by KJ Dahlen
Byron dropped his eyes to it and gently pulled away from her. Looking up at her again, he noted her flushed face.
“When you find her, please tell her I’m worried about her. Of all the girls that have worked here, she is one of my favorites, always on time, always sweet and a good friend to me. Tell her I’m here for her if she needs me.”
Byron nodded then turned and walked out the door.
Amanda and Beth watched as he swung his leg over his motorcycle engine and took off down the road.
Beth sighed. “Damn, that is one fine looking man. If Kelly doesn’t want him, can she send him my way?”
Amanda smiled. “That ain’t ever gonna happen. He wants her and I do believe she wants him back. They just don’t know it yet, or maybe he doesn’t know it yet.”
“What does that mean?” Beth frowned at her boss.
“When a man doesn’t want a woman’s touch, he’s smitten with someone else.” She nodded at the door. “That man is smitten. He may not want to admit it but he is.”
Beth shook her head. “Kelly is so damn lucky.”
~*~
Byron followed the road to the top of the hill. When he crested the hill, he did fond her sitting there, looking out over the water, just like Beth had said. He stopped next to her car and took his time to join her. He didn’t want to make her run away from him but he needed some answers. Answers as to what had changed from yesterday to today.
As he approached her, he could see she was sitting there with her knees drawn up against her chest, and when he got close enough, he could see the tracks her tears had made. He’d never actually seen her cry before. He’d seen her beg, and tease or cajole and demand but he’d never seen her cry. She often drove him crazy almost to the point of driving him over the edge and in the past two years that happened a lot, but now as he looked at her he saw a scared little girl looking back at him. For a moment, she just seemed so lost, so vulnerable.
A girl whose eyes were marked by some profound tragedy that was so deep-seated into her soul it haunted her waking moments.
Sitting down beside her, he didn’t touch her, he was almost afraid he would break her if he did. Instead, he looked out over the water below. After a few minutes, he began to feel himself calm. It was quiet here. You couldn’t hear the flow of traffic or the noise of the city from up here.
He was surprised he could hear the sound of water crashing against the shoreline though. Beth was right about that.
Byron stared at the horizon for a moment before he heard her whisper softly, “Why did you come here? How did you even know about this place?”
“You have friends who are worried about you,” he told her simply as he turned his head toward her.
Kelly turned to look at him. “That doesn’t explain why you came here. You can’t stand to be in the same room I’m in.”
Byron frowned at her words and wondered if that’s what she really thought. “Little girl...” He sighed as he looked to the sky for answers. “I can’t hardly stand to be in the same room as you because one look at you and my cock stands up and takes notice. One look at you and I can’t think about what I’m doing. That’s all.”
Kelly appeared shocked, just as he’d intended. “What did you just say?” she finally whispered in awe.
“You heard me woman.” He growled. “You make me so fucking horny each and every time you come around that I can’t think about anything else but fucking you raw.” Then he shook his head. “But I know that ain’t ever gonna happen.”
“And why not?” Kelly asked.
“Because I’m too old for you. You need to find someone your own age.”
“Maybe I don’t want someone my own age, did you ever think about that?” she argued back as she rolled her blue eyes at him. “Besides, you aren’t old.”
“Honey, I’m old enough to be your father.”
Kelly glared at him. “You’re not my father and never could be him.” She scrambled to her feet and started back toward her car.
Byron was stunned to say the least by her response. He got to his feet and rushed off after her. Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulders and then much to his surprise he found himself sailing through the air and hitting the ground with a hard thud.
She’d tossed him over her shoulder by instinct.
Kelly stared down at Byron as he was gasping for air. Her anger was gone and remorse had replaced it. “Are you okay?”
Byron struggled to sit up. His breathing was still a little on the shaky side but after a few deep breaths he was breathing ok. He peered up at her. “Why the hell did you do that? How the hell did you do that?”
“My dad and gramps taught me that move as a kid. I reacted by instinct. I was upset and when you came up behind me, I didn’t even think about it. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Byron shook his head. “You might have shocked the hell out of me, but I’m not hurt.” He got to his feet to face her. He stared at her for a moment then asked, “Are you ok?”
Kelly wiped the last of her tears away and nodded. “I’m fine. I just needed some time to myself.”
He reached out and brushed her busted lip. “Does your brother hit you very often?” His tone held menace.
Shaking her head she whispered, “That was the first time and he caught me unaware or he never would have gotten close enough to do it.”
“He thinks its ok to strike out at someone?”
Kelly shrugged. “Apparently, he does now.”
“What does that mean?” Byron frowned.
Kelly sighed and looked away. “My brother takes after our mother. He has her selfishness and demanding attitude down pat. They both feel entitled to whatever they want, when they want it. She walked out on us when I was four and came back when I was nine. She expected my dad to let her back into our lives and when that didn’t happen, she killed him. I recently found out she got out of prison, but I wasn’t expecting to see her here of all places.”
Byron frowned. “That woman from the diner was your mother?”
Kelly nodded. “It was a shock to see her sitting there. That on top of Caden’s brattiness, well it just threw off my whole day. I had to get out of there.”
