Page 10 of About Time

We finally focus on the work I thought I was coming over to do, and after a couple of hours, we’ve got his old truck purring like a happy kitten.

The rest of my night is more normal. I head to Griffin’s house to barbecue some steaks and play a game of three-way catch with my godson before finally going to my house and watching some mindless television for a couple of hours. I’m about to turn in when my phone rings.

I don’t recognize the number, which could really be anyone in town trying to get me to do after-hours work on their vehicle, but my gut tells me it’s Hattie.

I answer it and hear her whisper into the phone. “Charlie? Are you there?”

I’m immediately on alert. “What’s up, kid?”

“Can you come and get me? Carson rented a room for us at the hotel prom is being held at, and I can’t find Donovan.”

I growl as I search for my keys. I have no patience for a guy who has to trick a girl into bed. I won’t embarrass Hattie, but I’ll catch up with this teenage jackass and teach him the consequences of mistreating one of my friends.

I find my keys under the mail I dropped on the counter. “I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Charlie. I’ll be out front,” she says.

Martin swings into the garage the following Monday.

“Truck problems already?” I ask, wiping my greasy hands off on a rag.

He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s still purring like a happy cat.”

“Not that I don’t like it when my friends drop by the garage, but you’ve never done it before. What’s up?” I ask him.

Martin looks uncomfortable, and in the back of my mind, I’ve been waiting for him to ask me why I brought Hattie home on Friday night.

“This is a weird thing to ask, but did I see you dropping off Hattie after prom?”

“Yeah, you heard me tell her to call if she needed a ride. I guess her date made her uncomfortable, so she called me.”

He rakes his hand through his hair, causing the dark blond strands to stand up. “Why didn’t she call me?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, man. It’s just me, so calling me doesn’t risk waking up a spouse or a kid. A lot of people call me for favors late at night. Griffin does it all the time.”

He nods as if he hadn’t thought of that. It grates a little that he feels he had to question my intentions with a seventeen-year-old girl as if I’d ever even look at her like that, let alone more.

“Do you know what he did?” he asks.

I nod. “Look, I don’t want to break her confidence, but you’re her family. I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell her I did. I don’t want her to think she can’t call if she’s in another bind.”

Martin makes a cross over his heart, so I tell him. “That little son of a bitch. I’ve got half a mind to go and teach that punk how to treat my little sister.”

I toss my rag into my toolbox. “Just so happens I need to take my lunch break. I’ve been wanting to confront the little dick since Friday night. Let’s roll.”

Chapter Five

Hattie Past- Age 19

The bus rollsinto Harriston before the sun is even up. Donovan yawns as I climb into his car. “Tell me again why I’m the one picking you up at the ass crack of dawn instead of your sister or brother-in-law,” he grumbles.

I kick off my flip-flops and prop my feet on his dash. “Because you love me?” I say like it’s a question.

He rolls his eyes. “Not at three in the morning, I don’t.”

“You want to open a bar, and three in the morning is too early? Might want to rethink your plans, my friend,” I tease him.

“Yeah, well, I’m spending this summer doing construction to earn some cash. I’m still too young to get a liquor license. Can’t have a bar without booze.”

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