by Greg Miller
They proceeded round to the other side of a dull and rather knackered E-Type coupe. There, they saw a blonde woman, maybe mid-thirties, in a bikini top and shorts, sunbathing on a beach blanket. Beside her was a cardboard plate with a handful of French fries. A man, the same age, wearing a floral Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, his hair slicked back, was sitting next to her, gazing out at the bay.
“You two hiding?” Armando called.
The woman sat up on her elbows with a brief expression of surprise, that quickly turned to a broad smile as she looked up at them.
“I’d like you to meet Gavin and Gwen,” Armando said. “They’re new members and looking to get involved.”
“Well, hello,” Bonnie said, still smiling. “That’s wonderful, isn’t it, Jay?”
Jay reached up to shake Gavin’s hand. “Can we offer you something to drink? We aren’t supposed to have alcohol in the park but I smuggled in some ale.”
“We’ve got wine, too,” Bonnie said, looking at Emily, who shook her head.
“Thanks,” Gavin replied. “I think we’re okay for now.”
Armando shielded his eyes from the bright sun. “I should probably be getting back, so I’ll leave you to get to know each other. I’ll get that membership packet out to you, and let me know if I can be of any more help.”
“You’d like to get involved – that’s great,” Jay said, as Emily watched Armando leave.
Gavin nodded. “You’ve certainly done a great job with this today. The fish and chips vendor is a nice touch.”
“Thanks.” Jay smiled. “That was Bonnie’s idea. We always try to think of something to outdo the other clubs when it’s our turn to host.”
“Have you had any?” Bonnie asked. “It’s really quite good.”
Gavin shook his head. “Not yet.”
Emily looked at Gavin, gesturing with her chin toward Jay’s burgundy Jaguar.
“Well, we can certainly use your help,” Jay said. “We’ve got a couple of upcoming events, and there’s a whole lot to do.”
“There isn’t that much to do,” Bonnie said, giving Jay a cross look. “We don’t want to scare them off, do we?”
Gavin smiled, then glanced at the E-Type. “I really like your car.”
“Thanks,” Jay said. “It’s a little rough – I use it for autocross. I’m not really into show cars, I’m into driving them.”
Gavin nodded. “Have you made any modifications?”
Jay smiled, getting up to pop the hood.
Bonnie turned to Emily who was watching Gavin attentively. “Gwen, come sit with me,” she said, giving the beach blanket a pat.
Emily twisted her lips, lowered her head, and reluctantly sat down.
“The engine compartment’s pretty dirty,” Jay said, lifting the hood forward, “but I’ve added electronic ignition and upgraded to Weber carbs.”
“I see you’ve added some high performance headers, too,” Gavin said, bending down, and scraping some greasy dirt off of the serial number on the engine block.
“Yeah.” Jay grinned. “They make a big difference.”
Gavin chatted with Jay for a few minutes, then glanced back at Emily who returned a panicked look. “Thanks for showing me.” He knelt down on the blanket beside her, as Jay put the hood down.
“Gwen’s a hoot!” Bonnie said. “She’s been giving me a history lesson on the war of 1812.”
“Has she?” Gavin chuckled. “So, what’s the club’s next event?”
“Our autumn road rally,” Bonnie said. “It’s never too early to start planning. Would you like to help out?”
Gavin nodded. “Sounds like fun.”
“What are you two doing next Sunday?”
“I don’t think we have any plans,” Gavin replied, looking to Emily.
“We’re having our monthly get-together. We’ll be meeting for brunch and we could talk about it all then.”
“Sounds great.” Gavin smiled.
Jay took out his phone and they exchanged numbers.
Gavin glanced at Emily who was staring at the beach blanket. “It’s been great meeting you,” he said, standing up.
“You won’t stay a little longer?” Bonnie sighed, opening the lid of a plastic cooler and removing the bottle of wine.
“Thanks.” Gavin smiled. “But I think we’ll go try the fish and chips.”
“I’ll text you the info for next Sunday,” Jay said, shaking his hand.
“We’ll see you then.” Bonnie smiled.
Gavin set their fish dinners down on a picnic table in the shade as Emily positioned two cups of iced tea.
“So what did you think?”
Gavin sighed, taking a seat on the bench. “I didn’t notice anything unusual. None of them seemed particularly suspicious.”
Emily frowned. “I was hoping you’d picked up on something I missed.” She lifted the aluminum foil covering her cardboard plate, and inhaled the aroma of greasy haddock and fries. “Mmm.”
Gavin tore open a packet of tartar sauce as Emily dissected her fish with a plastic knife.
“Bill really creeped me out. I see what you meant about old cads.”
“Car clubs are the last bastion of male chauvinism.” He chuckled. “Some of the guys are still stuck in the era when their cars were made.”
“What about Dennis? I’m not quite sure what to make of him – the way he just sat there.”
“He just seemed arrogant, and maybe a little sneaky, but I didn’t sense anything strange about him either,” Gavin said.
“Bonnie and Jay were certainly friendly. Maybe a little too friendly?”