“I would think so,” Byron grumbled. “What did you mean before when you said your brother thinks it’s ok to hit someone?”
“When I got home last night, I found my grandfather on the floor after taking a punch in the ribs from Caden. He was demanding money again.” She looked up at him with fresh tears in her eyes. “He hit an eighty two year old man, knocking him to the floor and he didn’t care if he was hurt or not. He only cared about what he wanted.”
“Is your grandfather safe now?”
“He should be.” Kelly shrugged. “We left the house last night and found a month by month rental. I think he’s knows enough not to call Caden.”
“That’s why he came to the diner today isn’t it?
Kelly nodded. “Probably. He knows I wouldn’t miss going to my job.”
“What is he doing with Jack McGee?” Byron demanded. “That’s not a guy I would want my brother to hang out with. He’s a snake in the grass and a pain in my ass.”
Kelly nodded. “Gramps told me last night that Jack McGee wants one of your hot rods and that you refuse to sell him one.”
“What the bastard really wants is to steal one of our engines and patent it under his name, thus making it impossible for us to use it against him in a fair race.” Byron snorted. “He learned that little trick from his daddy.”
Kelly finally understood something that happened a long time ago, in another lifetime. Jack’s father Ted had done the same thing to her father too. He raced her father for pink slips then cheated to win. When her dad turned over his car, Ted had taken the engine design to the patent board and registered it under his name. At the time, her dad and grandfather had to hustle to create a new sleeker design to race with but that seemed to work out for them.
The engine they created won several mo
re races for them, even one or three against Ted himself. To say Ted was not happy was like asking if the Pope was Polish. He stood there in the winner’s circle and declared that Dominick had cheated somehow, then demanded the judges check his engine against the one Ted filed patent for.
The judges took the time to investigate the claim and when they were done, they declared Dominick the winner anyway. The engine he used in no way resembled the engine Ted had on file, thus making Ted McGee look like a fool in the racing world. Dominick had gained a bitter enemy that day and it was one that cost him his life.
“Do you really think your brother would hurt your grandfather again?”
Kelly looked away and bit her bottom lip. “Yes, I really do. He thinks grandpa is keeping the money he got from dad’s life insurance. He wants that money all at once. He thinks this Jack will offer him a place in his world if he gets the money. Caden is lazy and thinks money will buy him whatever he desires. He doesn’t realize that people have to work for what they want or even for a paycheck. He doesn’t realize that you have to be willing to work.”
“And is being a waitress what you really want out of life?” Byron asked.
Kelly shook her head. “What I really want is a chance at a job in your shop but that’s just a dream isn’t it? You would never trust me to work on your engines, though would you?”
Byron hesitated then honestly shook his head. “No, I don’t think I could do that.”
Kelly caught her breath in a sob, as she shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter then what I do with my life does it?”
Byron looked down at her for a moment, then he asked her, “Why is this so important to you?”
Kelly turned to him and glared at his stubbornness. “Because I’m good. I’m very good at what I do. And I love working on engines. My dad and granddad taught me to be the best and I can achieve that if I had the chance. But no one out there will even give me a chance. They look at me and see nothing more than a woman and a woman doesn’t belong under the hood of a car. Maybe in the kitchen or the bedroom but not under the hood of a car.”
Byron happened to agree with that way of thinking but then he’d never met a woman who enjoyed working on cars before. Now she was making him question that way of thinking. “Ok sweetness, let’s put that to a test.”
Kelly cocked her head. “A test?”
“Yeah, a test.” Byron nodded. “I challenge you to build a racing engine. I’ll build one too and whichever one runs the best is the one I’ll race with in four weeks.”
Kelly’s heart stopped in her chest then began pounding wildly. “Is this for real?”
Byron nodded. “Yup, for real.”
“Can I get my grandpa to help me?” she asked excitedly.
“Sure, why not, but you have to do most of the work,” he insisted. “And you have to do it at the shop, so we can keep you honest.” He held out his hand, “Deal?”
Kelly smiled and her smile lit up the hillside.
Byron caught his breath at the site of it. She grabbed his hand and shook it. Byron could almost feel her energy rising. It was probably a good thing they were standing outside or the roof would be blown off by this time.
“When do we start?” she asked.
“How about after your shift tomorrow?”
“That sounds great. Gramps and I will be there around two.” Kelly was jumping up and down with excitement.
“Are you and your grandfather going to be ok tonight?” he had to ask. “I’m sorry but I heard your brother threaten you if you didn’t tell him where you were.”
Kelly shrugged. “He’ll get over it. He can’t find us anyway. I’m not even sure he would try to locate us. He’d never put himself out there like that. He would expect us to cave and give into his demands but I’m not going to this time.”
“Come on then, I’ll follow you home and make sure you and your grandfather are okay. Your brother may not put forth the effort to find you but Jack McGee might.”
Kelly hesitated then nodded. Jack McGee certainly might. If he thought they had something he wanted, he would hunt them down until he got it.
