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She nodded, grabbing a spiral from Lacy’s school stuff and turning to a blank page. “Well, you need to up your customer base. There are a few options here, but most things that you do to grow your clients cost money. We can do some stuff easy, but…”
She jotted some numbers down, looking around the office as an idea formed in her mind. She couldn’t believe thatthiswas what she could do for her unfinished business.
“We need to have a holiday fundraiser and party,” Carol announced, looking up at Andrew. His eyebrows were high, hesitancy in his eyes.
“Carol, I appreciate you thinking about this, but there’s no way we can get something together for a fundraiser and party in just a couple weeks…”
“Wemay not be able to, butIsure as hell can,” she insisted. “This is right up my alley.”
“What’s right up your alley?” Brett asked as he walked back into the room. Once again, he had a towel in his hands and she saw a car driving out of the driveway through the big windows. He must have just finished up with his customer.
“We’re going to have a party!” Lacy exclaimed, obviously having been eavesdropping on her conversation with Andrew and only catching on to the exciting thing in her mind. Brett looked between Lacy, Andrew, and Carol, trying to follow.
“I told her about the shop, Brett,” Andrew admitted, earning a sigh from Brett.
“So we’re going to spend all the money we have left?” he questioned, obviously not understanding.
“No, Brett,” she said, standing. “Fundraising, party planning—this is literally what I have done for a living for years. I mentioned earlier that I’m looking for somewhere to help out during the holiday season. It’s like I wasmeantto come here and help you.” She hoped saying that wouldn’t get her in trouble, so she kept going. “I will organize, plan, decorate, recruit, all of it. All you have to do is let me help you.”
Brett stood there for a moment, his mind going a hundred miles a minute. Carol totally understood—she was a complete stranger and walked into his life and his shop, insisting that she’d help turn his business around. He probably thought there was some sort of ulterior motive. Did getting an assignment from a mysterious man in a trench coat count as an ulterior motive? He was probably trying to determine if he could trust her or not.
Finally, he spoke. “Okay, write up some sort of plan and I’ll look at it. I’m not promising anything, but if what you come up with makes sense, we’ll do it.”
“Yay!” Lacy celebrated, jumping up and down in place a couple times before launching herself to hug her waist. She laughed at her reaction, patting her back gently.
“That sounds fair to me. I’ll get a proposal put together for you.” Carol and Brett looked to Andrew, who nodded as well.
The decision made, she grabbed her coat, deciding to stop intruding on their family time. “Do you mind if I come back tomorrow? It helps me get in the right headspace if I’m around my work.”
“Can she come hang out with me, Daddy, please?” Lacy asked, pulling out a big, begging puppy-dog look. Brett ruffled her hair, nodding.
“Sure, as long as you don’t get in my way,” he said, understandably.
She nodded. “Of course, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With that, she headed out the door, walking down the street. When Carol was a block away, she stopped, taking a few deep breaths. Everything was settling into place. She met Brett Carlington and got a plan together for helping him save his auto shop, putting her unfinished business into motion. Carol pulled the notebook and phone out of her pocket, typing the address into the maps app.
The location was only a few blocks away, so she got there quickly, walking down the simple streets of Huntington. An apartment building was in front of her when she stopped, so Carol got in the elevator and rode to the third floor, finding number 304 quickly. The key on the ring opened the door and she stepped inside a simple studio apartment.
Carol sighed, locking the door behind her. If this was what her life would be for the next few weeks, she could handle this. One day, one hour, one minute at a time.
When she collapsed on the bed, she was asleep in seconds, her body and mind exhausted from her day, but her dreams filled with a green-eyed mechanic.
5
Over the next few days,Carol hung out at Carlington Auto Shop, mostly sitting at the desk with Lacy, her doing schoolwork while she made plans and sketches. She quickly measured the garage and determined that the best option available was to hold the party and fundraiser in the garage, as there would be no rental fees and she could easily do all the decorating.
In between her sketches, Carol’s eyes constantly wandered toward the mechanic, watching through the doorway as he leaned over cars, taking them apart and carefully putting them back together. She found herself daydreaming more than once about what those hands would feel like on her skin, a blush forming on her face when she realized she was sitting next to his daughter with inappropriate thoughts running through her mind.
Through spending time with Lacy, Carol found out that one of the Carlingtons’ close family friends owned a bakery and she introduced herself as soon as she could. It may have helped that she brought Lacy along, because when she first walked into Marlene’s bakery, the older woman seemed skeptical.
“Auntie Marlene, Carol is helping Daddy with a holiday fundraiser,” Lacy explained, knowing a little bit more about what she was doing now that her planning was underway. She explained a few things to her as she sketched and made lists, making her even more excited for what was coming. As soon as Lacy mentioned her helping Brett, her adding a few pertinent details, Marlene softened up and the two of them made a nice deal.
With the holidays all around, Marlene’s bakery was incredibly busy making many different types of desserts: cookies, brownies, cupcakes—you name it, she was baking it.
Through sweet-talking, negotiation, and Marlene’s desperation to help Brett out in any way she could, she would pay her a fraction of the cost and take the extra sweets and test recipes she was making, as opposed to hiring her outright for brand-new orders with different styles. Marlene was happy to help, knowing that she was helping Brett.
Marlene was a huge help beyond just the food. She suggested Carol visits the other shops in the neighborhood to see who else would want to pitch in. After talking with her for a very short amount of time, she realized that everyone loved Brett and had loved his father, too, and if she told people she was helping them host a holiday fundraiser for the auto shop, people were going to bend over backward to lend a hand.
