Page 43 of Family Bonds: Carter & Avery

“No,” he said. “But now all your tires have worn unevenly because this one was way off.”

“So driving it like that for nine months hasn’t been good?”

“No,” he said. “My guess is your alignment is off too by the way these are worn on the other three.”

“So what you’re saying is I need four new tires and an alignment?” she asked.

“Not four,” he said. “Your car is only three years old, I’m going to assume these are the original tires. At least the other three?”

“Yes,” she said.

“We can put two new on the front; they should at least be the same. The back can stay. It’s not like you’re going to be doing much driving on the island. I’d say you can get another year or two out of the back ones.”

“But the new front will be two years old when the back is new. If I replace all four I’ll be set for a long time and my car would be aligned better?” she asked. “I’m not someone to get cars every few years. I’d like to get five to seven more years out of this if I can.”

It was a nice luxury SUV. No reason she couldn’t if she took good care of it. “I can give you prices for two and four tires,” he said. “Different ones. I can put one on if you want, but that defeats the purpose of saving the wear on your car for the future.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “Money isn’t an issue. I know you won’t take advantage of me. The truth is, I need to be as safe as possible. As you can tell, I’m not good with things out of my wheelhouse. I’d tell you what to do if there was a thorn in your dog’s paw and you’d listen to me. I’m going to listen to you. What’s your recommendation on four tires for living on this island and going on and off the ferry?”

He liked that about her. That she didn’t know what she needed but knew it was more than the basic if she was loading and unloading her car to get more wear on it.

He brought her to the room where the tires were stored. He only had two styles that would fit her SUV. One lower end, one middle ground. He gave her the options and then said he could get her something else, but it’d have to be ordered. Until then he could put a spare on so that it was drivable around the island.

“If you think the middle-of-the-road ones are good, I’ll take them. If you tell me to get higher end ones I’ll wait for them to come in.”

“I think these are great. No reason to spend more money for the little amount you drive. Some people who drive more want a different feel.”

“It makes no difference to me,” she said. “I’ll probably walk to work most days.”

“Then I’ll get you a price on those four.”

She waved her hand. “Just do it. The price doesn’t matter,” she said. “I mean it does, but knowing before you do it or after means nothing.”

“It will be less than an hour,” he said, nodding.

“Thanks, Carter,” she said.

He thought back and realized it was the first she’d said his name. He wasn’t sure why the sound of it on her lips had his heart racing, but it did.

He pushed past it though and got to work on her tires, then was ringing her out less than an hour later.

“Can you bring Dopey and Doc to our house to play with Betty?” Josie asked.

He looked at Avery, saw her flush and wasn’t going to answer. It’d be up to her to make that decision.

“Carter is working,” Avery said. Which told him what he needed to know.

“You have to work all day?” Josie asked with a childlike pout on her face.

“Until one,” he said. Normally he would have let it go, but he couldn’t for some reason.

“Then after one?” Josie asked, her eyes lifting and her hands coming up in prayer. “Please. I want to take a picture of Doc and Dopey together playing in the yard so that I can draw another picture of them.”

He was looking at Avery and not saying a word. There was humor in her eyes and he wasn’t sure what that was about.

“Josie, why don’t you go say goodbye to Dopey and Doc quickly.”

“Okay,” Josie said, her head down. It kind of broke his heart that she was upset but again, he wouldn’t say a word.

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