Page 19 of When Morning Comes Around

“And you’re going to see her at the garage?”

“It’s kind of a long story. She left some of her things in my SUV and I’m going to return them to her.”

Damon was quiet for a few moments before he asked, “So, are you saying that you want me to be there or that you’d rather I didn’t show up?”

“I… It doesn’t matter either way. If you want to see Jake…”

Damon chuckled. “I’ll see him later. For some reason, I get the impression that there’s more to this story than you’re telling me. And I know you; if I push or interfere, you’ll shut down. So, give me a call later if you want to meet up. I think we’ll be in town all morning, and Jo asked me to see if you and Jake want to come over for dinner tonight – you’re not working at the restaurant, are you?”

“I’m not, but…”

“You can let me know about that later, too.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll let you go then.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a call just as soon as I know what I’m up to.”

“No worries, and no rush. You know that I don’t like to push you – so, I’ll just say, I’m here for you whenever – if ever – you want to talk about it.”

Dominic was about to protest that there was nothing to talk about, but he didn’t. Instead, he went with, “Thanks.”

When he got to the garage, he was relieved to see that Jake’s truck was the only vehicle parked outside – Sadie wasn’t here yet. The big rollup door was closed, so he went to the office on the side of the building. The door was open when he tried it. He let himself in and called out, “Hey, Jake! It’s only me.”

Jake had the minivan up on the hoist. He grinned at Dominic. “Hey, did you give Sadie her stuff back already?”

“No, I said I’d meet her here to do that. I figured it’d be good to introduce the two of you, and this way she can see that you’re already working on the minivan.”

“Good thinking. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

Dominic gave him a puzzled frown. It had been obvious last night that Jake suspected he was interested in Sadie, but saying that he was looking forward to meeting her as if she were…

Jake grinned. “She’s my first ever customer! I know it might sound goofy, but I’m excited to meet her. And I was thinking… What do you think? I was thinking that maybe I should give her free oil changes for life or something – you know, as a special kind of thank you for taking a chance on me.”

Dominic chuckled. “I’m not sure you need to do that. For one thing, it’s not as though she had any choice. And for another…” He stopped when he heard a vehicle outside. “This is probably her.”

“Did she borrow her dad’s car?”

“No, she has a…” He didn’t know how to describe Savannah. Last night at the diner, Sadie had called her an old friend of the family; to Dominic, the two women had behaved as if they were family. “Her friend’s bringing her.” He didn’t need to explain the situation to Jake.

Jake was already headed to the rollup door. “I meant to open this before she arrived – you know, let her see inside?”

“Right, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”

Dominic slid back the bolt on the other side of the door, and he and Jake pulled it up between them. Jake had said that he wanted to get an automatic opener when he could, but he wasbeing smart in the beginning and only spending on absolute necessities for now.

When they’d rolled the door to a high enough point that it continued by itself, Dominic looked outside and smiled when he saw Sadie climbing out of the passenger side of a Chevy Camaro.

“Hi!” She waved and greeted him with a smile. “We found you.”

“Hey, were the directions I gave you okay?”

“They were – I don’t know why I said that.”

He chuckled. “I’m just glad you made it.”

“And I’m glad to hear that this place is easy enough to find,” added Jake.

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