Page 9 of Beauty and the Grease
“Yeah.” I’m not sure how much I want to admit about my period of depression being single, so I focus on work. “At the dealership, even after being promoted to office manager, my efforts were met with mediocre raises. My own rent went up practically every year. I could never get ahead. That and a few arrogant sales staff made the office culture a bummer. It started to wear on me. No offense, since you’re a sales guy.”
“Definitely none taken. Sales is a tough industry with a lot of jerks.” He shrugs. “Auto sales, that’s competitive.”
“And I wasn’t making commission on sales running the office. Anyway, cue me scrolling through a web forum about career advice. I started inhaling information. A few regulars posted some pretty insightful things, so we side-chatted. Soon, there were a few of us, all women, setting goals and discussing things like building wealth and financial freedom. I started dreaming bigger than a pay raise at the dealership.”
Chase seems legitimately interested, watching me as I speak. “You never cared much about money…” he trails off.
When we were together.“It probably seemed that way.” Chase is the one who didn’t have to care given his family’s wealth. It wasn’t so much I didn’t care about money, but back then, I had fewer needs and obligations. The used car my parents gifted me in college lasted years. Rent shared with roommates, working multiple jobs, and selling off art, I felt like I was living large in my twenties. Over time, bills, car repairs, and roommates moving out and marrying off changed my financial reality. “Funny thing—you need money to live. I never made it as an artist, and honestly? Selling my work kind of killed my creative spirit. It’s how I ended up at the dealership. I needed a job to pay my bills. For a long time, it worked for me.”
I see our next turn ahead. The directions live in my head from my earlier scan of the map. Kara makes fun of me for resisting GPS, but I’m not a fan of the computer voice barking at me while I’m driving. I know this area fairly well from my year driving the tow. Road directions are like my superpower.
“Anyway,” I continue. “One of the women from the Reddit forum knew a guy who sold off his tech start-up and was giving out small business grants in his hometown. He had a vision to build back a forgotten town and give back to the people who’d raised him. That town is Derby.”
“So you moved to Derby and took one of those grants?”
“I sure did. It’s the biggest leap I’ve ever made. It’s terrifying, but I did it.”
“But why an auto shop?”
“Because everybody needs to fix their car. When I talked with Simon—that’s the guy handing out grant money—he offered to show me around Derby. He moved back himself after a stint on the east coast.”
“Committed to the vision.”
“His commitment is what eventually sold me. The former owners of the auto shop moved five or six years ago, leaving the building vacant. It’s old, but has good bones. The car lift and garage doors all worked. The setup was there. Simon’s plan began with bringing new businesses into empty storefronts. As soon as I saw the corner brick building, it was destiny.”
I bite my lip at my word choice. Chase will for sure laugh atdestiny.
Only he’s not laughing. He looks sort of dazed, maybe even confused. “That’s incredible. I can’t believe—no, I can believe it. I never would have called you for owning a car repair garage, but I have no doubt you’re killing it.”
My cheeks grow warm. I focus on the road. “Thanks. We’re surviving thanks to the grant, but it’s constant work. The business is okay—I’m not complaining. I’d rather sweat my bottom line than ever report to the dealership again.The salon business is picking up, and we’re finding it’s a draw, especially with women. People hear a woman owns the garage and they can get their hair done while they wait? The novelty, I suppose. Annabelle is looking at hiring a nail tech.”
“Emma would get a kick out of a salon at an auto shop. Emma, that’s my daughter. She’s twelve.”
I have no idea what to say that isn’t a million questions about what his daughter is like and the experience of over a decade raising her. “You should bring her in sometime. Assuming you don’t live far.”
A dozen soldiers prep for battle in my head, swords unsheathing and everything.What is this, war? You can’tmeetthe kid!
“You don’t actually have to do that,” I add with a quickness. “That’s probably a weird suggestion.”
“No, it’s fine. We’re in Birmingham. And I think she’d like you.”
For some reason, I feel validated by this tween who has no idea I exist. I assume she doesn’t know I exist given my marriage to Chase never did. How does one tell their daughter they were once married to someone other than Mommy when the marriage is considered to never have happened?
“Owen too, if I can get his nose out of a video game. He’s fifteen.”
Cool. Cool cool cool. Now I know both their names. I am definitely okay knowing this information. “Does Owen play board games? The library has boardgame nights for teens—the kind of games with like, dice and figurines? I don’t know if they do anything video games, but I could ask.” The soldiers in my head clatter some more.Warning! Danger!
We’ve got to be close to the retreat center by now. My heart can only take so much of this. Here I am offering to see his kids.His kids. The kids he had with the woman he left me for. The family-approved darling good enough to marry—and stay married to.
I don’t care. Nope. I don’t. I’m only driving Chase—a customer!—as my job and nothing more. I’d do this for any customer about to spend big bucks on their Audi at my shop.
The sky flickers with lightning, followed by a low rumble of thunder. The rain picks up the pace again. It falls in thick sheets and wind gusts shift the rain at jagged angles. I can’t see a danged thing.
“Are you okay?” Chase asks. “Do you want me to drive?”
Venom shoots through my veins. “Are you serious right now? You don’t think I can handle driving in bad weather?”
“No, it’s not that, I—”
