Page 19 of Shattered Dreams

“We’ll see ya’ll soon.” We both headed out.

I left my work shirt open as I jogged down the stairs from my apartment to my shop. It took some work and an inheritance to make my dream a reality, but I finally became my own boss.

It’s been six months since Cooper came home and joined us. I loved working with my brothers and being one of the bosses. Working with Olivia seemed to be a challenge for Coop, but a good one.

The lights were on in the office, and I saw Olivia filing some invoices.

“Morning.” I rumbled out, and she turned with a smile on her face.

“Good morning, boss.” Motioning to the counter with her head. “There’s an envelope with vouchers inside for you to take to the shelter.”

“How?” I felt my eyebrow raise.

“Dude. I’m the manager, I manage the shop. That includes payroll, taxes and the like. You weren’t as sneaky as you thought.”

“I take it from my share.” I walked over to where the coffeepot sat and poured a cup.

“And mine.” She closed the drawer. “Helping out the women at the shelter is empowering. I understand why you do it and I want to help too.”

“I swear Coop’ll get his head outta his ass.” I smiled at her. “You know how he feels.”

“No. What I know is your brother keeps breaking my heart.” She snapped and sighed. “And here comes the meathead now.”

“I guess I’ll move out to the garage.”

Hitting a button, I opened up one of the large bay doors as Jeremy pulled his car inside. My brothers opened their doors, sliding out, and Cooper stretched.

“Coffee already made?”

“Yeah, but you might want to get your own. Olivia might poison it if you ask her for a cup.” I chuckled, and Jeremy walked over.

“You’re happy today.” He tilted his head. “Why?”

Cooper chuffed a laugh, and I shook my head.

“You both suck.” I walked over to my personal workbench and got ready for the day.

Working with my brothers was nice most of the time, but sometimes they reminded me why I was convinced they were like hemorrhoids.

I still wouldn’t trade our auto shop Grease Monkeys for anything.

Opening my toolbox, I smiled at the black and white strip of pictures that I hid inside. They were taken at the last county fair Jolynn and I went to.

And then she left me a damn Dear John letter and was gone without warning.

I slammed the lid down and went to the stockroom to grab what I needed for the day, pushing memories of Jo back into the box of shit I can’t think about right now.

The day moved along with oil changes, small repairs and the like when Olivia wandered out to the garage. “Hey guys, just had a call come in.”

“What is it?” I leaned over to see around the open hood.

“There’s a van that broke down on the side of the road. It’s a mama and some kidlettes.” She waved a post-it note around. “Who wants it?”

Jeremy wasn’t on the floor and Coop was trying not to get caught making moon eyes at Oliva.

Ah, hell.

“I got it.” I reached for my cigarettes and lit one, motioning for her to bring me the paper.

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