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I look at the car and guess from memory. “A four cylinder, so four quarts?”
“Five on this one,” Sam says. “Close.”
“Thanks for showing me all of this,” I say, grateful for him taking the time to teach me. My dad doesn’t do things like this, so it’s been fun to learn something I’ll need to know someday. Although I’ll have SJ with me, and he always helps me with things like this, I want to know how to do it myself.
“It’s no problem.” He grunts. Sam is a man of few words, but underneath that hardness, he’s a kind soul.
“I heard you’re playing at McGuiness tonight with a few others?”
“Yeah, we’re going to do a few sets. You and SJ should come down.”
“I’ll try,” I say. “My parents probably won’t let me, though.”
Sam doesn’t say anything, but he looks like he wants to.
He finally turns and says, “Alright, you did good. Go hang out with SJ until you have to go home.”
“Thanks, Sam,” I say as I put my arm around him and pull him in for a hug. His body stiffens, then relaxes. He pats me lightly, and I release him, dashing up the stairs.
SJ calls down, “Dad, I ordered subs. Callie and I are going to pick them up. Be back soon.”
“Let’s go,” he says, pulling me close and kissing me as we dart across the parking lot to his truck, hand in hand.
now
As I scroll through my phone, I sip my straw and lean against the bar with my elbows. It’s Friday night, and I’m at the McGuiness Tavern. I haven’t been out much since I’ve been back, but I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone. And if I’m being honest, I might run into SJ. My stomach fills with butterflies at the thought of seeing him again.
“It’s about time you came back,” a familiar voice says next to me.
“Sam!” I cry out as I launch myself into his arms to hug him.
“It’s been a while. Look at you all grown up, Dr. McGraw.” He smiles proudly at me.
“Thank you.” I smile. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I hear you’ve been giving my boy hell.” He grins.
I roll my eyes. “Well, he deserves it.”
“That’s probably true,” he agrees.
“I see we’ve got your car in the shop. You didn’t remember all the oil change lessons we had?” He pretends to scold me. His hair has a little bit of gray speckled in it now as does his beard, but Sam is still just a slightly older version of SJ. I didn’t see it as a kid, but now that I’m older, I realize Sam is good-looking. SJ comes by his good looks honestly.
“Of course, I remember.” I grin. “I’m too busy saving lives. I leave the professional oil changes up to the best,” I tease.
“We’ll get you taken care of,” he promises as he pats me on the back.
“You’re playing tonight?” I ask, now noticing his guitar case beside him.
“Yeah, are you sticking around?”
“For a little while.” I smile.
“Good to see you,” he calls over his shoulder as he heads to the stage where a few other band members have begun setting up.
Looking at Sam now and picturing him at my age with a fifteen-year-old is hard to wrap my head around. Sam was a super young dad and picturing him as a thirty-three-year-old with an eighteen-year-old kid is just wild to me now. I’ve always looked up to Sam, and he’s always been kind to me. Even after SJ left, he looked after me before I moved in with Goldie and left for college. It had been painful being around Sam when SJ dumped me. At the time, I was hopeful that SJ would come back or call or something. He never did, so it hurt like hell when I left for school. It still does when I let myself think about it. I felt pathetic pining after someone who didn’t care about me.
“Callie? Are you Callie?” a younger blonde with glasses calls over to me from a few tables over.
