Page 45 of Choosing You

“Um…”

Laughing, Sloane waved him off. “Sorry. I tend to get carried away when I talk about my work. It’s not often that I get to go off like that. Most of my clients don’t sit and talk directly with me. They talk to my boss instead and then he gives me the assignment and acts as the go-between.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for the clients if they got to talk with the person who was doing the actual work?”

She nodded. “I’ve been saying that since I got hired, but Dan—my boss—likes to be the only one talking. He thinks it makes things easier if he’s the face of the company.”

“Or he enjoys taking the credit for everyone’s work,” Will muttered.

“That too,” she readily agreed and then sighed. “Anyway, I really think I can do something nice for Devin. Will he be around tomorrow for me to talk with?”

“Definitely. When I told him you were coming for the weekend and what I was thinking, he said he’d make sure he was available for you.”

“I don’t want to make him come in if it’s his day off…”

“Nah, Devin hardly ever takes a day off. The shop is his baby. Plus, we’re trying to get as much as we can done so we can all have off for the festival.”

“From what you told me, he started it on his own and built it up from nothing. That’s impressive. And the fact that he’s there putting in the time just like the rest of you says a lot for his character.”

“Devin’s a great guy—and a great friend and boss. I’ve known him for just about my whole life and there was a time when I thought I wanted to go into business with him.”

“So why didn’t you?”

He shrugged. It wasn’t the most flattering story, but…he wanted Sloane to get to know him—all of him.

“I went to trade school right out of high school—local,” he began, “and I felt like I knew what I was doing. But…I was young and stupid and for a while I was more interested in partying than working and the few part-time jobs I had at shops outside of Sweetbriar Ridge didn’t last long because I wasn’t taking them seriously.”

“What changed?”

He liked that she didn’t try to make excuses for him. “I went into work one Saturday and I was hungover—hadn’t slept more than two hours before going in. I was working on a car and put it up on the lift, but it wasn’t secured and it came off. Totaled it. It didn’t fall from the full height it could have, but it fell far enough where it was beyond repair. It was a miracle that no one got hurt, but it was totally my fault.”

“Wow.”

Will nodded. “I was fired. The accident was covered by insurance—both by the owner and my boss—but there was damage to some things in the shop and I had to make restitution on it. I was a complete screwup and for a while, no one wanted to hire me. I was a liability.”

“What did you do?”

“I took odd jobs. Stopped partying so much and got my shit together. It took about three years before I even tried to get a job with a mechanic again. That’s when Devin began talking about opening a shop. We would talk about it and I wanted to ask to go in on it with him. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I had some.”

“And what did he have to say about it?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. Back then, I didn’t tell him what I was thinking. He was so organized and had this great plan and I didn’t want to mess that up. He offered me a job as a part-time mechanic at the beginning. It didn’t take long before the business grew and he promoted me to full-time. It’s the greatest job I’ve ever had. All the guys I work with are friends and…you know…a little like family.”

“Do you still want to be more involved? A partner?”

“Maybe,” he said with a grin. “There’s a lot to consider. We’d need to build an addition to the shop and get new equipment and…

“I can see you’re thinking about it,” she said with a smile.

“I’m always thinking about it. But…”

She sighed lightly. “But you and I just found something else in common.”

He looked at her quizzically. “What’s that?”

“We’re both scared to take that giant leap toward achieving our dreams.”

Carefully, he moved the laptop over to the coffee table and shifted closer to her. When he reached up and cupped her face, she leaned into it while humming softly. “I know it’s late and you need to go to work early,” she whispered. “But I was really hoping we could go inside and do what we did earlier. Just…slower this time.”

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