Page 23 of Sanctuary

“You can have all the ceremony you want on the big opening day, Sergeant,” Lightning said. “But for now, can we please get inside and out of this sun? You know I’m not a fan.”

“Sure. Sorry, Lightning, I forgot.” Gabe unlocked the door and pushed it open. “I’ll get stocked up on SPF50 for you.”

Lightning grumbled. “You better. This city gets a helluva lot more rays than Burlington.”

“Ha. You were there for the ice cream, not the lack of sunshine.”

Lightning rolled her eyes at Woodchuck. “If that were the case, Woody, how have I maintained my Nina Simone look?”

“Yoga?” Woody did a poor impression of a sun salutation.

Gabe grabbed hold of Woody’s shirt and tugged her inside. “Get in and shut up.”

Solo, RB, and Lightning followed. Gabe flicked the main breaker on, and the room was flooded with harsh light.

Solo shielded her eyes and lunged at the wall to flick the light switch off. “We’re going to need some natural lighting bulbs and a dimmer installed.”

“Sure. But this isn’t your area, remember?” Gabe pointed to another door. “That is.”

“I’ve only been here once, and I think I might’ve been a little buzzed from you plying me with alcohol,” Solo said over her shoulder as she jogged toward the door.

“How did you even find this place?” Lightning asked.

“Hours and hours of googling.” Gabe looked around. The place still took her breath away. Her dream—their dream—was finally a reality. It was concrete, and glass, and metal all around them, just waiting for customers to come driving into the main bays.

Gabe watched as the three of them wandered around the main space. RB raised one of the three inspection ramps to its full height and jumped into the pit below it.

Lightning ran her hand over the duck head on the tire machine. “Everything in here still works?”

“Yep. It was a repair shop that went bust during COVID when no one was using their cars or bothering to get them serviced. That’s why I was so eager to get this deal closed and had to rush you all into a decision.”

“I thought it was a good decision just when I was looking at the video walk-through you sent us but being here now…” Lightning smiled widely and shook her head. “Well, it feels like an amazing decision.”

Gabe stood beside Lightning and lightly grasped her shoulder. “And it feels like a dream too, right?”

For a second, Lightning didn’t speak, and Gabe saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. The only traditionally feminine one in their tight-knit little group, Lightning had often held back any visible emotional reactions. Now that they were all out of the Army, maybe she’d decided she could give them free rein occasionally.

Lightning sniffed and looked at her. “Our dream come true,” she said. “I really didn’t think it would ever happen, Gabe. Did you?”

Gabe tilted her head slightly. “We all spent a helluva lot of time talking about it, so it would’ve been a damn shame not to even try.”

Woody walked over. “I reckon we all thought you’d never leave the Army, Jacko. And you were the only one who would ever be able to get us all together again.”

Gabe hung her arm over Woody’s shoulder. She’d missed every single one of her group after they’d left, and she’d had no intention of letting their dream die when she eventually got out. “I say it was fate. This place belonged to a guy in his early sixties. Said he’d wanted to retire for a while, but he didn’t want to sell to anyone who wasn’t going to keep it open for the same purpose.”

“That’s weird,” Woody said.

“Weird got us the bargain of the century.” Gabe moved away from Woody and Lightning to check one of the Snap-on chests. She slid open one of its drawers and caressed the selection of nickel chrome-plated wrenches. “Most everyone else wanted to strip it out, sell the fixtures and fittings, and use it for health supplies or IT manufacture. Once I’d told him about you guys, he only wanted to sell to us.”

RB climbed out of the inspection pit. “Aw, that’s a story to soften even the hardest heart, Jacko. Will you invite him to the grand opening?”

“Definitely,” Gabe said. “And he’ll be getting free oil changes for the rest of his life.”

Solo emerged from the far door with a grin wider than Lake Michigan. “I can’t fucking wait to get to work in this place. Anybody else?”

The shouts and yells in response gave Solo a definitive answer.

Gabe’s phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out to check it.

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