking could be anywhere from an incorrect fuel mix or old spark plugs and relatively simple to fix, to piston wear or damaged rods, which could require an entire engine rebuild.It’ll take some time to properly diagnose the problem.All I can promise is to give you a call at the end of the day tomorrow to give you an update.”
By now, I can see the steam coming out of his ears.I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t secretly enjoying this.
“Fine,” he bites off.“But I’ll be needing a loaner.Surely you have something suitable?”
This time I can’t hold back the grin.
“I have a loaner, yeah.I’ll just need you to step into my office, sign a few papers, leave me your number, and we can have you on your way.”
He follows me into my messy office, where I dig up the forms I need him to sign and a pen.He’s so agitated, he doesn’t even look at what he’s signing.When he’s scribbled his phone number on an empty Rolodex card I hand him, I pluck the keys off the pegboard behind my desk and hand them over.He pauses for a moment when he sees the fuzzy dice key chain before snatching it from my hand.
“It’s parked against the fence in the back, the green one,” I clarify.
Without a word, he stalks out of my office.I follow at a slower pace and I can hear Manuel—who’s working with me today—fall into step behind me.We stop right inside the rear bay door and watch as Merrick stops in the middle of the lot, staring at the loaner before he looks around to see if there are any other green vehicles.Then he whips around.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he calls out.
“No.That’s her,” I confirm, before adding, “No charge!”
Manuel softly laughs behind me and I have trouble keeping a straight face myself as we watch the mayor get behind the wheel of the lime-green Kia Soul, and drive off.
“Man, I wish I’d thought to take a picture,” Manuel shares when we turn back inside.“Could’ve posted it in the community Facebook group for a laugh.”
I chuckle.“Too late for that now, but I’m sure word of Mayor Merrick’s new wheels will be doing the rounds soon enough.”
“I just hope you’re not in a hurry to fix his Mercedes.”
“Let’s just say, it’s not a priority.As I told the man, we have our hands full.”I point at the pickup Manuel was working on.“How far are you with that one?”
“About done.Which one do you want me to tackle next?”
“If you can start on that suspension job after, but maybe first move the mayor’s car to the back lot.I’ve got about half an hour left on this muffler install, and will do the brakes on that Pacifica after.”
We should both be done by five, which would give me time to throw together that stir-fry I wanted to make.
Tessa sent me an update after the doctor came by this morning to let me know they might not come home until later in the afternoon.Apparently, Doc wanted one more scan of Remi’s head before releasing him.I guess better safe than sorry.
