The next morning, I knew I had to stop by Tanner’s auto shop for the surprise he’d mentioned to me earlier that week. Emma, Bubba, and I skipped into town, her singing her own version of the Frozen soundtrack, me pulling out my eyelashes, and Bubba being a pleasantly silent stuffed animal.
“Uncle T!” Emma yelled, bum-rushing Tanner, whose head was looking under the hood of a car. Tanner turned around, his white shirt covered in oil stains, and his face dressed with the same substance.
He lifted her in his arms and spun her around before pulling her into a close hug. “Hey, munchkin. What’s that behind your ear?” he asked her.
“I don’t have anything behind my ear!”
“Oh, but I think you’re wrong.” He pulled his faithful quarter from behind Emma’s ear, making her laugh and laugh, which in turn made me smile. “How have you been?”
Emma smiled and went into a deep, thought-provoking story about how I let her dress herself that day, which ended with a purple tutu, rainbow socks, and a T-shirt with zombie penguins.
I smiled. Tanner stared her way as if truly interested in her story. After a few minutes, Tanner sent Emma off with a few dollar bills to go attack the candy machine with one of his workers, Gary. The whole way, I could hear Emma rehashing the story of how her outfit had come to life to poor Gary.
“She’s cuter than I remember.” Tanner smiled. “She has your smile.”
I grinned and thanked him, even though her smile reminded me more of Steven.
“So, I have something for you, come here.” He led me to the back room where a sheet was covering a car. When he pulled it off, my legs almost buckled beneath me.
“How?” I asked, walking around the jeep, running my fingers across it. Steven’s jeep looked newer than ever. “It was totaled.”
“Ah, bumps and bruises can always be healed.”
“This had to cost you a fortune.”
He shrugged. “Steven was my best friend. You’re one of my best friends. I just wanted you to have something familiar to come home to.”
“You always knew I would come back?”
“We all hoped.” Tanner bit his bottom lip as he stared at the jeep. “I still can’t stop blaming myself. The week before the accident I begged him to stop into my shop so I could give the car a tune up. He said he would be good for a few more months. I can’t help but think that maybe I could’ve noticed something was wrong with the car if he stopped in to see me. If he had let me get under the hood, then maybe he would still…” He pinched the bridge of his nose and stopped talking.
“It wasn’t your fault, Tanner.”
He sniffled and gave me a tight smile. “Yeah, well. The thought just passes through my mind every now and then. Now come on, hop inside.”
I stepped into the driver’s seat and sat. My eyes closed and I took a few deep breaths as I lay my hand across to the passenger seat, waiting for that touch, the warmth of another’s hand to hold. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I’m good, I’m good. Then I felt the hold from another, and when my eyes opened, I saw Emma’s small hand sitting in mine, chocolate all over her face. She smiled wide, causing me to do the same.
“You okay, Mama?” she asked.
One breath.
“Yes, baby. I’m good.”
Tanner walked over to me and placed the keys in my hand. “Welcome home, ladies. Remember, if you need me to help with the lawn and stuff, just give me a call.”
“Tick already did it!” Emma exclaimed.
Tanner arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“I actually ended up hiring a guy to do it. Well, kind of. I owe him some kind of payment.”
“What? Liz, I could’ve done it for free. Who did you hire?”
I knew he wouldn’t like the answer. “His name is Tristan…”
“Tristan Cole?!” Tanner ran his fingers over his face, which was turning red. “Liz, he’s an asshole.”
“He’s not.” Yeah, okay, he is.
“Trust me, he is. He’s a fucking nut job too. Did you know he works for Mr. Henson? He’s the freaking case study of insanity.”
I didn’t know why, but Tanner’s words made me feel as if he were speaking about me. “That’s really harsh, Tanner.”
“He’s insane. And Tristan is dangerous. Just…let me handle the work around the house. God. I hate that he lives next door to you.”
“He did a great job. It’s really not a big deal.”
“It is. It’s just, you’re too trusting. You need to use your head a little more than your heart. You have to think.” Ouch. “I don’t like this at all, Liz. And I doubt Steven would’ve either.”
“Yeah, well. He’s not really around anymore,” I hissed, feeling a bit embarrassed, and a lot hurt. “I’m not an idiot, Tanner. And I can handle this. Just…” I paused, forcing out a smile. “Thank you for this. For the jeep. You have no clue how much it means to me.”
He must have seen through my fake smile because he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Sorry. I’m an asshole. I just worry. If anything happened to you…”
“I’m fine. We’re safe. I swear.”
“Okay. Well, get out of here before I say something else I’ll regret.” He smirked. “Emma, take care of your mama, all right?”
“Why? I’m the kid, not her,” Emma sassed. I couldn’t help but laugh, because she was one hundred percent right.