Kelly got into her car and drove back to the apartment she shared with her grandfather. She kept her eyes on the bike behind her and on the man. Byron looked so good on the bike, very good indeed. Both he and the ride were powerful without going over the top. Both of them excluded energy and he knew how to ride.
He seemed to be at one with his ride as every turn and straight away showed her that. It was a joy for her to watch and she hoped one day she could ride with him. Just once. She pulled up in front of the apartment and sighed.
She looked around the parking lot but didn’t see anything lurking in the shadows to alarm her. She got out of her car and walked to the front door. Byron was right there with her when she opened the door and went inside. Gramps was sitting there reading from his phone. He looked up and glared at her for a moment. Then he got up and walked over to her. Examining her face, he took note of her split lip and bruised chin. Tightening his jaw he growled, “What the hell is that boy thinking?” Then he noticed Byron and glared at him. “And what the hell are you doing here boy?”
“I’m making sure she got home ok and checking on you. Your grandson was in a mood earlier and I didn’t want to come here and find you laid out on the floor. Or worse, beaten to death by that punk.”
Joe raised his eye brow at the other man’s statement. “Well, as you can see I’m fine.” He looked over at his granddaughter and asked, “Are you ok?”
Kelly nodded. “Grandpa, I had another visitor this morning.”
Joe narrowed his eyes at her statement. “I had a feeling she would show up sooner or later, but not this soon.”
“What does she want Grandpa?” Kelly finally asked.
Joe threw his hands up in the air. “What do you think she wants girl? The only thing that ever mattered to that bitch was money, same as that brother of yours.”
Kelly frowned. “What money do they expect you have?”
“Well, your pops was a smart man sweetie. He wanted you and Caden to be taken care of if anything happened to him. He had a life insurance policy for a lot of money when he died. I got the money and invested it. It’s grown a lot in the past fifteen years. Caden knows about the policy but he doesn’t know how much its worth.” Joe paused and rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “Then there’s your mother. When she walked out on you, your brother and your dad they never got divorced. She was still his wife when he died and she’s back looking for her payoff too. She’s looking for widow’s benefits. She’s thinking her conviction will be overturned and then she can get the money she missed out on fifteen years ago.”
Kelly thought about all of this. Then she shook her head at the senselessness of it all. There was so much more to life than just money. As much as she loved her brother, she could see him being pulled in by these evil people and losing. He’d always been a selfish brat but this was way beyond his norm. “Grandpa, let’s not worry about that right now.” She grabbed her grandfather’s hands and looked at him. She nodded at Byron. “You know how I’ve been trying to get a job at the Morgan’s shop right?”
Joe nodded then sneered at Byron. “They don’t know what you can do sweetie.”
“How would you like to show them what we can do?” she asked on a whisper.
“What are you talking about girl?” Joe asked with a frown.
“I challenged her to show me what she’s made of,” Byron explained. “I have a race coming up in four weeks and we’re going head to head building our own engine. If mine sounds and works better she’s done coming by the shop, if hers is better, I’ll run the race with it and hire her as a mechanic.”
Joe began to smile.
“And he said you could help me but that I had to do most of the work.” Kelly raised an eyebrow.
Joe began laughing at her statement. He wiped his tears away and stared at Byron before he began laughing again. “Boy, you
got guts I’ll say that much. Challenging that girl to this kind of contest is like daring the sun not to shine in California.”
Kelly turned to look at Byron and smirked. Turning back to Joe she nudged. “What do you say Gramps, you willing to take his challenge?”
Joe’s smile widened. “Now wouldn’t we be foolish not to take it?”
Chapter Five
The next day at five minutes after two p.m. Kelly’s car pulled into the parking lot of the Morgan’s shop.
Wes, Dante, Mountain and Byron looked out the double door and watched as both Kelly and Joe got out of the vehicle. Joe went around the back of the car and when Kelly joined him, they grabbed something out of the trunk. Coming around the side of the car again, everyone in the shop found they were hauling a small tool chest up to the door with them.
Byron frowned at the tool box. “We do have tools here, you know that right?”
Kelly grinned. “No decent mechanic doesn’t own his own tools. We’ll need to borrow some of yours but these tools are ours.”
Byron snorted. Motioning them inside, he pointed over to a covered engine block. “This is the same engine I’m working on. I’ve got two weeks on you as far as work goes but the race is like four weeks away. Can you get finished before then?”
“No problem, boyo. Just don’t get in our way.” Joe scoffed.
“And I have the next three days off from the diner, so I’ll be here all day.” Kelly nodded confidently. “We’ll get caught up quick enough.” She felt the excitement building in her soul as she watched Joe study the bare engine in front of them. This was a memory she had missed for a long time. Joe might be an old man now but at one point in his life, he could even picture in his head each and every part of how an engine would run, long before they built it up. He had passed this gift down first to her father and then to her.
This was something Caden missed out on. He was never interested in this part of their lives. He’d rather play video games or run the streets than get down and dirty under the hood of an engine.
Kelly reached inside the tool kit and brought out a CD player. When she hit play, rock and roll music from the seventies blasted the shop. Joe began swinging his hips as he studied the engine and Kelly got his tools lined up.