brother Mark’s wife, Laura, owned the bakery downtown called Sweet Times. She specialized in homespun Americana, but when she learned that Mrs. Crabtree’s favorite dessert was a tarte tatin, Laura tried recipes for a couple of weeks until she perfected one made with plums.
My other sister-in-law, Mindy, made sure to include all the town gossip no one ever asked for in a newsletter. She emailed it to me monthly, along with photos of my nephews and nieces. I was addicted to her hometown missives.
Before long, I reached the garage. It was at the end of the street, which was a good location because it was easy to get to and close enough to the main highway to catch passing traffic. All three bay doors were open as I walked up. I could already hear the comforting sound of various tools going busily. Something low and country was playing on a Bluetooth speaker sitting on a crate in the corner.
Three years had passed, but not much had changed except the cars in the bays. I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with the questionable bouquet of motor oil, grease, and dust. It smelled like home. I’d spent a lot of time here as a kid, sticking close to my father and learning everything he could teach me.
I hadn’t really cared about working on cars. I’d just wanted to be close to him, and he’d been more than happy to oblige. As long as we were doing what he considered worthy work—man’s work—he was happy as a clam. After I came out to him when I was fourteen, the garage became less of a place of refuge, and more of a place of tension. I was grateful that he hadn’t thrown me out, but resentful because things between us felt… different.
I’d dug in, working harder than ever. Through action, I’d tried to prove that some things had changed, but I was still his son. I could still change a car’s oil with my eyes closed, and I still had the touch when working with tricky foreign cars that none of the other mechanics wanted to bother with. It never felt like enough.
Mom’s death had put our discord on the backburner. Soon, he had other things to worry about, other than the disappointment that was his oldest son. Jack Daniel’s and Coke—yeah, he worried about them plenty.
I spotted a pair of legs in blue coveralls sticking out from under a little gray Civic and couldn’t help but chuckle. We had a hydraulic lift now, but John thought old school was the best school. I kicked his legs gently, and he made a noise as he clunked his head on something.
“Goddammit, who the hell?” He rolled out from under the car, and I couldn’t help the affection that suffused in me at just seeing his face… his grimy, sweaty face.
My brothers all took my father—tall and broad, with brown hair and a dimpled chin, and the trademark Sutton blue eyes. I was a carbon copy of my mother, with sandy blond hair and light brown eyes, and I found it comforting to see her face every day in the mirror. The height, she could’ve kept to herself. I was five-eleven on a good day, which was galling in a family of men who were all six-feet-plus.
The day I realized all my younger brothers had surpassed me in height had been a dark one indeed. The youngest, Matt, had offered to grab a box of crackers off the top shelf that I couldn’t reach. I stood there, long after he’d sauntered off, clutching a box of Ritz and wondering what deity I had offended to have such a fate befall me.
John grinned when he saw me. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Worldwide. So glad you could make time to mingle with the common folk.”
I ignored the slightly caustic nickname. John was, of course, just being John. “Had nothing better to do,” I said simply. “Where’s Mark?”
“Test-driving a car. If I know him, he’s gonna stretch it out.”
I chuckled. Same old Mark. The nicer the car was, the longer the “test-drive.” Our father got after him all the time about it. “Some things never change,” I said fondly, tapping my fingers on my thigh. “How about Matt?”
“Home with the kids. Cal picked up a bug in daycare and brought it home to the rest of them. You know how crazy that can get.”
“Ah.” I nodded as if I understood. Truthfully, I didn’t want to learn any