In a hurry now, I threw my bag in the car and turned it on, or tried to. It didn’t work. Nothing. Dead as a damn doornail, just my luck. I may have slumped against the steering wheel cussing for a minute before I pulled myself together. I had to get the car towed to a garage. I had to get someone to open the library. I called my assistant Heather and she said she could be there in ten minutes to unlock the place and open it up. I thanked her a bunch, and then I dialed the only place in town I considered a reputable garage. And that was, ironically, the one Drew bought off his dad.
“This is Casey’s,” the answer came. I let the breath I was holding out. It wasn’t his voice.
“Hi, this is Michelle Spelling. My car won’t start. I’m going to need it towed there to get it checked out.”
“Still live out on Maple?” he said. “This is John.”
“Hey, John. Yeah that’s where I live.”
“I can be out there in twenty minutes. I’ll give you a ride into the library if you hang on.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” I said.
I hung up, thankful for his help, and thankful it wasn’t Drew coming to pick me up. I would rather walk than ask him for a favor. Wait, no, that’s dramatic. I’d rather not have to deal with him. There, that was better. Less not-over-him and more done-with-him. I had to work on that mindset. It was well overdue.
I messaged Heather that I’d be there in half an hour give or take and thanked her again. Then I scrolled social media and tapped my foot and waited. John showed up right on time and gave me a lift. I’d only been at work about an hour when he called my cell.
“Michelle, your starter’s gotta be replaced.”
“Okay. What’s that gonna set me back?”
“Not too bad. The ring gear’s fine, so that saves you a bundle. Probably—” he covered the receiver for a second and then came back, “Three, three-fifty tops.”
“Great. Thank you. How soon can you get it done? This week?”
“Boss says it’ll be done by the end of the day. I’ll come pick you up and bring you to the shop to sign all the paperwork.”
“Thanks a lot, John.”
I was relieved that it would be ready so fast, plus the repairs were something I could afford. It was a load off my mind, and I didn’t have to bug Nic or Trixie for a ride after work either. They’d both be happy to help, but they had little kids and their own jobs as well. I didn’t want to burden them.
The rest of the day flew by. I did the preschool story time, which I did twice a week. I looked forward to it. I usually had about twelve kids who came pretty much every time, including Laura and Brody’s two-year-old Brenna who was gorgeous like her mom and full of sass. We did a Clifford story and then I let them paint a dog coloring page red by dipping a pompom in paint using a clothespin. I clipped their bright, messy pictures up on the clothesline I used to display the storytime crafts. Brenna of course had to have a selfie with her Clifford picture, which I sent straight to Laura who replied, “So Extra!” with a facepalming emoji. I knew it cracked her up. Mrs. Vance was so proud of Brenna, and this week she had Ashton, Trixie and Damon’s little boy, too. Ashton wasn’t really into the story. He listened to part of it and then wandered around the children’s section while Heather kept trying to herd him back to the group. He shouted UH OH! when he got paint on his shirt and everyone laughed. He was a charmer like his daddy for sure, and Mrs. Vance just glowed with how happy she was to have her grandkids with her.
My heart ached a little. My friends had these adorable kids, these loving husbands, and their parents were alive and were proud grandparents. I was happy for them. But I was envious as well. I reminded myself for the millionth time that this was the life I chose, and I liked it and it was a good, stable, happy life. And if my parents were gone, and I didn’t have any siblings, that was sad, but it was part of life. And if I didn’t have a husband or kids, it was because I turned down Jared Fisk three years ago. Not that I wanted to be married to Jared Fisk. It was just nice to remind myself I’d had options. At least I’d had options a few years ago. Maybe I’d go to the drugstore and grab a new eye cream to try later, I thought.