Page 31 of How to Be a Rockstar's Girlfriend

I don’t wait for his answer before laying on the creeper and sliding under her. There’s a lot of restoration work to be done yet, but the engine looks solid. I roll back out and stand before circling the car.

“Are you doing the upholstery work as well? What about the body work?”

“I have a guy who does the upholstery work, but I do the body as well as the mechanics.”

I draw my hand along the blue frame. It’s faded and full of rust but the potential is plain to see. “She’s a beauty. When did you buy her?”

“She isn’t mine.”

I pause. “You’re restoring her for someone else?”

“Yep.” He leans against the wall. “It’s how I earn a living.”

“Makes sense. I doubt the tow truck business makes much money in this town.”

He grunts. “You’re not wrong.”

I motion to the Camaro. “Is this why Uncle Mercury sent me here?”

“I’m getting old. I can’t lift engines the way I used to. And my hands are gnarled. Working with precision is difficult.”

“You want to retire?”

“Semi-retire.”

I clasp my hands together to hide how they’re shaking with excitement. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I don’t want to mess it up. “Do you want to hire someone to help with your restorations?”

He chuckles. “You get straight to the point.”

“I have been accused of speaking before thinking a time or two.” Or three thousand. Whatever.

“I don’t want to hire someone who’s going to up and leave after I’ve got them trained.”

I bristle. He doesn’t need to train me. I know my way around an engine.

“Are you planning on staying in Winter Falls?”

Good question. I have no idea.

“I don’t know. I came to help get Uncle Mercury settled in a nursing home but he’s being difficult.”

Basil barks out a laugh. “Mercury wants things done his way.”

“Trust me. I know.”

Who seriously cares which way toilet paper is placed on the toilet roll hanger? Mercury, that’s who. I was glad when my ex Zeke remembered to put a new roll on. I never gave a shit about the rest.

“You planning on leaving once Mercury’s settled?”

I shrug. I am. Or, I was. But Mercury is right. I don’t have anywhere else to be. I didn’t think a town full of environmental enthusiasts with a grudge against cars was an option. But maybe it is.

“I guess I’m at a crossroads.”

He scratches his chin. “At a crossroads? I know a thing or two about being at a crossroads.”

Considering he’s dressed like a hippie who doesn’t realize the sixties have come and gone, I think he blew past the crossroad and stuck to his path come what may.

“I guess you’ll be in town as long as your boyfriend is here at least.”

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