mean streak. Or maybe last night had been an act. Figured! No one was ever who they pretended to be, millionaire or mechanic.
My first instinct was to get the hell out of there, leaving him high and dry without a receptionist, but as I was grabbing my purse, I realized I couldn’t leave.
Not only did I have nowhere to go and no way to get there, but I’d offered to do a job, and I wasn’t the kind of person to go back on my word. Not to mention the fact that I needed him to repair my car and give me a fair price on it—if I abandoned the desk, he’d have no reason to offer me a discount. But I didn’t have to let him speak to me like that. He had no right! And since I’d never been one to stay quiet when I had something to say, I marched into the garage all fired up to speak my mind.
I spotted him at a tool cabinet in the back. “Excuse me!” I yelled.
He turned around and frowned at me. “What now?”
I stuck my hands on my hips as I approached him. “For your information, I’ve been told no plenty of times in my life.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “Just because I grew up with money doesn’t mean I always got everything I wanted. I told you yesterday how my parents ran my life according to their rules—what I wanted never even mattered!”
He sneered. “Tell me you never had a pony.”
“I never had a pony!” I paused and sniffed. “I had a horse.”
Griffin rolled his eyes.
“But that’s not the point!” I yelled, throwing my arms up. “Okay, yes, it took losing everything I had to realize I had to stop letting my family call all the shots. And yes, I am somewhat clueless about mechanical things like cars and how they work. Yes, I had a horse.”
“You realize all those yeses are making my point, not yours.”
I stopped moving and held up my palms. “I know there’s a lot I need to learn about the real world. But I’m trying, okay? I want to start a new life, one where I don’t depend on other people’s money or connections to fix my problems, so it really stinks to be so broke and stranded and helpless right now.” I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my chin. “I don’t need your rudeness on top of it.”
Griffin stared at me, his scowl deepening. “Fine.”
“Fine!” Angry that I hadn’t heard an apology, I whirled around and stomped toward the lobby door.
“Are you leaving?” he shouted.
“No!” I called over my shoulder. “I said I’d do the job, and I’ll do it!” Then I yanked the door shut behind me with quite a bit more force than necessary.
I’d never slammed a door before. It actually felt pretty good.
But the satisfaction dissipated pretty quickly. In fact, I started to feel bad about mouthing off to him. He’d been so nice to me last night.
Maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe the call from the bank had been bad news. Maybe Andy was always slacking off and needed to be kept on task.
Bottom line, he was the closest thing I had to a friend in my new life so far. And friendship took patience and understanding.
By one o’clock my stomach was growling, and I decided I’d offer an olive branch in the form of lunch. Maybe I could bring him a sandwich or something—I’d seen a little place called Main Street Delicatessen while walking back from the diner this morning. I was just about to get up from the desk and go ask what he’d like when the phone rang again.
I picked it up. “Good afternoon, Bellamy Creek Garage.”
“Hello, Lanette?” said the woman loudly. “It’s Doris Applebee.” Right away I had the feeling she was older and hard of hearing, so I spoke up.
“Lanette isn’t here today, Mrs. Applebee. This is Blair.”
“Oh, hello there! You must be the lucky lady. I heard the big news this morning—congratulations!”
“Thank you,” I said, although I had no idea what she was talking about. “Can I help you?”
“Well, I don’t know,” she went on. “My car is making that noise again.”
As I was picking up a pen to take notes, I saw Griffin open the lobby door and lean against the frame. We made eye contact, and my stomach flip-flopped, but his expression revealed nothing. “What kind of noise, Mrs. Applebee? Can you describe it?”