Where There's Light | ✔

07. It's A Game

Mom was making Taylor some eggs when I rambled of some lie about going to Bee's to do homework. She hadn't seen the damage to the car yet and I wanted to get the car to Chambers' Motors before she had the chance.

When I pulled up to the bright yellow building, Nolan was nowhere to be seen. His dad was out front talking to one of the workers, though. He walked over when he saw me.

"Back already?" He asked as he bent down to my level.

He had the same light brown eyes as Nolan. The blonde hair, too. His was cut short, though. He also didn't have Nolan's height. Maybe he got that from his mother. The name tag on his coveralls read Billy.

Billy seemed a lot more friendly than he did the other day. Probably because I was a client and not his son.

"No, it's the mirror, actually."

He looked at it, clearly not noticing the first time. He touched it, getting a better look. "I see," he said. "How'd that happen?"

The words your son were on the tip of my tongue. That glare Billy here gave Nolan the other day came back to me. For some reason I didn't want to get him in trouble.

"Some drunk idiot knocked it off."

"Ah, those are the worst kind of idiots," he chuckled before standing up straight. "Pull into number three and I'll send someone over to help you out."

"Thanks," I called out as I pulled into the last workstation.

Five minutes later Nolan ducked his head into the driver's side window. "What'd you tell him?"

I looked over at him, taking in his disheveled hair, the bags under his eyes and the stubble on his cheeks. "You look like crap."

He wasn't amused. His hands gripped the rolled down window. "What did you say to him?"

There was a flash of emotion in his eyes. Fear? Desperation?

"I didn't tell him it was you."

He breathed a sigh of relief, the tension leaving from his shoulders. I thought our families might've been the same, but I've never been afraid of my own father. Whatever was going on in their home was beyond me. It made me feel bad for him.

"It's going to take about an hour to replace the mirror," he said, stepping back from the car.

I got out, standing in front of him. Whatever I felt last night was still lingering around, and despite my earlier comment stubble looked good on him.

What was I saying? I glanced down at the ground, regrouping before turning back to him. "And it's still free?"

He gave me a bored look. "Why is it always the people with money that don't want to pay?"

People with money? It was then that I realized  not a lot of people knew that my dad left or that he had all the money, leaving my mom with nothing but a house she can't afford and two kids to feed.

He even talked her out of getting married, saying they didn't need a piece of paper to know they were in love. I think he didn't want to get married so it'd be easier to walk out—no strings attached.

I didn't explain any of that to Nolan, though. Instead I asked, "So, that's a yes?" He nodded.

* * *

I'd been sitting in the waiting area for all of thirty minutes when my stomach started making animal like noises. They were so loud that even Allison heard them, offering me a brownie. I shook my head, sweets weren't really my thing.