New number!Heading through New Hampshire with Shiro, let me know when your digital detox is over.J x
What time was it in Seoul?Korea was thirteen hours ahead of Maine, so she’d probably be asleep, and I hoped she was enjoying the bachelorette party.The move overseas had been hard on her—she was struggling to learn Korean, plus her daughter wasn’t settling at school, and she didn’t have a car yet.The only good thing about her being so far away was that Ridge couldn’t easily pay a visit and try to strong-arm my location out of her.
Mike’s Motor Mall wasn’t much of a mall, and Mike wasn’t around either.Three rows of cars sat on a grimy concrete lot, although someone had tried to cheer the place up by tying balloons to the windshield wipers.A man emerged from a squat grey building at the rear, chewing.His name badge said “Shaun,” and the ketchup on his tie said I’d interrupted his lunch.
“Can I help, ma’am?”
“I’m looking for a vehicle.”
He eyed the Lexus parked at the kerb.“I hate to turn down business, but you’d be better off going to Deluxe Autos on the other side of town.”
“Oh, no, I just borrowed it.”And I couldn’t sell it because I didn’t have the title.“My budget is definitely more at your end of the scale.”
“How much do you have to spend?”
“A thousand bucks, max.”
The slight widening of his eyes told me that maybe I’d slid off the scale altogether.
“A thousand bucks?You’re gonna be limited.”
“You don’t have anything?”
Shaun glanced around the lot, calculating.“I didn’t say that.I got one that might be right up your street.See the Camry at the end?”
You could hardly miss it.“The pink one?”
“A real ladies’ car.”
Gee, was it the colour?Or the eyelashes over the headlights?The yellow butterflies painted on the doors?The “I Love Hot Yoga” sticker in the window?
“Is there a less conspicuous option?”
Shaun seemed disappointed.“I guess I got two other vehicles I could let go for that price.”
Thank goodness.“Which are they?”
“The Crown Vic over there.It’s the best runner, but I’m not gonna lie—it smells a little fusty.”
By “fusty,” he meant someone had puked in there.Probably multiple times.I’d be practically living in the car, at least to start off with, and it wasn’t just myself I needed to consider.Shiro’s nose was a lot more sensitive than mine.Although hehadtried to eat a dead squirrel last month, so maybe he’d be okay with it?
“I’ll throw in a bottle of Febreze and an air freshener,” Shaun offered.
“What’s the other option?”
He pointed to a dark green Nissan.“This Altima had one owner from new, but her daughter doesn’t want her driving anymore.Cataracts.”Shaun made a face.“A real shame.”
If she’d suffered from eyesight problems, that would explain all the dents.I counted four on the driver’s side alone.But cosmetic damage didn’t matter as long as the car would take me far, far away from Maine.
“That one’s perfect.”
“You think?Uh, I mean, that’s great.”Shaun beamed at me.“You won’t regret it.How do you want to pay?”
“In cash.”
Shaun helped me to transfer my belongings into the Altima, diplomatically keeping his mouth shut about the dog food and blankets, and my black eye too.Then it was time to say goodbye to Ridge’s precious nubuck leather and the last remnant of my old life.
“I just need to return the Lexus, okay?I’ll be back in a half hour,” I told Shaun.
