Page 9 of Mechanic’s Christmas Match

Theo snuggled into her side as she continued the story. She often told him pretend stories about the three of them having adventures or saving the day. He found anything that involved his grandmother particularly charming, so Ana always tried to save the best parts in the stories for her mom.

She had just gotten to the most exciting part of a tale about rescuing kittens from a bank robber when Theo suddenly scrambled down from his seat and dashed out into the shop.

“Theo,” Ana called out, launching herself out of her chair and sprinting across the concrete floor, trying to remain calm while her mind catalogued every danger in the place.

“Hey there,” Rory’s deep voice boomed. “Want to see what I’m doing?”

Ana arrived just in time to see Rory swinging Theo up into his arms to look at the engine together.

“You see that right there?” Rory asked.

Theo nodded in a very serious way.

“Well,” Rory continued, “that’s the last part of the problem. We already took care of the alternator. That’s this thing here.”

He pointed at something and Theo nodded attentively, like he was studying for a quiz later.

“And now,” Rory went on, “we just have to finish putting in these new spark plugs. Do you want to help me tighten up this last one?”

“Yes,” Theo said immediately.

“Okay,” Rory told him, gripping some kind of wrench that Ana didn’t really know the name of. “I’m going to get it started. And now you need to grab right here and give it a good pull.”

Theo’s eyes lit up as he leaned over with Rory and followed his instructions. After a few seconds of effort, they leaned back to admire their work.

“Perfect,” Rory told him.

Theo looked over at Ana, his eyes dancing with delight.

“Well, little man,” Rory said. “Great job. I think we’re all done here.”

“Why?” Theo asked.

“Was that fun?” Rory guessed. “Were you hoping you could help me fix all the other cars that come in today?”

Theo laughed and started wiggling to get down.

“I’m going to put you down,” Rory said. “But you have to let your Aunt Ana hold your hand, because it’s not safe for kids here. Okay?”

Ana waited for Theo to ask why.

Instead, he nodded with that same serious expression and ran to Ana as soon as his little feet touched the ground.

“Wow. Good work, you two,” Ana said as Rory made some last adjustments under the hood and then wiped his hands and turned back to her.

“You’re wrapped up here,” Rory said. “Let me just pull it back out of the shop for you.”

She nodded, and led Theo back to the waiting area, trying not to let herself fret about the cost of the repair and tow. Paying for Theo’s preschool had thrown their already stretched budget into something close to chaos. But the child psychologist who began meeting with them back when Ana took custody said it would be important, and had made her promise to enroll him this fall. Of course it had been the right call, and Theo adored going to preschool.

Ana often wished they could just get rid of the car and save on insurance and repairs altogether. Theo’s preschool was an easy walk, and the shops in town had just about everything her little family needed. But getting to the city regularly for supplies was a necessity for the business. And compared to taking a cab all that way and back every week, her clunker was still a good value since it was already paid for. She tried her best to budget for its upkeep, but the trouble was that the repair bills always seemed to hit at exactly the wrong time. She had been setting aside a little something for Theo’s Christmas, and now she was afraid that she would have to use that money and more just to get the old car back on the road.

“Here you go,” Rory told her, holding the keys out as he strode back inside.

“Thank you,” she said as she took them and headed for the register at the counter. “What do I owe you?”

“Oh, I can’t charge you,” Rory said without following.

She stopped in place and turned back to him.