I pulled my hood over my head and gently shut the door. I knew I looked like a horrible mother, but I didn’t know what else to do. After I had tugged my hood over my head, I walked to the entrance, pulled the door open to the shop, keeping my eyes to the floor as I walked to the counter. I had no idea how I was going to pay to get my car fixed, but I had no choice right now.
“Can I help you?”
Shit, I was going to have to look up, and Lord knew what this guy was going to think when he saw my face. I thought of Levi in the car, and I knew I needed to hurry up and get back outside. I dropped my hood and looked at the most handsome man I had ever seen. “I need help.”
____________
Chapter 2
Mitch
I was speechless at her words, not knowing what to say. Her eyes were clear and bright green ringed by the dark purple bruise that was framing both eyes. What the hell had happened to her? “Um, I-”
“Not here. I need to be by my car, please.” She looked over her shoulder at the door taking a step back. “Can you come out there with me?” Her eyes darted back to me, and there was panic on her face, almost fearful that I wouldn’t let her go back to her car.
“Yeah, sure,” I said, nodding my head at the door. She pulled her hood up over her head and scurried back out back the door before I even had time to make it around the counter.
“What the fuck is going on?” I mumbled as I grabbed my sweatshirt and pulled it on over my head. “Kurt, I’ll be out front,” I hollered out into the shop. I heard him grunt a reply from under the hood of a car and made my way out the front door.
The girl was standing next to a piece of shit Corolla that had definitely seen better days. The passenger door was open, and I heard the radio playing softly. She had kept her hood pulled over her head, shielding most of her face from me. “What seems to be the problem?”
“I don’t know. It’s been acting up for months.”
If it had been acting up for months, don’t you normally get it fixed? I glanced at the plates on her car seeing she was from Washington and thought she was a long way from home to be driving a car that was acting up. “OK if I start it up?”
She glanced in the back seat and sighed heavily. “Yeah, he’s been sleeping for a couple of hours, so if he wakes up, he should be fine.” What the hell was she talking about? I had only known this girl for two minutes, and she had completely baffled me. She shut the back door and stepped away from the car, crossing her arms over her chest.
I opened the driver's door, sliding into the front seat and put my hand on the keys in the ignition.
“Mama?”
I whipped around in my seat and was met with the same eyes that I had seen on the mysterious redhead except they were on a boy who was probably three. “I’m not your mama.”
His bottom lip quivered, and his eyes got glassy at my words. I knew that look too well from when Frankie was little and bolted out of the car. “There’s a kid in there,” I bellowed.
A smile spread across her lips and a giggle bubbled out. “I hope so.” She bent into the driver's side leaning over the front seat. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I was thankful that I didn’t hear any crying. She backed out of the car and motioned for me to get back in. “He’s good. You just scared him.”
My eyes darted between her and the car. I didn’t want to get back in the car. Making a kid cry was not normally on my to-do list for the day. “You sure?” She nodded her head and bit her lip, trying to keep herself from laughing.
I ducked back into the car, shaking my head. “Mama said you won’t hurt me.” Jesus Christ. I could only imagine what the kid thought when he woke up to see me in the car. If his mom’s face was any indication of what they had been through, I’m sure he was terrified.
“Nope, I won’t, bud. I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong with your mom’s car.”
“It goes too fast.”
I chuckled under my breath and shook my head. “That might be your mama’s way of driving.”
“OK, mister.” I turned the key, the engine grinding and sputtering to life. As soon as the sputtering stopped, the car revved high, going well into the red mark. I quickly shut the car off and ran my fingers through my hair. “Told ya it went fast,” he whispered from the back seat.
I twisted in my seat, my eyes on the little boy. “What’s your name, bud?”
“Levi but Mama said I’m not supposed to tell anyone that.” He crossed his arms over his chest, staring me down.
“Well, I promise not to tell anyone your name. You wanna know what mine is?” He shrugged his shoulders but didn’t say anything. “My name is Mitch. About how old are you, Levi?” He looked pretty young, but he certainly didn’t act like it. That probably had to do with the fact of the way he had to grow up pretty quick.
“Four, I’ll be five in two months. Mama said I could have a Transformer party for my birthday. Optimus Prime is my favorite.”
Ah, now the kid was speaking my language. I had lived and breathed Transformers growing up. “I would have figured you for a Bumblebee fan.”
“Nah, Optimus Prime rocks!”
“Um, I hate to interrupt all the Transformer talk, but we actually need to be somewhere. Well, ten minutes ago we needed to be somewhere.” I turned back to her and watched as she ran her fingers through her hair. “I can drive it, right?”
“That would be a negative. Something is seriously wrong with your car.”
“It’s been doing that the whole way here. I’m sure I can make it five more miles.” She crossed her arms over her chest and held her hand out for the keys.
I slid out of the car, the keys in my hand and shoved them into my pocket. “Not happening. I can’t morally let you go knowing that your car is ready to self-implode at any second. I’ll get it into the shop and see what’s wrong with it.”
“I don’t have the time or money for that. Look, I promise just to drive it to our new apartment, and that’s it. Now, give me the keys.”
