Page 38 of Broke Down Single Mom

Randy rushes out of the garage with a worried look on his face. “What’s wrong, boss?”

“There’s something wrong with my car,” I say. “I don’t have the time to do a full computer diagnostic.”

“Did you look under the hood?” he asks.

I nod once. “I don’t think it’s a mechanical problem, and it’s not something I can fix right now. I’m late for my date, and I don’t want my woman waiting for me.”

“It’s nasty outside, too,” Randy exhales sharply as he looks up. Snowflakes start falling slowly over the town, adding more inches to the existing white blanket that’s covering most of Nebraska. “I doubt you’ll find a cab to get you back home soon. Hey, what about your brother?”

“He’s out.”

“And your friend Luke?”

Randy has met Luke during a brief visit at the shop. He has been nothing but kind and welcoming to everyone who sets foot in my garage. I’ll give the boy credit, he’s good-hearted and friendly. It’ll be a bonus for my customers since I lack that particular social patience.

“Luke isn’t around, either.”

“Okay, can I drive you, then?” Randy asks with a casual shrug. “My car’s an old lady, but you fixed her up real nice. She can get us there.”

I give him a surprised glance. “You would do that?”

“After everything you did for me? I would drive you to the moon and back!” Randy exclaims, fishing through his overall pockets for the keys. “Lemme just close the shop, and I’ll be right out.”

I smile and wait outside under the darkening sky, content that I didn’t fire Randy on the spot earlier. For a moment, I was tempted to send him packing. Turns out that would’ve been a poor decision, since he is now my best chance at getting to the diner and then back to the mansion on time. I want to enjoy every single minute that I can get in Avery’s company.

The woman has me gleefully addicted. And I love it.

The drive back to the mansion is relatively smooth. Snowfall is intensifying, but Randy’s car and the new winter tires I installed do a decent job of getting us there without any issues. He pulls up outside the mansion, smiling as he reminisces on his younger days back in Louisiana. The night is dark and heavy but everything seems calm and quiet.

“You know, I used to love this girl with all my heart. The minute I met her I knew she was the one for me. The belle of the ball,” Randy says with a lingering smile as his hands rest on the steering wheel. “I’d take her everywhere. Why, we used to dominate the honkytonks every Friday night. We were the best dancers there.”

“What was she like?” I ask. Surprisingly, he knows how to tell a good story. He has kept me entertained over the past thirty minutes.

“Oh, delightful. A bubbly blonde with warm blue eyes and a heart of gold. Everybody loved her. She was always smiling, always had a kind word to say about everyone, and she could never hold a grudge. She made me happy, and we were gonna take over the world together. She was my dream girl.”

“What happened, then?”

I look out and see the lights glimmering in some of the windows. Avery must be upstairs in her room, getting ready for dinner, but I spot Aunt Helen in the study and the girls with her, running around. I can almost hear them cheering and laughing as Aunt Helen tries to herd them back into the dining room. Kellan and Luke’s cars are gone, but that was to be expected. They should be back tomorrow, once they’re done talking to a patrol officer in the next county over who may have seen Daniel in his town. The BOLO is finally starting to pay off.

“Oh, I lost her,” Randy sighs deeply. “I was a fool. I didn’t use my words. My temper got the better of me, and she left me. She ran off with a big guy, a big muscly guy who thought he was better than me. I never got a chance to earn her forgiveness. But I learned my lesson and I’ve been trying to atone for my sins ever since. I put myself through school, you know. Hence the student debt. I wanted to make myself better so that maybe one day I’d find her and show her that I’m a different person now.

I look over at him and smile. “You’re a man sticking to his morals. You prefer an honest day’s work over a life of crime,” I tell him. “You’d rather clean the floors in a garage than knock somebody over the head for a wallet. Everybody goes through a rough patch in life. Some more than others. But what matters is that you are doing your best to be a decent human being, Randy, and that says more about you than you will ever know.”

“You think so?” he asks, his gaze softening.

“I know so. While I may not have been a fan of the lying, you keep working hard and proving yourself,” I say. “It can’t be easy, especially when you have a degree and a student loan big enough to drive you into financial ruin. But you’re doing the best you can with what you’re given in a particularly hostile economy. Better days will come, Randy. You keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll see that.”

He stares at me, and for a moment I see shadows flickering in his brown eyes, lips pressing into a thin line. One deep breath later, and the darkness fades away, a sad smile taking over as he looks out at the mansion’s front steps just as the doors burst wide open. Miley and Annie come out running and laughing.

“Do you think I’ll ever see her again?” Randy asks.

“Who?”

“My beloved.”

“Maybe. You never know,” I tell him. “Listen, Randy, thanks for the ride. You’ve been a great help. I gotta go pick up my girls, though. They’re coming for me, as you can see.”

He laughs lightly, his eyes never leaving them. “I didn’t know you had kids.”

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