Private Lessons

by Dara Girard

  During the one day he’d spent with her, he knew she was the key to the company’s success. She shared with him how some drivers could be trained to also sit with clients at appointments and help with grocery shopping for those who didn’t want deliveries. She was a fountain of ideas of how the business could improve and he’d filed away all of her ideas. He got to know the other drivers and the main office staff, but came to see that Jodi was the driving force. To his surprise he’d learned she’d come up with a unique design for clamping in wheelchairs and walkers, which the company patented.

  But he wouldn’t get to see her again. By next week he’d be back behind a desk. He took a sip of his coffee—black, no sugar, the way his father used to like it. He grimaced as the now cold bitter liquid hit his tongue then spit it back in his cup.

  “That’s disgusting,” Jodi said with a laugh.

  He wiped his mouth. “Sorry about that.”

  “You left it too long and now it’s cold.” She turned to the counter. “Do you want—?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  She turned back to him with a rueful smile. “I knew I should have ordered for you. I memorized everything on the menu.”

  “It wouldn’t have helped.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t like coffee.”

  She laughed. “That’s a good one.”

  “I’m serious.”

  She stared at him. “Really?”

  He nodded, ready to be honest about something.

  She slapped him on the arm. “Then why didn’t you tell me? We could have gone somewhere else.” She looked at his untouched Danish in dismay. “Do you hate that too?”

  “No, just not hungry.”

  “This was supposed to be my treat.”

  “This is fine.”

  “But it doesn’t make any sense. Why did you say yes to having coffee with me?”

  He shrugged. “I’m still having a good time.”

  “But you don’t like coffee.”

  “No, but I like you.”

  2

  Jodi knew it was dangerous to laugh. Dylan wasn’t the kind of man you laughed at, but what had just come out of his mouth had sounded ridiculous. He liked her? This man who didn’t look like he liked anything?

  The first thing she’d noticed about him was his body. Not his height, he was tall, but no taller than most men, but she noticed his physique. He had the body of a laborer—broad shoulders, thick legs—the kind of man who looked like he could move timber by himself. He had features like a carved walnut sculpture and serious dark eyes that looked as cold as a frozen lake at night. He had a solitary driven presence which made his appearance at By Your Side strange. He didn’t look like someone who liked to work with people, but after a few awkward moments he’d fit in.

  She looked down at his Danish then back up at his face to see a change in his expression, but she couldn’t read anything. Perhaps he’d been teasing her. Or maybe she’d misheard him. She opened her mouth to ask him to repeat himself, but the ring of her cell phone cut her off.

  He stood. “You’d better get that.”

  “No, wait,” she said, grabbing his hand. When he looked down in surprise, she quickly snatched her hand away. “What did you just say?”

  “I said you’d better get that.”

  She shook her head. “No, before you said that. What you said about the coffee.” Her phone continued to ring.

  “I said I don’t like coffee.”

  “No, after you said that—” She held up her hand. “Just wait a minute.” She checked the number. “It’s an emergency, but don’t go anywhere, okay?” She didn’t give him a chance to reply as she went outside so she could hear better. The popular coffee shop was too noisy.

  When she returned moments later, she wasn’t surprised to see him gone. The emergency had been easily remedied—a driver had gotten double booked—and had wasted her time.

  She returned to her seat and sank down into the chair defeated. One of the most interesting men she’d ever come across had just walked out of her life. And he liked her.

  Or had she just imagined it?

  Who says something like that then just walks away? She sighed in disappointment. Yes, she must have misheard him. Perhaps she’d heard what she’d wanted to hear, that he’d felt the attraction too. She noticed he’d taken the Danish. She wondered if he’d eat it or throw it away.

  Her attraction to him had come out of nowhere. Certainly not the first time she met him.

  He wasn’t her type, she hadn’t even realized she had one until she looked at him and realized he wasn’t anything like the kind of man she’d imagine falling for. He was far from conventionally handsome, and quiet, she preferred people who liked to talk, but she sensed something deeper there.

  And she hadn’t paid much attention to him until one day when he came into the office and saw her struggling with the replacement jug for the water cooler. He calmly took it from her and settled it in place. She thanked him and he looked directly at her, making everything around her fall away, and said in a low voice, “You’re welcome, Jodi,” and at that moment she was adrift in the frozen lake and strangely didn’t feel cold. Instead her skin felt hot, her breath shallow.

  No man had ever looked at her like that. Most men looked past her or through her, but his gaze hit her right at her core awakening something inside her that she hadn’t known had been asleep.

  “You’re not serious,” her friend and colleague Cara Manusco, said in surprise when Jodi shared how she felt one day after work. They enjoyed getting together at the local diner, a crowded place known for large portions and friendly staff. Cara wanted to stay away from her mother-in-law, who had recently moved in with her family and was staying for a few months. She’d recently cut her long brown hair short to annoy her husband. Jodi had agreed to meet her just so she didn’t have to face another dinner alone. “You’re going to ask him out?”