“Bonnie seemed surprised to see us, but that’s more likely to be because we startled her, and Jay had those dark sunglasses on so I couldn’t really tell. Putting this kind of event on does take a lot of work so I think it’s completely understandable that they would be extra friendly and welcome the possibility of some help.”
“What about Armando?”
Gavin swallowed and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “I thought he looked sad when we first saw him, but he didn’t look surprised when he saw us.”
She knitted her brows, chewing. “I wonder if he could have been missing Andrew. I think they used to hang out together at these things.”
“Maybe.”
“So we can’t rule any of them out at this point.” Emily said, taking a sip of her iced tea.
“Peter looked surprised when we walked by, but that was to be expected.”
“He’s still the most likely to have been involved in my mind.” She lifted her chin, squinting over Gavin’s shoulder. “Speak of the devil.”
Gavin turned to see Peter waddling across the grass toward them.
“Gavin! I thought it was you,” Peter said as he arrived. “And Emily, I almost didn’t recognize you. I see you’ve decided to investigate everyone in the club?”
Gavin nodded, twisting on the bench to shake his hand. “She’s going by the name Gwen. Please don’t tell anyone who we really are, or what we’re doing.”
“No, of course not. Don’t worry.” Peter said, lowering his voice and taking a look around. “I probably shouldn’t even be seen talking to you then, so I’ll be quick. I was going to call you later – remember I said I’d let you know if I thought of anything?”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Yes,” Gavin said.
“Well, when we were setting up this morning I saw Dennis and remembered that he has an old XK engine in his garage.”
CHAPTER 9
The morning sun shone through the old glass panes of the shop’s windows, illuminating patches of the concrete floor as Gavin’s dust mop glided across it.
“You’re here early,” Gus said, putting his thermos and keys down on the bench.
“I’m hoping to ge
t a lot done today,” Gavin replied, guiding the mop to a corner where he left it standing. “How was your weekend?”
“Really good – I went up to Sodus Bay.”
“Your friends with the boat?”
“That’s right.” Gus smiled. “I caught a salmon and we grilled it for dinner.”
“Oh, nice.”
“How about you? Get up to much?”
Gavin rubbed his temple. “Nothing special.”
“Something wrong?”
“I’m just a little concerned – we haven’t sold anything all month.”
“We will,” Gus said. “Things are always slow this time of year. People go on vacation. You know that.”
Gavin nodded. “Is the Alfa finished?” he asked, glancing over at it.
“Yup.”
“Alfa Spiders seem to be hot right now so I’m hoping for a quick sale. I’ll take it for a test drive, then put it in the showroom.”
Gus nodded as Gavin went to get the keys from the cabinet in his office. When he returned, he opened the Spider’s door and slid into the driver’s seat. Depressing the clutch, he pulled the shift lever into neutral, and turned the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. He tried again, but the starter was silent.
“Is the battery connected?” he called to Gus.
“Thought it was,” Gus said, walking around to the back and opening the trunk to check. “Hmm, the cables are on.”
“Well, that’s not a very good start to the day.” Gavin sighed, climbing back out of the car.
“I’ll get a test light,” Gus said, striding off.
“Good morning, guys,” a cheerful female voice called from behind.
Gavin turned to see Emily standing in the open garage doorway, wearing a purple tie-dyed T-shirt, and her hair in a ponytail.
“Oh, hi,” Gavin said, walking over. “This is a little early for you, isn’t it?”
“It most certainly is,” she replied. “I unexpectedly woke up feeling all energetic and fully cognizant – it was the strangest thing. I had no idea what to do, so I just got ready as if I had somewhere to be. And then, a light went on in my head – I know, I’ll go help out at the shop! I figured that, since you’ve been helping me, it was the very least that I could do.”
“That’s great.” Gavin smiled. “I really appreciate your wanting to help. I just need to find out what’s going on with this Alfa first. Okay?”
“Sure,” Emily said, then spotted the dust mop in the corner. “Can I sweep the shop floor? I promise not to disturb you.”
“I just did it.” Gavin smiled.
She twisted her lips. “How about if I clean and straighten the office? It looks like it needs it.”
Gavin made a pained face. “Umm. I kind of like the way I have things.”
“I know,” she said.
“Just give me a minute and I’ll think of something.”
“What if I wash your car? It looks pretty dirty.”
Gavin cringed. “I’m really particular about washing cars. I’d want to show you the proper way first.”
Emily frowned. “You don’t trust me to do anything, do you?”
“I trust you,” Gavin said. “But most people don’t know how to wash cars without getting swirl marks. Just let me finish with the Alfa, and then we’ll find something for you to do.”
She took a few sharp breaths. “Ugh! It was stupid to think I could be of any help here.”
Gus looked up from the Alfa’s engine compartment where he was holding a test probe.
“No, it wasn’t,” Gavin said. “Emily, I’m going to find something ...”
“I should have just stayed in bed.” She dug her nails into her palms. “This day is going wrong already. This always happens whenever I break my routine.”
