Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex's Brother

by Heather Novak

“I’d go work at another one, I guess.”

  Well, I guess I kind of asked for that answer. I stood up slowly, making sure I was steady on my feet. I now regretted wearing heels, but I had wanted to look as professional as possible. For no good reason, apparently. After saying goodbye with a sweaty handshake, I escaped into the gray morning.

  The misty rain immediately clung to my skin, as if the sky were trying to hold back tears as well. An angry gust of wind barreled into me, shoving my hair into my mouth and up my nose. With a growl, I yanked the hair tie off my wrist and shoved my hair into a low bun. Today was definitely the Monday-est of Mondays.

  By the time I had changed and turned on my computer, it was already 10:17 am. Perth, Australia was twelve hours later than here, which meant catching my dad was unlikely. Taking a deep breath, I opened Skype and looked at my contacts list.

  I fell into my chair when I saw he was still online. After selecting his name, I pressed the call button and crossed my fingers. He answered with a grunt, his bright yellow oxford shirt was the first thing I saw, followed by his smile—Jami’s smile.

  “Edith!” he said with genuine excitement. “How’s my baby girl?”

  I blinked back tears, wishing he was across the table from me, not across the world. “Hey, Dad. You’re pretty dressed up for ten at night.”

  He looked down as if he’d forgotten what he was wearing. “Just got off a business call five minutes ago.” He lifted up his leg to reveal plaid flannel pajamas. “Don’t worry! I haven’t gone to the dark side completely.”

  I smiled. “I would never assume you did.”

  He stared at me for a long moment. “What’s wrong, Edie? Why are you calling me on a Monday morning? Why aren’t you at the shop?”

  I opened my mouth to talk and burst into tears. Covering my face with my hands, I leaned into the desk and let his soothing noises wash over me. I wanted to bury my face in his shirt while he rocked me back and forth like he had when I was a kid. But I hadn’t been in the same country as this man for five years and counting. The realization made me cry harder. “I m-m-miss you,” I managed.

  “I miss you too. But that’s not why you’re crying and it’s kind of freaking me out. The last time you cried was 2017 when Dodge discontinued the Viper.”

  I laughed a watery laugh and struggled to take a deep breath. “Don’t remind me.” I hiccupped. “Seriously underrated car.”

  “Start at the beginning.” He leaned forward, putting his chin on his hand.

  So, I did. Mom getting engaged and announcing it at Kristy and Sam’s wedding, Luke returning home, the shop, the bank, the money, all of it. “Dad,” I whispered. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Dad nodded seriously for a long moment. “I know that you’re attached to the shop. You lived and breathed that place from the second your grandpa put a tool in your hand.” He chuckled to himself. “Your first word was car.”

  I smiled. “I was an awesome kid.”

  “Yeah, you are.” His face grew soft, and for a moment, it didn’t feel like there was a computer screen between us. I could almost feel his beard burn kisses on my cheek and smell his sweet aftershave.

  Then a knock at his office door jolted us out of our shared moment and the thousands of miles poured back in between us. Elaine, my dad’s second wife, walked in with a sleeping toddler on her shoulder. “Oh, sorry, Edith!” she whispered in her soft, accented cadence. “Sean, I’m going to bed. G’night!”

  “Night, Elaine,” I said, shifting in my chair. I had never met my half brother, Tom, and I didn’t know if I ever would. Traveling to Australia was a bucket list item for sure, but not something I could afford. Dad had gone down there on a business trip right after he and Mom divorced and he never came back. His trips home went from every month to every year to almost never.

  I guess I couldn’t blame him. Who’d want to fly almost thirty hours one way to hang out with adult kids and a bitter ex when you had a new, loving family at your fingertips?

  Dad walked over to his new wife and whispered something too soft for me to hear before kissing her goodnight. I looked away to give him privacy until he sat back down and spoke again. “Listen, Edie. Your mom and I got pregnant young, too young. The ink was barely dry on our diplomas when we got married. Cynthia...” He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee. “Her bags were packed for California before that first pregnancy test came back positive. She wasn’t even planning on finishing high school in Grenadine.”

