Page 34 of Race to the Beach

“Wow.That didn’t take long to get back to you?”Maxi was seriously impressed with the speed of Bluestar’s gossip chain.

“Actually, I heard about it a half-hour ago.Agnes Dewey saw you sitting on the seawall with Owen.And she told Birdie, who called me.”

Maxi realized her mouth was ajar and pressed her lips together.“Then I suppose you already know that Owen is outside waiting for me?”

“Uh, no.I didn’t know.But if you give it a minute, I’m sure my phone will ring.”Her aunt gave her a teasing smile.

“We’re, uh, going to his parents’ place to work on my car.”

“We?As in he’s going to help you fix it?”

Maxi nodded.“It was his idea.”

“But what about your shoulder?You’re not even wearing the sling.”Her aunt sent her a worried look.

“It’ll be fine.I promise not to overdo it.”

“Well, at least you’ll have help.”Aunt Bonnie bestowed upon her an approving smile.“I would offer to help you, too, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t know the radiator from the battery.”

“I bet in your day that you would have made a great mechanic.”

Aunt Bonnie laughed.“I don’t know about that.But what I do know is that you can do anything you set your mind to.”

Maxi smiled.Her aunt’s confidence in her abilities was a real boost when she was having her doubts about being able to fix the car.“I don’t know if I can pull it off, but I’m going to try.”

“You’ve got this.”Aunt Bonnie’s phone rang.“Told you it wouldn’t be long until I got another update.”As her phone rang again, she said, “Well, you don’t want to keep Owen waiting.”

“I just stopped in to pick up my toolbox and coveralls.I… I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“No worries.You do whatever you need to do.I’ll be here.”

She felt bad about leaving so quickly.When she’d made the drive north, she’d thought that she’d get to spend some quality time with her aunt, but it wasn’t working out that way.

She wished they didn’t live so far apart.She would love to spend more time with her.But any time she mentioned the possibility of her aunt moving to Virginia, Aunt Bonnie would tell her that her whole life was on this island, and she was too old to start over.

Maxi raced upstairs.Before grabbing her backpack, she glanced in the mirror.She grabbed a ponytail holder and pulled her hair up into a messy bun.It was the way she wore it when she went to work at the auto garage.The last thing she wanted to do was lean over the engine and have her hair in the way or worse, get caught in the engine.She cringed at the thought.

She changed clothes before slipping on her coveralls.On the way out the front door, she grabbed her toolbox.When Owen saw that her hands were full, he rushed to her side.If he was offering to take the toolbox, she wasn’t going to argue, because it was very heavy.

“Wow.Look at you.All ready for work.”Owen’s brows rose when he took the toolbox.“What do you have in here?Every tool you own?”

“Not even close.But I wanted to be prepared.Although I didn’t prepare enough to repair a wrecked car.”

“Together, we’ll get this figured out.”He stowed the toolbox in the back of the cart and then climbed in beside her.

“You seem convinced that we can fix the car in time.I’m not so sure.I had a hard time getting some of the replacement parts this summer.It’s not like you can walk into any auto parts store and ask for them.”

He nodded.“I understand.I had the same problem.”

When they arrived at his parents’ garage, she did a thorough inspection of the car.It made her heartsick to see the car in this condition.She’d replayed the accident in her mind over and over again, wondering if there was some other action she could have taken.She couldn’t find any other way to avoid the goat.She tried to tell herself that she was lucky to have only hit the front driver’s side, but she didn’t feel lucky.

“What do you think?”Owen’s voice drew her from her thoughts.

“That there’s a lot of damage.And I don’t know if I’ll be able to get all of the replacement parts.”She reached for her backpack and pulled out her notebook.

She placed it on the workbench.As she flipped it open, Owen turned on the overhead light.Page by page she scrolled through her notes and drawings.

“What’s that?”Owen leaned over her shoulder.

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