Page 7 of A Winter Thaw

Audrey made a sympathetic clucking sound and Harper sighed and rubbed Penelope’s back.

Penelope’s eyes grew misty as she shook her head. “I kept hoping for the longest time that things would get better, but I know now that they won’t. We’re on this road to divorce now, and I’m going to stick it out until everything is finalized.”

“You can do this, Penelope,” Audrey said warmly. “Stay strong, and this will be over before you know it.”

“And remember that we’re here for you,” Michelle said, nodding. “If you want to vent, or do something fun to get your mind off anything.”

“Or watch a sad movie and cry while eating ice cream,” Harper said. “I always find that gives me a good emotional release.”

Penelope chuckled. “That does sound pretty good, I have to admit. Thank you, guys. I’m hanging in there, but having more support would be great. I’ll try to do better at reaching out to you when I’m feeling particularly glum.”

“And we’ll reach out to you more often,” Harper promised. “It’s a busy season, but we’re never too busy to look out for our friends.”

Michelle was just about to voice her agreement when she noticed Theo Hartman walk inside The Brick Oven. He was wearing a black knit hat and his signature black leather jacket with fingerless gloves. Michelle’s chest did an odd somersault when she saw him, and she looked away quickly. Three long seconds later, she looked back in his direction and saw that he was looking at her.

For a second, he held perfectly still, as if he was feeling as awkward as she was, and then he waved before sitting down at another table. Michelle recognized the other people at the table as the members of Theo’s band. One of them was a mechanic like he was, but the rest of them had been gathered together by Theo from other places in Coral Sands. Together, they were a genuinely good band, although it had taken Michelle quite some time to be willing to admit that.

She and Theo had been enemies for as long as she could remember. When they were kids, he’d teased her mercilessly, and she’d gotten her revenge through pranks, since she’d been too shy to spar verbally with him back then. Once she’d moved back to Coral Sands with her mother, she and Theo had started an unlikely friendship, and it was proving to be the most complicated friendship Michelle had ever had.

She didn’t know how to behave around Theo if she wasn’t teasing him or sassing back to him. She was doing her best to act in a genuine way toward him and let him know that she actually found him to be a pleasant, hard-working, funny guy with surprisingly incredible guitar-playing skills, but it was proving more difficult than she’d expected. She felt extremely awkward around Theo, and he seemed to feel the same way around her. In the past, they’d exchanged witty banter with ease and enthusiasm, but now that they both seemed to be trying to be nice to each other, they were as clumsy as a pair of boots that were put on backward.

It took Michelle several seconds before she realized that she was staring at Theo, lost in thought. As she’d been thinking about his change in behavior, she’d been studying the squareness of his jawline and the way his shaggy dark hair made him look kind of like a pirate.

Michelle glanced back at her friends and realized with a jolt that Harper had been watching her with a slightly amused expression. Michelle grimaced and rolled her eyes, hoping her facial expression properly conveyed, “It’s not a thing, don’t read into it.”

Harper shrugged and winked at Michelle before they both tuned in to the conversation about The Birchwood House that Audrey and Penelope were having. Michelle did her best to listen, but she couldn’t deny that her interest in Theo was growing. She was finding it harder and harder to not be intrigued by him.

CHAPTER FOUR

Theo stood up, wiping his greasy hands on the front of his mechanic’s overalls. Around him, the car repair shop was filled with the sounds of clanging, laughing, and rock music. The air was pungent with the smells of grease and oil, and Theo’s hands were absolutely filthy.

He couldn’t have been happier. He loved fixing cars. Sometimes it was difficult and he wanted to tear his hair out, but it was always like a puzzle he was determined to solve. He liked the challenge that came with every car repair. He knew that it needed to be done correctly to ensure that it was being done safely, and he liked overcoming the obstacles that came along with every new repair. Once a job was finished, he had an immense sense of satisfaction that he didn’t get from anything else—except maybe from playing shows with his band.

He’d just finished up replacing the brakes on Harper Clements’ car, and he stretched back, thinking to himself that the light blue Volkswagen Beetle was a cute little car. He thought it was fun when people had cars that seemed to match their personalities. Plenty of people had cars that didn’t seem to suit them at all, and that was just fine, since it was about the function of the vehicle, not making a fashion statement, but he liked when it worked out the other way. Michelle, for example, had a bright yellow jeep that seemed to suit her personality perfectly, just like when she wore something that was bright green. She’d even worn a neon green dress to the party to celebrate the opening of The Birchwood House, and if he’d seen a dress like that in the store, he would have thought no one could pull it off, but when he’d seen it on Michelle, he’d thought that she looked great in it.

He cleared his throat, realizing his mind was starting to go down the rabbit hole of Michelle again. He glanced up at the windows of the garage that overlooked the parking lot and saw Harper walking up to the front door of the repair shop.

Perfect timing, he thought.

He squeezed a dollop of an orange goop onto his hands, rubbed it around, and then wiped it all off with a blue shop towel. It didn’t get off all the grease, but it was good enough for the moment.

He made his way to the front of the shop and found Harper waiting at the front desk. She waved.

“Hey, Theo! How’s that car of mine coming?”

“She’s all done.” Theo smiled. “Just finished the job about a minute ago. Your timing is perfect.”

Harper laughed. “Okay, wow. Awesome. Thank you so much for pushing it to the front of the line. I hope nobody else needed an emergency repair like I did.”

Theo shook his head. “Nope. Just boring stuff like oil changes and routine vehicle inspections.”

“Oh good. Well, I appreciate it, really. I really need my car today.”

“No problem at all.” Theo started to type on the computer, filling out the final details of Harper’s bill so that he could print it. “How come you need it so badly today in particular?”

Coral Sands was a small enough town that it was fairly easy to walk most places, even in the winter cold. If Harper really needed her car, it must be some kind of special occasion.

“I’ve got to finish setting up the Christmas adoption event that we’re having at the shelter today.” She glanced at her watch nervously. “At noon! I’ve only got two more hours.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, I’ve got to transport all kinds of things, and I couldn’t do it all on foot. When I realized my brakes weren’t working right, I panicked. The fact that you guys were able to fix my car right away feels like a Christmas miracle.”