  He shifted, his chair squeaking. “I think she feels like she missed her true calling as an actress and she’s taking it out on you.”

  I shoved my hands through my hair. “Even though Jami was born first? Thanks, Mom,” I sneered. Not that I wished this on my brother.

  He put his hands up. “You don’t have to complain me. I divorced her for a reason.” He yawned but quickly covered it with his hand. “Sorry, it’s late. Edie, your mom is that same lost little girl who saw that plus sign. She always needed external validation and her relationship with her dad was rocky at the best of times. She’s never forgiven him, and therefore will never forgive you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand how they disliked each other so much yet he loved me to the moon and back.”

  Dad gave me a sad smile. “Your grandpa once told your mom she was a surprise baby and Cynthia didn’t take it well. Dottie had already had two miscarriages and a really hard pregnancy with Mary. They had just opened the shop and were struggling. You got the good years with your grandparents, but your mom didn’t. Cut her some slack, for both your sakes.”

  “But does she have to marry my ex?” I groaned. “I slept with him and now he’s going to be my stepdad. I’m living a real-life soap opera.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, that’s a little messed up. But listen, if marrying Will is a way to get her off your back, I say good riddance.” He looked at me, holding my gaze. “You always have a bed down here, okay? I’ll even buy your plane ticket.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” I whispered. Maybe if I sold the shop, I would go down there for a little while. Clear my head and meet my new brother.

  He yawned again. “It’s bedtime for your old man.”

  “Dad, wait...” I swallowed hard. I couldn’t believe I was about to ask him this for the first time in twenty-five years. “Do you have money that you could loan me? I promise I’ll pay you back with interest.”

  He shook his head. “Baby girl, pack up your favorite memories in the house, sell everything, jump on that motorcycle, and travel. See the world. Come see me. Fix cars along the way. Find a new life for yourself that’s not drowning in resentment and baggage.”

  “Dad...”

  He stood up and leaned down so his forehead was huge on my screen. “Love you!”

  “Love you—” I was cut off by the screen going dark. I stared at it for a long while, my emotions swirling like they always did after I talked to my dad. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought he would say.

  I shoved my chair away from my desk and put my legs over the armrest, sending myself spinning. I was out of ideas. Sitting upright before I made myself puke, I stopped in front of the bookcase tucked next to the computer. Amid the romance novels, the mystery series, and the gluten-free cookbooks were my old photo albums.

  Grabbing a yellow and blue paisley one off the shelf, I sat on the floor and opened it to the center page. I smiled at the picture of me standing on a bumper helping Grandpa check the oil in a car. I couldn’t have been more than six or seven. My fingers trailed down the photo, missing my mom’s dad so much it hurt.

  Each page of the book brought a new memory of him. Us in the auto shop, us at a car show, me in a brand-new pair of coveralls that were rolled up eight times. My mom must have loved that.

  I flipped to the end, where eleven-year-old me was smiling at my birthday cake with a model Camaro on top. Grandpa stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders, which meant Grandma was probably taking the
picture.

  Mom had her arms crossed and her hip jutted behind me and Dad was talking to Mario, Luke and Will’s dad. Jami sat next to me, his finger already in the frosting, and Will was playing a video game on a handheld device.

  But it was Luke I couldn’t stop looking at. He was on the other side of me, smiling at me. I’d had his undivided attention, even then. I told that bat inside my chest to stop flapping its wings.

  Flipping through more pages, I started looking for Luke. He was always standing close to me, smiling. Camping trips, school rallies, family picnics. There he was.

  When I reached the final page in the book, I came face-to-face with our prom picture. He was wearing his dress blues and I was wearing a white sequined tutu dress that I had worked my ass off to afford. So much sparkle. He had his arm around my waist and I had my hand on his chest, both of us smiling.

  Holy crap, it looked like a wedding picture. We stared into each other’s eyes as if we had a secret. As if we were in love. The only thing missing was a ring on my left hand.

