Page 93 of Two Wrongs

Her eyes flick up to mine, and one eyebrow raises. It must be a superpower how she can give me as much hell as Charlie does, but with a look instead of a string of profanities. In one hand she holds up a planter and in the other hand my spare key.

“You’ve got a green thumb, boy, but you can’t decorate to save your life. There was one thing on your porch, of course you hid a key there. Plus I know how paranoid you are about leaving a key after Liam locked himself out in middle school and spent the entire afternoon sitting in the rain waiting for you to get home because the neighbors weren’t home.”

She sets her large fake leather bag down on the table. “Now, do you want to grumble at me about anything else?”

I shake my head. “No, ma’am.”

She nods, sending her gray curls bouncing around her head. “You look like crap.”

“Thank you so much, Dolores. You say the sweetest things.”

“Humph,” she grunts. “I’m not here to butter you up. No siree, I’m here to give you a swift kick in the patootie. Now get off your rear, hop in the shower, and at least trim back the bush attempting to take over your face.”

“What’s the point?” I grumble.

“How do you expect to get Wren back if all you are doing is sitting on your rear pining for her?”

My jaw clenches so tight the muscle pops over the joint. “How am I supposed to get her back if I don’t know where she is?”

She waves her hand as if what I’m saying is insignificant. “She’ll be back. I’ve been watching old episodes of Matlock trying to get ideas.”

“All episodes of Matlock are old, Dolores.”

“Either way. That Andy Griffith found someone through the license plate. Haven’t you tried calling in some favors to see if they could track down her car?”

I shake my head. “Who do you think I know that I can call in those kinds of favors? I own an auto shop.”

“Don’t you know cops or something?”

“Why, because they drive cars?” I ask. “Dolores, this is a small town, and I barely know who the sheriff is.”

“Well, I thought it was a good idea. There has to be something we can do. She didn’t just vanish into thin air.”

My shoulders slump. I actually had been waiting for her to come over, but I thought she’d be coming to me with news, not looking for it. “She hasn’t called you then?”

Dolores reaches out and pats my hand. “Not yet, but she will. Have you talked to Bess?”

I shake my head. I haven’t done much of anything in the last couple of weeks. Liam and I haven’t spoken since the day he found out about Wren and me. Charlie has handled the office tasks. I can’t seem to force myself to step foot in there. I see Wren everywhere in there since she took that space over. The only thing I’ve managed to do in the last couple weeks is drag myself into the shop. Thankfully, she didn’t spend much time there.

It’s different here at home though. I find myself lingering in the living room. Even though she took home her things, there’s still a lingering scent of the cleaner she used. The way she rearranged the furniture reminds me she was here. She tried to erase herself from my life, but I refuse to let her go. Even the goodbye letter she wrote me is never far away.

The front door opens and closes. “Why doesn’t everyone just make themselves at home?” I grumble.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Charlie says as he joins us in the kitchen.

“Did Dolores tell you about how she wanted to search for Wren’s car?” He’s trying not to laugh, but he respects Dolores too much to offend her by laughing at her.

“It worked for Ben Matlock,” she mutters.

Charlie schools his features and talks to Dolores. “Well, I’ve got bad news for you. The best we could do would be to look up part numbers for her car. As far as finding it, I’m afraid I don’t have that kind of power.”

“How did you learn how to do all of that in a few weeks when not long ago you acted like you didn’t even know how to turn the damn computer on?” I ask him.

Charlie shrugs. “You’ve been really preoccupied, and I might have had the kid teach me how to use it.”

He looks like he remembers something he needs to do. “Look, I just wanted to stop in and give you this.” He drops a takeout bag from a local burger joint. “I just remembered that I forgot to order parts for that sedan we just got in. I need to go back to the shop and see if I can find a bumper and quarter panel. You know the one you made me work on alone because it’s the same as Wren’s?”

I grunt. We both know that’s why I passed the car off to him even though I also made him do all the record keeping and invoicing for the last few weeks. I don’t see what good he’s doing by bringing it up.

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