Page 62 of Steamy Nights

They finished breakfast and cleaned up. She grabbed Chiefy's leash and clipped it on her collar. She kissed Sid's lips and hugged him close. "I love you. Have a great day."

He chuckled. "I love you. I'll be around this afternoon to help you with the cabinets."

"I appreciate it. Thank you."

She got Chiefy into her car and Sid jumped into his truck. He waited for her to start her car and proceed down the driveway.

She pulled into the driveway of her bungalow and Sid tooted twice as he continued on. She and Chiefy entered the house, she locked the doors and called the person Quinn had told her about to create a new sign for Sid's garage. It was her grand opening gift to him. She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw it. The risk of having the logo designed without his input was her only concern. She still wondered if she should run the design past him, but keep the sign a secret.

She shook her head and shook off the negative feelings. She hated keeping a secret from him. Before beginning to paint, she made a couple of phone calls to prepare for Saturday. Then she'd get some work done, so she could get this little bungalow on the market too.

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Sid wheeled the grill out of the garage and started it up. As it warmed, he helped Grace with the folding tables.

"What do you think we should do with the tables, line them up?" he asked.

Grace shook her head. "I think we set them up in the driveway and parking area so it looks full, but is still easy to navigate. We can do them in rows of three with space between."

"Great idea."

He set the tables up, Grace put plastic tablecloths on each table.

He began lining up the hamburgers on the grill and the smell began filtering out, filling the air with the most delicious aroma. His stomach growled, despite having just eaten breakfast.

Quinn pulled up and parked on the street. "Put me to work," he called out.

Sid laughed. "You can either take over here at the grill or help Grace set up the tables."

Quinn shrugged. "Since you've got that smelling fantastic, I'll set up tables for Grace." He set up a few tables, "What's with the sign?"

Sid glanced up at the sign placed high on the garage, with a cover over it. "It's Grace's grand opening present to me."

"Have you seen it?"

"Nope. She refused to show me and said she wanted it to be a surprise. And, before you ask, no I didn't snoop. I wanted it to be a surprise too."

Jace came next, "What can I do?"

"How about hauling the box of buns sitting on the checkout counter out for Grace? She's setting up the food table." He nodded toward Grace, who happily set out paper plates, plastic forks, napkins, miniature bags of chips, and more. He'd asked that this be a simple, down-home-type event, to celebrate his purchase of the Garage, and let the town know he was the new owner. But, in truth, very little would change here at the Garage.

People began to filter into the garage, Quinn's workers all came for lunch. They worked Saturdays when they had jobs to do, but Quinn told them to come on over and grab a bite to eat.

Sid shook more hands than he ever had. Between today and the petition signing party last week, he felt he must have met everyone who lived here. Grace was also hostessing, making sure everyone had a water because it was incredibly hot outside.

All in all, his little grand opening seemed to be a success. Grace made her way to him. He stopped and watched her draw near. The smile on her face was one he always wanted to see. She was radiant.

She stopped before him. "Want to see your new sign?"

"I do."

She inhaled deeply. "Sid. I had a logo designed. I want you to know if you don't like it, we can redo it. I went with my gut on this. It doesn't look like your typical garage logo. But, it truly speaks to your vision of Miracle Garage. At least I think so."

She turned him around so he faced the garage and more importantly, the sign above it.

Grace nodded to Quinn's workers, who each held a rope in their hands to tug the cover off the sign. They each tugged and the cloth covering the sign floated down to the ground around them.

He stood staring at a purple and teal sign with starbursts around it. Two wrenches crossed the starbursts and the outline of a heart stood in the center. Miracle Garage was in white letters. He stood staring at it. It was official.

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