Chapter 2

ASHTON

“Yo Ash!”

I put my phone away after sending the message then looked up.

“McFadden’s ride is acting up again. Go take a look.” Grant gave me a look like nothing was wrong but I know he saw me. He’d give me shit about what he just caught me doing when the time was right.

“I’m on it,” I said.

I headed over to the side of the garage and saw the elderly woman waiting patiently.

“Mrs. McFadden… What seems to be the problem?”

“Oh, I don’t know… The old thing is giving me trouble like usual. Sputtering. Smoking. And I’m hearing a grinding noise, too. I don’t think it can be saved.”

I turned the old Studebaker and felt a smile come to my face. “If you got it to the garage, it can be saved. Let’s see what we’re working with.” I pushed the hood up and watched some of the smoke rise just like she mentioned.

Most guys would’ve been uncomfortable about getting their hands greasy. Some would’ve had a problem working on an engine like this. Me though… I lived my life underneath a hood. So when I saw Mrs. McFadden’s ride and the obvious problems it had, all I could do was get excited.

“Well… It looks like you’ve got an oil leak… Might need a new belt… Something’s up with the spark plugs…”

“A whole laundry list of problems. Maybe I should replace it. Send it to the scrapyard for good.”

Mrs. McFadden’s hair was white and thinning. Her face sagging and wrinkled with age. She had a hunch in her back, which just made her look shorter than she already was. Not that any of that mattered. She was a sweet older woman. One of the honest folks in Ivory you couldn’t hold anything against.

I slapped the hood of her car and nodded. “I can do it,” I said. “Can’t promise it’ll be quick but I can do it. I wanna take the engine block out. Give it a real good look. Make sure there’s nothing I miss. I can have the thing running like new.”

“I’d get a new car but what’s an old woman like me need a new car for? They are pretty fancy these days though…”

“Fancy, sure. But this thing is a classic. You don’t see too many cars like this on the road. Not in Ivory. Not anywhere.”

“Everything you wanna do… I don’t have much money, Mr. Butler.”

I nodded and chuckled at the sudden concern on her face. “You’ve got every right to be worried. Mechanics these days are always trying to make an extra buck off people who don’t know any better.”

“Thieves and crooks…”

“I’m no angel either.” I knew a woman like her wasn’t exactly comfortable around someone like me but she didn’t have anything to worry about. Not from me. “I’ll tell you what. Let me keep this thing in the shop for a few days. I won’t charge you more than I’d charge for an oil change. I’ll make sure the thing is running in tip-top shape. I’ll guarantee my work. Anything goes wrong, I’ll fix it up for free. Give this thing all it’s got before you give up on it.”

“Well, when you put it like that. I wonder though…”

“What’s that?”

“Why would you do something like that? You taking pity on an old lady? You’ve already been too kind to me.”

“Not pity. Just feel like helping out someone who needs it. Besides, I’ve got something to gain. I don’t get a chance to work on classics like this. You want the truth? This will be a nice, fun pet project for me. And I’ll make a few bucks, too.”

Mrs. McFadden twisted her lips while she thought about it before smiling. “You’re doing everything you can to make me say yes. Has anybody ever told you how persuasive you can be?”

“I never make anybody do anything they don’t wanna do.”

“So it seems.”

“I’ll give you a call in a few days. I’ll let you know how things are progressing.”

Mrs. McFadden stepped into the tow truck. I watched as she disappeared down the road, my hands on my waist. When I turned back to her ride, I realized just how much work was ahead of me.

“What was that all about?” Grant walked up to me with his hands out.

“What do you mean? I was just talking to her about her Studebaker—”

“You just offered to pull her engine block out and fix it for 20 bucks. We’re not running a charity around here, bro.”

“All these cars and bikes coming in. Oil changes. Tuneups. Shit’s easy work. We make enough money. When’s the last time I actually got to do some real engine work?”

“Fine, fine… I’m not helping you with that shit. You do it on your own fucking time.”

“I know, I know… Don’t act like you don’t wanna work on this thing, too…”

Grant and I eyeballed the old car. I didn’t even have to look at him to know he was thinking the same thing as me.

“You got me,” he said. “Let’s finish this other shit up now.”

We headed to the other side of the garage. We had a small spot rented out for ourselves. We didn’t know any of the other mechanics working in the other spots and that suited us just fine. The work was never anything we couldn’t handle by ourselves.

I took a seat in front of the bike I was working on, getting my hands dirty while Grant got to work on another bike. The sound of him working his wrench was loud and a lot faster than I was used to.

“You in a hurry?” I said.

“Yeah, I am. Trying to get through all this shit so I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t know if you noticed, but the sun is about to go down pretty soon.”

“I’ll turn a light on for you.”

“We’ve been here since this morning. Shit, I could spend all day in a garage but there’s other shit to do.”

“Jordan call a meeting I don’t know about? Sounds like just another night at the Bone Pit is on the horizon.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“True, true.” I chuckled, my focus still taken by the bike in front of me.

“Don’t act like you don’t got some shit to take care of later tonight.”

I didn’t respond. Of course, all that did was egg him on.

“You should be ashamed of yourself.” The satisfaction of his chuckling would’ve been annoying if I wasn’t so close to him.

“Go ahead,” I muttered. “Let it all out.”

“I can’t remember the last time you messaged a broad while you were in the garage.”

“You don’t know that I messaged her.”

“Don’t gimme that shit! You ain’t pulling your phone out and sending texts in the middle of the day to deal with club business. I know it was Mrs. Macdonald on the other end… How are things going?”

“Just fine,” I grumbled.

“What’s that now? You getting touchy about a girl? You falling—”

“Don’t say it.” I stopped what I was doing and stared at him. He didn’t bother trying to hide the satisfied smirk on his lips. I kept staring. He kept smirking. Eventually, he sighed and went back to work.

“Just make sure you don’t get caught up. I don’t care how sweet the pussy is…”

“I know how it works.”

“If a woman can make a man like Teddy settle down, anything is possible.”

“That’s different though. Teddy and his old lady were meant to be. I’m not making that assumption with Rose.”

“I hope so.”

“You know… For a motherfucker who’s trying to get his work done, you sure are talking a fucking lot. How about you shut the fuck up for a second?”

“I think I got my point across.” The asshole was as sure of himself as he always was, laughing as he got back to work.

I sighed and rolled my eyes while I worked my wrench on the bike.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I already knew it was her. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wanna respond. I’d see Rose again soon enough though. I couldn’t wait for tonight.