Page 2 of The Relationship Mechanic

Jessica nodded before following Vini’s lead. It wasn’t the first time Vini had had someone riding in the tow with her. It wasn’t even the first time she had another woman there either. But for some reason, she was hyper aware of her new passenger in a way she never had been for others. The ride was quiet save for the music. Heavy bass seemed to discourage talking, though Vini figured Jessica was probably tired enough from her ordeal.

They pulled into the lot, and Vini helped Jessica out, telling her to go on inside and she would be in to help her figure out how to get to the town. There were no cabs in Peach Blossom, and the only types of car services were friends you could call to help you out. With it being the middle of the day, Vini doubted most would be available at the moment.

“So I got your car situated. I have some time this afternoon to take a look and let you know what’s going on.”

Jessica nodded. She was leaning against the counter when Vini came in and hadn’t moved even when Vini came up to the counter as well. At some point, she had taken her hair out of the tight ponytail it had been in when Vini drove up, and it fell in dark loose spirals over her shoulders. Vini’s own tightly coiled hair was kept in braids, but she currently had those in the same two braids she always wore it in when she was working.

“That would be great,” Jessica replied not taking her eyes off Vini. Something about her gaze had Vini feeling self-conscious in a way she never had. Her overalls were oil-stained, which wasn’t new, but she did wonder what she looked like to the other woman.

Most people Vini helped often remarked that she looked far too young to be the one in charge of the shop. A few had even tried to talk over her or spoken to Aiden instead of her. She was always quick to shut that down and felt no guilt in kicking someone out and telling them to call for someone else to deal with their bullshit. This didn’t feel like that, though. Jessica wasn’t looking at her with disdain or judgment. In fact, Vini couldn’t read her expression at all.

“Is there somewhere you needed to be?”

The question seemed to shake Jessica out of whatever thoughts she was having, and she straightened up. “Yeah. I was coming to town to stay with a friend of mine for the next few weeks, and I was trying to make it to her place.” Jessica raised an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose you guys have taxis out here, huh?”

Vini twisted her lips and shook her head. “Not even one. The main part of town is about a three mile walk which I don’t recommend.”

Jessica chuckled. “I wouldn’t even know which direction to walk in, so no problem there.” She pulled her phone out of her purse. “I suppose I can text my friend and ask her to come get me once she’s off work. Hopefully that won’t mess up her plans too much.”

Vini meant to let her do just that, but something about Jessica made her want to help. It wasn’t a helplessness. Despite clearly not being local, Vini got the sense that Jessica wasn’t easily left floundering and would no doubt power through figuring things out with or without Vini’s help.

“Listen, I know you don’t know me,” she started, her mouth moving faster than her brain could process what she was offering, “but I don’t mind giving you a lift to your friend’s place or into town if you prefer to wait it out. There’s a diner that has pretty good food and free Wi-Fi, and there’s a small bookstore a quick walk from it.”

Jessica tilted her head and gazed at Vini before her lips curled up in a smile. “I would love if you could drop me off at my friend’s place. It should be unlocked. She told me you guys still do the whole not-locking-your-doors thing around here, which is different in a charming sort of way.”

Vini raised an eyebrow. The way she saidcharmingsounded a lot likestrange, but she appreciated Jessica’s tact. It was true somewhat. They didn’t just go around leaving all the doors unlocked or anything, but people in Peach Blossom were a lot more lax than in the bigger cities. If anyone did break in, chances were the whole town would know who the culprit was by afternoon.

“All right. Well, we’d better get going so I can get back here and check your car out.”

“Lead the way, and I will happily follow,” Jessica replied with a grin. Her voice deepened leaving Vini even more perplexed than before. Instead of acknowledging it, she gestured for her new customer to follow her out the front this time where she had her regular truck parked. She didn’t quite know why she was even offering when she never had before. When Jessica rattled off Grace’s familiar address, Vini tried to keep her expression neutral. She hadn’t heard much about Jessica from Ava, but as she pulled out of the parking lot, she resolved to find out more.

Two

Riding down a dirt road with the Georgia sun high overhead was not what Jessica had in mind when she’d told her parents she was going to visit Grace for the next six weeks. To be fair, the road wasn’t actually dirt, and the tree-lined roads that made up wherever they were actually were charming. Add the overall-wearing cutie beside her with dark brown skin and lips made for kissing, and this was probably the best thing that had happened to Jessica in the past couple weeks.

“So Vini,” she said breaking the silence that had fallen between them. She didn’t know how long it would take to get to Grace’s place, so she figured starting a conversation might help pass the time. “Have you lived in Peach Blossom long?”

“All my life,” she replied, her eyes not leaving the road. “Born and raised here.”

That was so strange to Jessica. She had been born on an army base in Yongsan, and though she had lived in South Korea up until middle school, later she had spent years traveling around. Between her dad’s army career and her mom’s acting and voice-acting gigs, she never stayed in one place for longer than a couple years before moving on to the next. “Wow. So you’ve never lived anywhere else? Not even for a little bit?”

“Nope,” Vini said lips popping around the finalpsound in a way that caught Jessica’s attention and refused to let go. “Started working at the shop in high school and took it over after I graduated and got my certificates. Been doing it ever since.”

That caught Jessica’s attention. She let her gaze slide over Vini’s face and tried to gauge how old she was. She didn’t look any older than early twenties to begin with, but the way she said that made her seem so much older. “How old are you?”

Vini’s lips twitched like she wanted to smile, and her eyes finally shifted for a moment to glance over at Jessica. “Twenty-two for another couple weeks.”

Relief washed though Jessica. There was still a five-year difference between the two of them, but that wasn’t so bad.Girl, what are you thinking? We didn’t come here to gallivant among the locals.She gave herself an internal smack on the back of the head for even letting her mind go there for a moment. Sure, it had been a little while since she had last enjoyed the company of someone else and stress always did make her a bit hornier than normal, but that didn’t mean she needed to jump the first person who smiled at her. She wasn’t desperate yet. Plus, small towns weren’t always known for being the most welcoming. Sure, Grace had given the place nothing but praise since she got back, but she’d also grown up here. People always tended to have blind spots for the familiar.

It was part of the reason Jessica kept moving. If she didn’t stay too long, she wouldn’t start to romanticize something that wasn’t even there. She preferred to have her feet firmly planted in reality.

“You’re really young for working in the shop all by yourself.”

Vini raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply. For a moment, Jessica wondered if she had said something out of turn, but it was the truth. When she thought about mechanics, her mind instantly conjured images of thick-necked men with greasy hands and a perpetual eye for talking you into paying for things your car didn’t actually need. Then again, Vini’s cute baby face would probably have even more of an effect. People probably wouldn’t expect to get swindled by a cherub wearing overalls.

“So will you let me know what’s wrong with the car and price things out before you do the work?” Jessica asked, wanting to know if she was going to need to sell a kidney on the black market to get the rental car back that she didn’t even want. If it cost too much, she was tempted to leave the damn thing here and let someone else worry about it. The tabloids could do whatever they wanted with that information, and she would still feel justified.

“Of course,” Vini replied. Jessica raised an eyebrow when she didn’t elaborate but let it go. She wasn’t trying to annoy Vini to the point that she dropped her off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere Georgia.

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