  “Not on a real date,” Jodi said quickly, munching on her tuna melt. “Just for coffee.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  Cara paused. “Besides the fact that he’s scary?”

  Jodi waved a French fry at her. “He’s not scary.”

  “Don’t play with your food.”

  Jodi ate the fry.

  “And I stand by what I said. Come Halloween he doesn’t have to wear a costume.”

  “He’s not scary.”

  “He made one of the residents at Garden View scream.”

  “That’s because he surprised her.”

  Cara sent her a look.

  “Okay, I admit that he’s not the most…friendly looking man, but he’s nice.”

  “He hardly talks.”

  “He’s a man who likes to listen.” She shrugged. “I’d like a chance to get to know him better.”

  “I wouldn’t chance it.”

  “It’s just coffee. He may say ‘no’ anyway.”

  Cara nodded. “For your sake, I hope he does.”

  He didn’t and she’d been thrilled, unfortunately, the timing was all wrong because she’d first had to tell him that they were letting him go. She wished she hadn’t been tasked with doing her boss’s dirty work. Firing Dylan had been difficult and unfair.

  “What happened wasn’t his fault,” Jodi said to her boss Larry Williams as she paced her office. His unexpected visit should have warned her that he wanted her to do something. He rarely showed up at their office with good news. He had comically attractive features, the kind of handsome found in a cartoon character—thick, wavy brown hair, a broad grin that looked like it could sparkle when he smiled and straight nose.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Larry said, running a hand through his hair that fell perfectly back in place. “I want him gone. Pay him enough to make sure he doesn’t say anything.”

  “It would be easier to keep him here and loyal to the company.”

  “No, it’s too late for that. Besides, there’s something about him th
at makes me nervous. And Natalie thinks so too.”

  That was no surprise. Dylan seemed to have that affect on most people. But getting arrested because he was caught driving a stolen vehicle wasn’t his fault. One of the van’s they’d bought had been stolen and Natalie should have done a more diligent background check. Dylan had been stopped by the police after making an illegal U-turn and it was while they were running the van’s number that it came up as stolen. The client in the van at the time had been so distraught after having to be transferred to another vehicle the family threatened to sue.

  Dylan handled the incident without showing any anger and admitted to his illegal turn, which impressed her. It was one mistake. The other clients liked him and he did his job well, and was always on time. There had been no other complaints. He deserved a second chance.

  However, Natalie was his daughter and Larry was easily persuaded by what she said. “But Larry I think—”

  “This is for the best.”

  “But why do I have to do it?”

  “Because you have a way with people, we don’t want a scene.”

  “Are you telling me HR is afraid of him?”

  “Just do it with your natural charm. Trust me on this.”

  She didn’t have much of a choice. He was the boss and he made the rules.

  Now she wouldn’t see him again. If only Dylan had waited to clarify! Had he meant what he’d said? Had he said it at all? She could call him and find out, but he must have left for a reason. If he’d really been interested he would have stayed.

  But he was a man of mystery. She’d discovered that when she’d received another emergency call the one day Dylan had been shadowing her. An emergency that hadn’t been so easy to solve…

  3

  Three weeks ago…

  “Things are going to be a little tense but trust me,” she’d told him as she turned onto the tree lined street where the call had originated, the bare branches dark against the grey autumn sky. “I’ve handled something like this before.”

  He nodded.

  “We don’t get calls like this normally so it’s more of a personal consideration on my part. I’ve worked with the family before, the mother uses our services and I have a good relationship with them and told them they could call me any time during these traumatic events.”

  He nodded again.

  She parked in front of the small boxlike house with faded curtains.

  “I’m surprised the ambulance hasn’t arrived yet,” Dylan said getting out of the car. He looked around. “Or maybe they got here before us.”

  Jodi locked the car and shook her head. “Oh no. It’s not that kind of emergency.”

  “I thought you said you planned to offer support during a traumatic event.”

  “Yes, it is, in a way,” she said, walking up the crumbling pathway lined with neat bushes. “I’m here about Arnold Fischer. He doesn’t want to give up his license although he’s had two mishaps and one major accident. His daughter Margery and her brother, Bud, contacted me.”

  Dylan lifted his brows in surprise but said nothing.

  Jodi walked up to the front door and raised her hand to knock. On the other side of the door they could hear shouting, a dog barking and someone crying. She sent him a nervous look. “Do you want to wait in the car?”

  He shook his head.

  She knocked on the door; the shouting grew louder. Jodi looked at him again. “Are you sure?”

  He nodded.

  The door swung open and a haggard woman in her mid-fifties dressed in a stylish red blouse and tight jeans opened the door. A yapping terrier circled her heels.

  “I’m sorry to bother you like this,” Margery said, a strand of light brown hair falling from her ponytail. “Dad’s furious and Mom’s in tears.”

  Jodi stepped into the house, careful not to step on the dog that was now yapping and circling around her. “You know I’m not a miracle worker.”

  “But he trusts you.” She turned. “He’s in the living room. My brother is trying to talk to him now.”