  “Nope!” I yelled, closing the book and shoving it off my lap. “Nope, nope, nope. Not gonna happen.” I rolled onto my back, then to my knees, pushing myself off the floor. It was time to get dressed for work and ignore the one fact that was beginning to push its way through decades of denial.

  I was crazy about Luke.

  Chapter Eight

  Edie’s Tip #4: Sometimes the only cure is to roll with the windows down and the radio up. Preferably something embarrassing so you get weird looks.

  Despite the email campaigns, business had only ticked up 8 percent. In any other situation, I would be ecstatic. Now I didn’t know what to do. I spent every spare minute over, under, and inside my Camaro and still hadn’t figured out a clear path forward. Only one way was clear—the one with the giant For Sale sign.

  Giving up on car therapy, I turned my attention to the garage doors. I knew it was silly to replace the door opener when I was probably going to sell, but I had already done the other two. My anal retentiveness was having trouble not doing the third.

  I grunted, trying to remove the clevis pin and ring fastener from the bracket above the garage in bay three. I had done this with no trouble in the first two bays last week, but my head wasn’t in the game. The pin and fastener fell to the concrete below and the chain opener tried to crash down with it. “No you don’t, you asshole!” I snapped, practically hanging off the ladder.

  Chieka bolted over from her tire change and grabbed the opener, setting it safely on the ground. “Whoa, careful! You okay?”

  Face hot with anger and embarrassment, I climbed down the ladder. “I’m sorry, I’m fine. Just have a lot on my mind.”

  She looked me over. “Like how Luke is back in town and he can’t stop finding reasons to come by the shop?”

  I opened my mouth to argue with her just as Luke’s truck pulled into the parking lot. Chieka turned to me, lifted her brow, and went back to fixing her tire without another word. I stood frozen in place as he walked in looking better than a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 540K. Which was to say, absolutely delicious.

  He made a beeline over to me and lifted his phone up. “You’re absolutely terrible at answering your cell.”

  I lifted my eyebrows and looked around me. “I was on a ladder. Even if I knew where my phone was, which I hope is in the office, I wouldn’t’ve answered it. Why didn’t you call the shop?”

  A smile touched his lips. “I did, but Tamicka said you were on a ladder and couldn’t talk.”

  I lifted my hands up. “Well, there you have it.”

  He looked at the wreckage from the garage door and the giant box next to me. “Why are you replacing the garage door opener?”

  “The chains were causing trouble. I’m changing them all over to steel reinforced belts.”

  He looked at me for a long moment before stepping closer. “Why are you putting money into the shop right now?”

  I took a step closer to him. “Because I already bought this, and I needed something to take my mind off…” I waved my hand in the air. “I’m thinking about it so hard, I can’t think of an answer.”

  He grabbed my shoulder and spun me toward the back door. “I’m stealing Edie. She’ll be back,” he yelled to Chieka. He gripped my arm and dragged me forward. “What you need is a break.” Sergeant Cornflakes looked up as we passed, but made no effort to disengage himself from his tire bed.

  “You really suck at this guard rooster thing,” I grumbled.

  Tamicka leaned out of the office. “Take your time with her, young man. She needs some TLC!”

  “Over the line, T-Money!” I called back.

  “I’m with T-Money!” Chieka yelled.

  “You’re all fired!” I warned.

  “I’m due for a vacation anyway!” Chieka quipped.

  With a growl, I pulled my arm away from Luke’s and stomped ahead of him on the path to my house. “Why must you encourage them? They already think we’re sleeping together.” He didn’t respond, and I looked behind me as I shoved my key into my lock. “What?”

  “Would sleeping with me really be so bad?” he asked, his voice gravelly.

  I blinked and took a deep breath, warning the bat inside to stop fluttering. “I didn’t say that. I’m just getting all the flak and none of the perks.” Oh holy hell, did I just flirt? “Anyway, what are we doing here? I have garage doors to uselessly repair.”

