Читать книгу All the Little Pieces - Jilliane Hoffman - Страница 17

‘I can pull that out. No biggie. You don’t even need a paint job,’ said the mechanic with the name patch that read ‘Sal’.

‘Really?’ Faith exhaled a deep breath.

‘Yeah. It won’t be perfect, like if you got a new fender or nothing. Same with these dents on the hood. I’ll pop those out.’

‘That would be great. And the …?’ She pointed at the scratches next to the dents.

‘I can wet sand those,’ he answered with a smile. ‘I’ll try compound first. That might work.’

‘Well, that’s better than what I was thinking.’

‘Problem is your grille. You need a new one.’

‘Oh.’ Her face fell.

‘Oh man – you are far too pretty to have such a glum kisser. Listen, it must be your lucky day, ’cause I can probably get that part from a buddy without a hassle. Unless you want it new, because that might take a couple of days.’

‘No, no, it doesn’t have to be new, as long as it looks the same.’

‘It’ll look like you never hit …?’ he said, his voice rising. He was obviously waiting for her to fill in the blank.

‘A used part is fine,’ she replied.

He nodded. ‘You’re paying cash, right? You don’t want to put it through insurance? That’s what you said on the phone.’

‘No. My rates will, you know … they’ll go up. I just want it fixed as soon as possible.’

There was a brief silence. He rubbed his nose with a greasy finger, grinned and said, ‘Oh, I get it.’

She shifted uncomfortably. ‘What?’

‘You don’t want the husband to know.’ He was looking at her wedding ring.

‘You got me.’

‘I’ve heard that before. But it’s a shame.’

‘What’s that?’

‘You’re married.’

‘Thanks, Sal. But you were nowhere to be found seven years ago.’

He laughed. ‘I could fix your car for free no matter how many times you banged it up. And I’m very forgiving. Well, if you ever get rid of the husband, look me up. By the way, it’s Lou, not Sal,’ he said, pointing up at the sign above the garage bay that said: Lou’s Automotive Repair. Fast. Friendly. Dependable. ‘Sal’s my brother. He works here, too. And he lives with me. His shirt was the first one I found in the dryer this morning. Don’t mix us up if you come looking to take me up on that offer, Mrs …?’

‘Saunders.’

‘But if you’re coming in to complain, then ask for Sal,’ he added with a robust laugh.

Faith looked around the garage. There was another car on a lift and a dozen smashed-up vehicles in the yard. ‘Can you do it today, you think, Lou? And the AC, too?’

‘Today? You crazy?’

She bit her lip. She must have looked as desperate as she felt, because he added, ‘That husband of yours must be a real unsympathetic character. Accidents happen.’

She nodded. ‘I can pay you … extra?’

He studied her for a moment before he nodded. ‘It’s those blue eyes of yours; they’d get me to agree to anything. If you can throw an extra two-fifty my way, I’ll drop everything I’m doing just for you. I gotta see if Jimmy has that grille, so I may need you to come back later in the week to finish up. I can’t make no promises now.’

‘As long as you can get the dents taken care of today, I’d be really, really grateful.’

‘So what’d you hit anyways?’ Lou was down on the ground, examining the fender, his hands feeling up underneath it.

Her heart began to race. There was nothing there.

He stood back up and wiped his hands on his blue work pants. He stared at her, waiting for a response.

‘A deer,’ she said softly.

He nodded. ‘Ouch. Not around here …?’

‘No. I was up north, at my sister’s, coming down 441. But it didn’t die. It … ran off,’ she answered softly.

‘Well, don’t worry about it none,’ Lou said as he walked her back into the office. ‘Deer can fuck up a car; you’re lucky this one didn’t do much damage. She probably wasn’t very big. And ya know,’ he added as Faith stared out the window, blinking back tears, ‘you couldn’t’ve hurt her too bad or she wouldn’t’ve gone and run off on ya, now, would she?’