“Everything’s okay.” Gavin smiled. “You’re getting upset over nothing. Just –”
“Ugh! Don’t tell me that,” she said, raising her voice. “I hate it when people tell me that!”
Gavin glanced over at Gus to see if he was listening. Panic filled his eyes as he saw the Alfa’s passenger compartment filling with smoke. “Gus! Fire!” he yelled, as he leapt to grab the extinguisher from the wall.
A dense cloud escaped when Gus opened the passenger side door, as he ran to disconnect the battery in the trunk. Fire extinguisher in hand, Gavin dropped to his knees, stuck the nozzle up under the dashboard and gave it a blast. He unfastened the soft top and lifted it back. The smoke cleared, and after straining his neck to check beneath the dashboard, Gavin pulled his head back out. “I think I got it.”
“I’m sorry,” Gus said, shaking his head. “It’s a good thing you spotted it when you did. It could have been a lot worse.”
“At least we’ve found the problem. I’ll go order a new fuse box.” Gavin sighed and looked back at Emily who was holding her hand over her mouth.
Emily sat sulking on the couch in the office as Gavin stared at the computer. With a click of the mouse a parts receipt began printing. He reached over, pulled the paper from the printer, and stuffed it in the desk drawer before turning back to the computer.
Emily frowned, watching him. “What are you doing now?”
“Just checking our finances.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No. Not really.” He sighed. “We need to start selling some cars pretty quickly.”
A voice in the hallway rang out. “What’s burning? I smell smoke.” Daryl stuck his head around the doorway, grinning. “Hey, Gavin. What was burning? Did you torch another car? Oh. Hi, Emily,” he said, noticing her on the couch. “Are you working here now, or just hanging out?”
“Just hanging out.” She pouted.
Gavin gritted his teeth, looking up. “What do you mean ‘torch another car’?”
“Gus told me all about that Lotus you burned up,” Daryl said.
Gavin’s eyes narrowed. “Did he? Well, he can take full credit for this one, then.”
“So what was it? Not the Alfa I hope”
Gavin nodded.
“No,” Daryl whined. “How bad? I did a lot of work on that car.”
“Nothing major,” Gavin grumbled. “Just the fuse box. You can pull it out and take a better look.”
Emily turned to Gavin with innocent eyes. “Do you guys have a lot of fires here?”
“No,” Gavin shouted.
She pulled her head back, cringing, while Daryl grinned as he lingered in the doorway.
“Please just go get to work,” Gavin said in an exasperated voice.
“See ya’ later.” Daryl waved, and lumbered off.
Gavin shook his head. “That kid really drives me crazy. He gets a kick out of doing it, too.”
Emily stared at the floor. “Why did you yell at me?”
“What?”
“Why did you yell at me? I only asked a question.”
“I’m sorry.” Gavin sighed. “I’m having a stressful day.”
“I don’t like being yelled at. It was very upsetting. Maybe it’s a common occurrence with old cars – how am I supposed to know?”
“I’m very sorry. Can we just forget about it? Come on,” he said, flashing a weak smile. “I need to get away from this – let’s go out back and wash the car.”
“I don’t want to wash your car now,” Emily said. “I’m afraid I’d scratch it.”
Gavin closed his eyes. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to scratch it because I’m going to show you.”
“I’d probably break something,” she said. “I can be very clumsy.”
Gavin ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to break anything. Emily, please. Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”
“I’m not making a big deal out of this.” She sniffled. “You’re the one who’s making a big
deal out of this.”
“Look,” Gavin said softly. “I know you have a problem with Asperger’s, but –”
“Having Asperger’s isn’t a problem,” she interrupted, “it’s a difference. I simply have some challenges, just like everyone, including you. And besides,” she said, “you’re the one with the problem.”
Gavin leaned back, exhaling a long breath. “Emily, I appreciate the fact that you wanted to help out today, but I’m sorry, this just isn’t working. I think you need to go home, get some rest, and let me get on with my work.”
“So that’s it then?” she said, getting choked up. “You want me to leave, and you don’t want to know what your problem is?”
“Alright.” Gavin sighed. “Please, tell me what you think my problem is.”
Emily replied in almost a whisper. “You don’t know how to run a business.”
“What?”
“I said, you don’t know how to run a business,” she shouted. “That’s what your problem is!”
Gavin grimaced. “What are you talking about? Of course I do.”
“Oh no you don’t,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “How much time do you waste in here doing paperwork?”
He wrinkled his forehead. “That time isn’t wasted. The paperwork needs to be done.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t need to take you forever,” she said. “You’re completely disorganized. I’ve seen how you do things and it’s idiotic.”
Gavin turned away. “You know, contrary to what everyone seems to think around here, I do have feelings, too. And I really don’t need to hear that from you right now.”
“I’m sorry,” Emily said. “But it’s true. You have no filing system and you don’t record any transactions. You don’t separate the customer receipts from the vendor receipts and invoices, and you have no unpaid file either. You just throw everything together in your desk drawer, and then spend hours and hours sorting through it all to figure things out.”
Gavin stared at her, bewildered.