Page 56 of Her Cadillac Cowboy
Her father grumbled and went with Doc. Sara’s relief was short-lived when she saw the troubled expression on Steve’s face.
“Okay, let me have it.”
“I think you’d better come down to the body shop and see for yourself.”
Sara glanced at her watch then at the closed office door. “All right, but I don’t have much time.” She turned to her secretary. “Page me in the body shop if Doc or my father need me.” She set off at a rapid pace, leaving Steve to follow.
Carol’s “Yes, Ms. Carson,” chased Sara down the hallway.
“Steve,” Sara called over her shoulder as she clattered down the stairs. “How’s Will Talmidge working out?”
“Great.”
With that one word, her pre-conceptions exploded, leaving her breathless. She stopped dead on the landing. “Did I hear you correctly?”
“If you heard me say Will was working out great, you did. I sent him on a couple errands today. He got what I needed and came straight back.”
“That’s what I thought you said.” She started down the stairs again slowly, a bit afraid that they, too, would drop out from under her. “If Will isn’t the problem, what do you need me for in the body shop?”
“I’ll do my best to explain, Ms. Carson, but you’re gonna have to see for yourself before you make any decisions.”
“Steve, you know I trust your call on work in the body shop. You don’t need me for this.”
“Yes, I do, Ms. Carson. I might lose my job if I make it wrong.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Sara reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door to the hallway. She turned toward the service area.
“If you say so, but I’m still not making this call on my own.”
“Steve, just tell me what this is all about.”
“We had a car waiting for body work this morning.”
Sara tapped her foot. There was nothing unusual in an owner dropping off a car before the shop opened.
“I looked it over like normal to see if any mechanical work needed to be done. That car was real lucky. Whole front left fender was damaged. Took me a couple hours to make my inspection, but the car’s fine, mechanically.”
Get on with it.But Steve was as thorough in his explanations as he was in his work.
“That’s when I decided to call you. Your secretary said you’d get back to me after lunch ’cause you had a problem with your daddy.”
“Yes, that’s so.”
“I had the car put in the shop and went to lunch.”
That was a bit unusual. “Was it a rush job?”
“No, ma’am, but the car is valuable. Anyhow, while I was at lunch, Will came back from those errands. He saw the car in the shop and figured it was our next job. So he started working on it.”
With her hand on the door to the body shop, Sara looked over her shoulder at Steve. “I still don’t see a problem, Steve. If you have higher priority jobs, just stop work on this one. Put it in the secure lot and start work on the priority jobs.”
“It’s not the priority that’s the problem.” He whipped off his hat and twisted it in his hands.
“Then for, crying out loud, what is the matter?” She shoved through the door and saw the problem at the same moment that Steve’s words tolled in her ears.
“It’s the Caddy.”
Oh my God. Josh.Sara hugged herself to ward off the chill that washed through her. Her stomach churned. Her whole body trembled, but she forced words past her lips. “Is Mr. McKinley okay?”