  Jodi followed her into the light green room filled with overstuffed furniture that seemed meant for a larger house; an array of black and white photos hung on the wall and lined the fireplace mantle. An older man of about eighty-seven sat with his arms folded, gripping keys in one hand. A man, with the woman’s same hair coloring, stood over him while an older woman with a grey bun dressed in a floral sweater sat across from the pair, her head bent, her eyes covered. “We’ve gone over this and you’re upsetting Mom,” the standing man said.

  “I’ve been driving before any of you were even born!”

  “It’s time to call it quit, Pops,” Bud said.

  “No.”

  Margery took a hesitant step towards him. “You could have been killed.”

  “Or killed someone,” Bud added.

  “Everyone makes mistakes.” Arnold pointed at his son in accusation. “Remember that crash you had?”

  Bud shook his head and sighed. “I was eighteen.”

  “Right and did I take the keys away from you?”

  “It’s different,” Bud said, resting his hands on his hips.

  “How is it different? I made one mistake.”

  “It’s more than one,” Margery said.

  Bud sighed. “You’re too old.”

  “I’m not too old,” Arnold said. “I’m fit. My doctor says I have the heart of a much younger man.”

  Jodi stepped forward. “Hi, Mr. Fischer.”

  His gaze darted between his son and daughter. “Who invited her here?”

  “I did,” Margery said.

  Bud folded his arms. “We both did.”

  Arnold looked past them and his eyes widened with fear when he spotted Dylan. “Then who’s this guy? Are you trying to take me away? Do you think you can lock me up? I’m not going anywhere.”

  “There’s no need to worry, Mr. Fischer,” Jodi said. “He’s just shadowing me.”

  Arnold continued to stare at Dylan uncertain. “You’re all against me.”

  “No, we want to help you. You won’t lose your freedom. Didn’t you like when someone took you and Mrs. Fischer to the movies?”

  He folded his arms. “The movie was too loud.”

  “That’s because you refused to adjust your hearing aid,” his wife said then buried her face in her hands again.

  “We’re here to serve you,” Jodi said. “To make sure you can still do all that you want to.”

  “I want to drive.”

  “It’s not safe,” Margery said.

  “He wants to die,” Dylan said.

  They all turned to him shocked. Jodi glared at him and mouthed ‘Be quiet.’

  But he kept his gaze focused on Arnold. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’d rather die than give up the keys because that means death to the man you used to be. I can understand that. I say we leave him alone.”

  “Are you crazy?” Margery said.

  He shrugged.

  “He could kill someone.”

  He shrugged again. “If he’s comfortable taking that risk who are we to stop him?”

  Jodi grabbed his sleeve. “Go and wait in the car.”

  He didn’t move, keeping his gaze on Arnold. “Do you agree?”

  “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Arnold said in a quiet voice.

  “And you’re afraid of being a burden.”

  He hung his head. “Seventy years. I’ve been behind the wheel for seventy years. It was my first love. My first taste of freedom; the first sign that I was a man and you want to take that away from me?”

  “A real man knows his limitations; it takes courage to admit them.”

  Arnold released a long sigh. “I’m not courageous.”

  “You don’t’ have to be. You don’t have to admit anything.” Dylan studied one of the black and white photos on the wall depicting a bygone war. “Medic?”

  Arnold nodded and told him which unit he’d served in.

  Jodi s
tepped closer to see the photo that had taken Dylan’s interest. It was a photograph of a young man with a bandage covering one eye, another missing an arm. He continued staring at the photo while he held out his hand. “Do you judge a man by what he can’t do or by what he can?”

  For a moment silence fell and it was the first time Jodi realized that the dog had stopped barking, but instead sat quietly at Dylan’s side. Somehow the chaos and anger that they had entered into had ebbed. She turned her gaze to Arnold, who no longer looked at Dylan with fear, but instead with respect and understanding.

  “There’s a time for a soldier to stand down,” Arnold said, rising to his feet.

  Dylan pointed to another photo. “Tell me about this one.”

  Arnold eagerly spent the next half hour sharing his days during the war, and Jodi saw that he no longer looked as broken as he had before. In her experience, she had learned that often seniors wanted to be remembered and acknowledged for who they had been: The young person who still lived inside them.

  Without anyone noticing, Dylan gave her the keys. The company would make arrangements to have the car picked up the next day. All cars turned over to them had to undergo a full inspection to become part of By Your Side or they would be traded or discarded.

  On the drive back, Jodi sent glances at Dylan amazed. “How did you do that?”

  “What?”

  “You calmed the dog, stopped Mrs. Fischer from crying and read the situation in an instant. You gave Mr. Fischer back his dignity while taking something away. You don’t look like someone who—” She stopped and bit her lip.

  “What?” he said with a note of humor.

  “Never mind.”

  “I know I look mean.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  He shrugged, making it clear it didn’t matter.

  But suddenly everything about him mattered to her. She wanted to know more. She sensed a gentleness and compassion underneath his hard exterior. She didn’t see a wedding ring, but some married men didn’t wear one.

  “Are you married?” She quickly covered her mouth embarrassed that she’d wondered that allowed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”