  I shoved open the door and let him walk ahead of me. Like I had been doing since I started working in the shop, I kicked off my boots and slipped into the laundry room off the living room. Closing the door, I slipped out of my work clothes, depositing them in the basket, then scrubbed my hands and arms until they were red.

  I gave my face a quick rinse before grabbing the yoga pants and T-shirt I had left waiting there this morning. I still smelled like the shop, but at least I was clean. When I walked back into the living room, Luke was running his hands over the fireplace mantel. I took a moment to light my favorite scented candles around the room.

  He turned to face me. “Usually when a woman is lighting scented candles around me, something else is about to happen.”

  I blinked up at him, wide-eyed, just realizing how it must look. “No! I mean…I’m not trying to make a move.” He was laughing at me, clearly teasing, but I couldn’t stop the words from falling out of my mouth. “Grandma hated how we smelled after a day in the shop.” So had Will. He wouldn’t even kiss me until I showered.

  I had spent my entire life trying to cover up the dirt and fumes that clung to me every day; it was kind of a hard habit to break now. Anyway, my friend Dawn had made these hot chocolate candles and I was totally okay with my house smelling like chocolate.

  Luke walked over and rested his hands on my shoulders. “Edie, every time I fill up my gas tank, I think of you.” I flinched. He squeezed. “That’s not a bad thing! It’s an Edie thing. You don’t need to cover it up. I like you just the way you are.”

  My heart did a shimmy and a shake, and I didn’t know what to concentrate on first. If he thought of me every time he filled up his tank…that was at least once a week, right? And he liked me just the way I was? What did that even mean? I had so many questions…and now I was humming Bruno Mars.

  He laughed softly, then released me, looking around. “You’ve done some work.”

  I smiled so wide, my face hurt. “Want the grand tour?”

  “Absolutely.”

  We started in the living room, where I had restored the fireplace mantel and refinished the wood floors that had been underneath thirty-year-old carpet. Luke bent down and ran his hand across an area of the floor. “I love this finish.”

  “I went with polyacrylic, which I know has its downsides to polyurethane, but I like it better. And less off-gassing.”

  He nodded and followed me through the dining room, which was now painted a beautiful deep teal. “Taking down the wallpaper wasn’t the hard part,” I told him. “It was the glue underne
ath. I can tell you which parts Grandpa did and which parts one of his guys did. But I finally got it sanded and painted.”

  Luke’s hand trailed the edge of the bright white wainscoting that covered the lower half of the wall.

  We walked into the kitchen and he let out a low whistle. “Double ovens? Butcher block counters? Breakfast bar? Be still my Grinch-heart.”

  I laughed. “It’s been a slow process, but perseverance, craigslist, and builder sales have made it possible.”

  “You did this all yourself?”

  I shrugged. “Jami and Sam helped. So did YouTube and years of hoarding Grandpa’s advice.”

  He walked over and bumped my shoulder with his. “Reeses, this is amazing. It’s a different house.”

  “It’s just a little updating. My memories are still in its walls.” I had lived here almost my entire life, moving back in after my parents divorced. Then I’d taken care of my grandma and then Grandpa while they were sick. When they were gone, staying here and taking over the shop had just been natural.

  The thought of leaving it all made my stomach twist with nausea. “Luke, please. Don’t sell.”

  He stepped back as if I’d burned him. “I came over to show you something.” He pulled out his phone and navigated to the shop’s business page. Tamicka usually monitored it, but I really needed to check it more.

  “This was shared from Instagram to Facebook. It has eighty views.” He pressed play on a video and Bridget Gentry, a local single mom who was in the shop last week, started talking. She’d had a faulty barometric pressure sensor and since I had just fixed three similar model SUVs with the same problem, I knew exactly what to do.

  “If you’re tired of the ‘boys club’ atmosphere of auto shops, I cannot recommend Edie’s Auto Shop in Grenadine, Michigan enough! It’s run by Edie Becker, who is an amazing woman! I had taken my car into three other places, like a novice, even though I live right outside Grenadine. It was awful. Not only could they not replicate the issue I was having, but they tried to upsell me constantly.”