I shut the door and leaned against the car. “Not happening. I’ll give you a ride to wherever you need to go and have your car back to you by the end of the week.”
She ran her hands through her hair and paced back and forth. “I can’t believe this,” she mumbled under her breath. “Out of all the damn body shops I stumbled into the one that has morals.”
“If you get into an accident with this car, I could be held liable for letting you on the road. I can’t.”
“Look, whoever you are, I need to be somewhere, badly.” She lunged at me, trying to grab the keys out of my pocket but I stepped to the left, her hand colliding with my hip.
I opened the rear door, sticking my head into the backseat. “Hey, Levi. I’m going to give you and your mom a ride.”
“Yes!” He struggled with the straps on his car seat but managed to unbuckle them and crawled across the seat to me.
“You could have gone out the other door,” I laughed as he pushed me out of the way.
“Mama’s got the locks on. She says I might fall out when she’s going fast.”
“As long as you keep the door shut, bud, you shouldn’t fall out.”
He motioned for me to lean down and whispered in my ear. “I opened the door once. Mama won’t let me forget it.”
I rocked back on my heels, laughing at his words and a sly smile spread across his lips. “He told you when he scared me half to death, didn’t he?” I glanced over my shoulder, a disapproving look on her face and her arms were back to being crossed over her chest.
“It’s OK, Mama. I won’t do it again.”
“And I’m still going to keep those child safety locks on until your ten, maybe eleven.”
Levi crossed his arms over his chest just like his mom and stared her down. I couldn’t help but notice how much they looked alike. Well, from what I could tell from her battered face. “Why don’t you grab whatever you need and I’ll give you a ride. Kurt can handle the shop until I get back
.”
Levi scurried back into the car, shoving toys into his bag and I stood up, brushing my hands on my pants. “You do realize that my car is loaded full, and I need everything that is in it?”
“I’ve got a truck, Sparky.”
“That’s not my name.”
“Well, then what is your name?”
She looked me up and down, debating whether or not to tell me. “Scarlett.”
“Well, Scarlett,” I held my hand out, “My name is Mitch.” She rested her small hand in mine, my fingers enveloping hers. She briefly shook my hand and then snatched it away like I had burned her skin.
“You don’t have to do this,” she mumbled.
“Two things you need to know about me, Sparky. I never do anything I don’t want to, and I always get my way.” My gaze lingered down her body, wondering what she looked like under all those baggy clothes. I shook my head, wondering what the hell I was thinking. “I’ll go get the truck,” I muttered.
I walked around to the back of the shop where I always parked my Dodge Ram and pulled my keys out of my pocket feeling Scarlett’s next to mine. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her car, but I knew I couldn’t let her drive that piece of shit another inch. The headlights flashed on the truck as I beeped the locks and climbed up into the truck. While all of Luke’s vehicles were white, his Charger included, I had a thing for blue. From my race car, daily driving car and my truck, they were all cobalt blue.
The truck roared to life as I turned the key and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, sending off a message to Kurt letting him know I’d be gone for a bit then shifted the truck into drive. I slowly drove around the building, the exhaust rumbling loudly as I pulled up next to Scarlett’s car.
“Wow! You drive a monster truck!” Levi shouted as he ran up to the truck as I jumped down.
“Not exactly, but it is pretty tall.”
“Can I get in?” Levi jumped up and down trying to get his short legs on the running board.
“Hold on there, bud.” I kneeled down in front of him and put my hand on his shoulder to stop him from jumping. “Did you get all of your stuff packed up?”
“Yeah, it’s over by Mama.” He pointed over my shoulder and started jumping up and down again.
“Alright.” I stood up and reached up into the truck, turning it off and stuck the keys back in my pocket.
“Aw, you stopped the growling,” he pouted.
I shook my head laughing and boosted him up into the truck. “I promise to make it growl when I take you and your mama for a ride.”
“Woo hoo.” His eyes grew big as I set him in the driver seat and he climbed up onto his knees and looked out the windshield. “I can see everything from up here.”
“Yup. Alright, I’m gonna help your mom. You stay here and try not to push too many buttons, OK?” Levi nodded his head and climbed into the backseat.
I left the door open and sauntered over to Scarlett, who had the trunk popped and was tossing bags onto the ground.
“You need all of this?” I asked bending down to grab two duffel bags.
“Yeah. I thought I could leave some stuff in the car, but we’re going to need everything. I grabbed only the bare essentials when we left, so I can’t really skim down anymore.” She put her hands on her hips and gazed into the trunk.
I stood beside her and saw that she had another five bags and one bin full left in the trunk. “We can fit it in the truck. Don’t worry about it.” She was worried she had too much, and here I thought it was insane that all she had for her and Levi were seven bags and a bin. I had more than that, and I was only one person.
“I’ll just leave this tote here until I get the car back.”
I walked over to the truck, tossing the bags into the back and walked back over to the car. “Stop,” I said, grabbing the tote out. “It will all fit, and I don’t mind.” I managed to snag two bags with one hand and stuck the tote under my other arm. “Get in the truck. I’ll get the rest.”
