Page 27 of Taming Bull

Tavonte accepted the call with a worried, “Hey, Mom, what’s up,” as he hurried away from me, giving the call privacy.

Hoping everything was all right with his family, I went back to the screen and finished up Ms. Moore’s invoice. Numbers finagled, comments made, I printed the receipt and marched it over to her. Wasp had somehow managed to escape, and was nowhere in sight. Lucky bastard. Making a mental note to beg him for his secrets, I pasted on my most friendly smile and held out the receipt.

“Your insurance covered the tow. As soon as Rabbit diagnoses the problem, he’ll let you know the repair cost.”

“Rabbit?” Her expression fell. “Not Wasp?”

Aww. She had herself a crush, did she? I was both relieved and strangely disappointed her eyes didn’t get all googly when she met my gaze. The appreciation of the opposite sex was always nice for a boost of the ego, regardless of age.

“Yes ma’am. Wasp works in our motorcycle division.”

“Oh. I gotta get me one of those.”

I didn’t know if she was talking about a Wasp or a bike, but I sure as shit didn’t encourage her to elaborate. “Can I get you anything while you wait?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine. My daughter’s on the way. I gotta warn you now that she’s a bit uptight, always afraid I’m gonna get taken advantage of, or some such nonsense. But I know good people when I see ’em.” She gave me a conspiratorial grin. “Probably doesn’t help that you’re all so easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean.”

I couldn’t have missed her meaning if it was an out of control train and I was tied to the railroad tracks. “Thank you, ma’am. We try to stay in shape.”

“Well, let me tell you, I, for one, sure do appreciate it.”

I coughed back a laugh. “Rabbit’ll be with you when he finishes the diagnostics. Please help yourself to any refreshments,” I pointed at the fridge and coffee area, “and let Tiffany know if you need anything.”

Tiffany waved and smiled, making her presence known.

As I started to walk away, Ms. Moore grabbed my arm. Thinking I was going to have to scrape her off again, I was surprised to see genuine appreciation—and not lust—in her eyes. “I know the towing package on my insurance didn’t cover the full tow here, young man. My daughter ran the mileage and she warned me I’d have to pay for a little over three miles. You lot took good care of my friend, Niles Fredrickson. He said you look out for veterans and their spouses.”

I remembered Mr. Fredrickson. He was a cantankerous old Marine. Looking to save some money, he’d let his grandson change the timing belt on his 4-Runner. The kid was only trying to help, but he’d botched up the install, resulting in bent intake valves in the cylinder head. Mr. Fredrickson had recently had a triple-bypass surgery, and was dangerously close to working himself into another heart attack in our shop, complaining about the VA’s handling of the surgery. Rabbit had taken pity on the old bastard and had only charged him for parts, donating his time and labor, insisting it was the least he could do.

We didn’t advertise our altruism, and we didn’t give discounts for the recognition. Vets gave a lot for their country, and we preferred to let them keep their pride. I didn’t know how to respond to Ms. Moore’s assessment, so I nodded, silently confirming that we took care of our own.

She grasped my hand. “Thank you,” she said, her eyes brimming with gratitude. “You do a really good thing here.”

My chest swelled with pride. I’d fucked up a lot of things in my life. Kicked out of the Navy, rocky relationship with my family, I’d blown my friendship with Lily and had no idea what to do about the situation we were in. Despite it all, I could do this one nice thing for a fellow serviceman’s widow. It felt damn good. Even choked me up a little. Ducking my head, I swallowed past the emotion in my throat and replied, “My pleasure, ma’am.”

* * *

When Tavonte got off his phone, he looked a little frazzled. Another tow request had been made, so he followed me to the truck and climbed into the passenger’s seat. I wanted to know what was bothering him, but he apparently had some research to do. As I drove, he mashed buttons on his phone. After a while, he pulled out his wallet and entered his credit card information before pocketing his things and taking a deep breath.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Nope. I gotta go home,” he said.

I wasn’t expecting that. “Home? As in back to Nashville?” I asked. Then, because he looked so damn stressed out, I did my best to lighten the mood. “Damn. Ms. Moore really scared you off, didn’t she?”

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “If only. Unfortunately, this is nuthin’ as simple as customer sexual harassment. My little sister’s gotten herself in with a bad crowd, and mom’s worried about her. I gotta go see what kind of shit she’s stepped in and get her cleaned up.”

“Damn, brother, I’m sorry to hear it. Sure hope she and your mom are okay.”

“Yeah. Me too. Thanks, man.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Just booked a flight for the day after tomorrow. Mom sounded scared. I… Fuck. I’m gonna kill Kiana for putting her through this.”

“Think you’ll be back?”

He toyed with his phone for a moment before shaking his head. “No. I really respect what you guys are doing here. Helping veterans… acting as a landing pad when guys get out of the service… It’s a fuckin’ noble cause, man. I want to be part of it, but although I’m down with what you’re doin’, I can’t shake this feeling that I’m not supposed to stay. There’s something out there for me, but this isn’t it. And I don’t want to stay here and miss out on whatever’s out there waiting for me.”

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