maintenance problems, since auto mechanics so often talked down to her and
made her feel like an idiot. And she had no clear way to prevent being taken
advantage of.
She
felt stupid and helpless and overly emotional.
And
she couldn’t help but think that, if Josh hadn’t died, she wouldn’t have to
deal with this kind of situation on her own.
The
mechanic rambled out a mostly incoherent explanation of the problem with her
vehicle, and she didn’t know if he was trying to make it confusing on purpose
or if the needed repairs were genuinely that convoluted.
She
was greatly relieved when a car pulled up outside and the driver laid on the
horn, so the mechanic—with a promise to return quickly—headed outside to deal
with the new customer.
Zoe
pulled out her phone and tried to call Dan, Jane’s husband, who knew all about
cars. When he didn’t answer, she disconnected with a sigh. She scrolled down to
Adam’s number and almost hit send, but she stopped herself just in time. For
the last week, ever since she’d gone sailing with him, she’d been trying to
create just enough distance between them—not enough so he would notice, but
enough that she could feel more comfortable with the way things were between
them.
She
wanted Josh so bad she could taste it. Her chest hurt with it. It just didn’t
seem fair that she had to try to get over the grief of losing him and also deal
with all of these annoying life issues all by herself.
She
stared back down at the estimate. The easiest thing would be to just pay it,
have her car fixed, and get on her way. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.
But
she really hated to be taken advantage of.
She
wished she knew whether or not she was.
As
she tried to read through the list of repairs, she recognized something. The
page said she needed a new air filter, but she knew something about that was
off. They tried to get her to replace the filter every time she got her oil
changed, and she’d just gotten a new one not long ago.
Surely
she wouldn’t need another new one already.
She
looked over the list again, seeing if she could recognize anything else. A
couple of months ago, she’d taken the SUV in for scheduled maintenance, and
some of these other things on the list looked awfully familiar.
But
she couldn’t be sure unless she checked the glove compartment, where she kept
all the service records.
Holding
Logan on her hip, she stood up and went over to look into the garage. The
gigantic SUV was up on a lift, and a mechanic—not the one she'd been speaking
to before—was working on another car.
“Excuse
me,” she called, “I’m sorry, but I need to get into my car. Can you lower it
please?”
“Sorry.
We’re in the middle of working on it. You'll have to wait.”
Zoe’s
back stiffened. “Actually, you’re not working on it, since I haven’t
approved any work yet. And I need to get into it now . Please.”
The
man started to lower the SUV.
“Cah!”
Logan cried ecstatically, pointing at their big SUV as it descended to the
floor of the garage. “Cah!”
“Yes,
that’s our car. We can’t get into it quite yet.”
When
she was able to pull out her service records, she gave the mechanic a smile,
although she didn’t much feel like smiling. “Thank you.”
She
went back to her seat in the waiting area and started comparing her records
with the estimate. And she used her smart phone to check a few details in an
online search.
When
the original mechanic returned, she was ready.
Very
calmly, she told him that she didn’t need most of what he’d listed, since she’d
just gotten it done within the last year.
She
took his pen and circled the one thing that seemed legitimate. “If you would
please just do this, I would appreciate it.”
The
mechanic stared at her, and she could swear she saw a glimmer of something akin
to admiration in his eyes. “All right, ma’am. If you want to risk drivin’
without the rest of it
made her feel like an idiot. And she had no clear way to prevent being taken
advantage of.
She
felt stupid and helpless and overly emotional.
And
she couldn’t help but think that, if Josh hadn’t died, she wouldn’t have to
deal with this kind of situation on her own.
The
mechanic rambled out a mostly incoherent explanation of the problem with her
vehicle, and she didn’t know if he was trying to make it confusing on purpose
or if the needed repairs were genuinely that convoluted.
She
was greatly relieved when a car pulled up outside and the driver laid on the
horn, so the mechanic—with a promise to return quickly—headed outside to deal
with the new customer.
Zoe
pulled out her phone and tried to call Dan, Jane’s husband, who knew all about
cars. When he didn’t answer, she disconnected with a sigh. She scrolled down to
Adam’s number and almost hit send, but she stopped herself just in time. For
the last week, ever since she’d gone sailing with him, she’d been trying to
create just enough distance between them—not enough so he would notice, but
enough that she could feel more comfortable with the way things were between
them.
She
wanted Josh so bad she could taste it. Her chest hurt with it. It just didn’t
seem fair that she had to try to get over the grief of losing him and also deal
with all of these annoying life issues all by herself.
She
stared back down at the estimate. The easiest thing would be to just pay it,
have her car fixed, and get on her way. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.
But
she really hated to be taken advantage of.
She
wished she knew whether or not she was.
As
she tried to read through the list of repairs, she recognized something. The
page said she needed a new air filter, but she knew something about that was
off. They tried to get her to replace the filter every time she got her oil
changed, and she’d just gotten a new one not long ago.
Surely
she wouldn’t need another new one already.
She
looked over the list again, seeing if she could recognize anything else. A
couple of months ago, she’d taken the SUV in for scheduled maintenance, and
some of these other things on the list looked awfully familiar.
But
she couldn’t be sure unless she checked the glove compartment, where she kept
all the service records.
Holding
Logan on her hip, she stood up and went over to look into the garage. The
gigantic SUV was up on a lift, and a mechanic—not the one she'd been speaking
to before—was working on another car.
“Excuse
me,” she called, “I’m sorry, but I need to get into my car. Can you lower it
please?”
“Sorry.
We’re in the middle of working on it. You'll have to wait.”
Zoe’s
back stiffened. “Actually, you’re not working on it, since I haven’t
approved any work yet. And I need to get into it now . Please.”
The
man started to lower the SUV.
“Cah!”
Logan cried ecstatically, pointing at their big SUV as it descended to the
floor of the garage. “Cah!”
“Yes,
that’s our car. We can’t get into it quite yet.”
When
she was able to pull out her service records, she gave the mechanic a smile,
although she didn’t much feel like smiling. “Thank you.”
She
went back to her seat in the waiting area and started comparing her records
with the estimate. And she used her smart phone to check a few details in an
online search.
When
the original mechanic returned, she was ready.
Very
calmly, she told him that she didn’t need most of what he’d listed, since she’d
just gotten it done within the last year.
She
took his pen and circled the one thing that seemed legitimate. “If you would
please just do this, I would appreciate it.”
The
mechanic stared at her, and she could swear she saw a glimmer of something akin
to admiration in his eyes. “All right, ma’am. If you want to risk drivin’
without the rest of it
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