“I don’t know why you are doing this. You don’t even know my son or me.”
“I’m doing what any decent human being would do.”
“No, you’re not. Everyone I know wouldn’t do half of what you’re doing.”
“Then you’ve known the wrong people, Scarlett. Not only is this something I would do, I know for a fact my brothers and sister would do the same thing. Get in the truck.” I was ten seconds away from dropping the bags, slinging her over my shoulder and putting her in the truck myself.
She reached around me, grabbing a bag. “Thank you,” she whispered before she walked over to the truck and threw her bag into the truck bed.
“Mama, come get in the monster truck with me,” Levi hollered from the back seat.
“One sec, baby. I need to help Mr. Mitch.”
She took two steps toward me, but I shook my head and motioned for her to get in the truck. “I’ve got it.”
“I need to get the car seat for Levi.”
Shit, I forgot about that. I totally would have just strapped him in the backseat and took off. I guess it was a good thing I didn’t have kids. I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with them. “You grab the seat, and I’ll get everything else.”
By the time Scarlett had struggled with the getting the seat out of the car and into the truck, I had managed to empty the car and pulled it into an open bay.
“What the fuck is this?” Kurt stood next to the car, his jaw dropped as the engine ticked after I turned it off. “We’re a body shop, not a fucking junkyard.”
I slid out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Yeah, it’s definitely a pile, but we’re going to have to try and fix it. There're about fifty things wrong with it, but the big one is as soon as you shift into drive the throttle opens up and wants to take off like a rocket.”
“That’s why you slammed on the brakes when you pulled in here. Didn’t want to go through the wall,” Kurt chuckled.
“I’m gonna run the owner somewhere and then I’ll be back. See if you can work on it until the first customer shows up.”
“This thing needs a miracle.” Kurt reached in, pulled the hood release and popped it open. A cloud of smoke puffed from the engine as he raised the rusted hood.
“Just look it over and see where we need to start. I need to give Scarlett and Levi a ride.”
“Who the hell are Scarlett and Levi?” Kurt twisted off the cap to the oil and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “When the hell was the last time she had an oil change? Jesus Christ.” Kurt wiped the dipstick on one of the shop towels smearing a milky mess all over it.
“I’m going to have to say never.” I ran my fingers over my head realizing that this was going to be a bigger mess than I first thought. “I gotta go, I’ll be back.” I’d have to worry about her car when I got back.
“Hey, you never told me who Scarlett and Levi were,” Kurt hollered as I walked out the door.
“I’ll tell you later,” I managed to yell back before the door closed. I swung by the office grabbing my sunglasses off the counter and shoved them onto my face.
I didn’t know what or who it was that beat Scarlett and what she was running from, but there was something deep inside of me that wanted to know what it was and make sure it never happened to her again.
Levi was a special little boy and Scarlett, well, Scarlett I wasn’t too sure about, but I wanted to know more about her. I just hoped she would be willing to let me in.
____________
Chapter 3
Scarlett
“Make it growl again,” Levi giggled from the back seat. “It tickles my tummy.” Mitch goosed the gas, revving the engine and throwing Levi into another fit of giggles.
“He’s a riot.”
“He definitely likes to laugh.” I glanced in the backseat, Levi’s giggles fading off as he grabbed his bag and pulled out a Transformer.
“It’s good he can still laugh.” Mitch glanced over at me, and I knew what he was thinking, and I di
dn’t want to go there. There was pity in his eyes, something I hated.
“He doesn’t know much. I never let what happened to me touch him,” I mumbled quietly and turned back around in my seat. “How much longer until we get there?” After we had pulled out of the shop, I had given Mitch the address to the apartment. He asked twice for it, almost not believing me the first time.
“Should be just at the end of the street.” Mitch made one last turn and drove to the last apartment building on the left. The right side of the road was all single home families that were run down and some actually falling down.
I knew when I had seen the ad online for this place that it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods, but I didn’t have any other options. It was this or sleep in the car. Mitch parked at the curb in front of the apartment and turned in his seat to look at me. “I could find you a better-”
I put my hand up, cutting him off and shook my head. “No. This is fine.”
“I don’t think that-”
“I didn’t ask what you think, Mitch. Hell, I didn’t even know you half an hour ago. You’ve done your good deed for the day. Levi and I will just grab our stuff and head up.” I reached for the door handle, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“OK. But why don’t you run in and get the key and I’ll sit out here with Levi.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say no and tell Mitch that I didn’t need his help or pity, but I didn’t. He was right once again. It would be so much faster just to run in by myself to get the key then to take Levi in who would ask fifty question and delay us. “Fine. I should only be five minutes, and then you can get back to your regularly scheduled life that doesn’t include helping damsels and their kid in distress.”
Mitch smirked and let go of my arm. “Levi and I will just hang out here and talk about how Bumblebee is waaay better than ol’ Optimus.”
“No, he’s not,” Levi shouted from the backseat. Mitch had just opened a can of worms by saying anything was better than Optimus, especially Bumblebee.
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