Priceless: Urban Fairytales, Book 3

by Lena Matthews

  “I don’t doubt that at all.” Nia chuckled. “I’m still in shock here, and before I lose my mind trying to imagine what it was like to be you, let me thank you for all your help.”

  Julia held up her hand and shook her head. “Thank me after he fixes it.”

  “I will.”

  An hour and a half later, Nia watched, disheartened, while Kevin busied himself under the hood of Eric’s car. He’d barely said hi before he’d popped the top and went to work, probing at this, pulling at that. All the while Nia sat in Julia’s car where it was warm.

  From the way he muttered to himself and shook his head from time to time, she could tell this was not going to be an easy fix. She could only hope like hell it was a fix at all.

  Just when she was sure he had seen every spare inch under the hood and then some, he slammed the lid down and climbed into the passenger seat next to her. Even though the handsome man had on a short-sleeve shirt, he didn’t reach over to turn the heater up. He just sat back in the seat as if he’d come in from the beach, not in from out of the winter chill.

  But Julia had warned her, now all Nia could hope was he was as gifted as he was cold-blooded. “So, what’s the verdict?”

  “That car is at death’s door.” Giving it to you straight must be a White family philosophy.

  “But it’s not dead.”

  “Not yet.” Although he seemed pained to admit that fact.

  “Can you fix it?”

  “I can, but it’s not going to be easy or cheap.”

  Nia’s heart dropped. She knew the price was going to cut, she just prayed it wasn’t too deep. “How not cheap?”

  “Ballpark. Twenty-two hundred.”

  “Oh my God.” She didn’t have anything close to that amount.

  “I take it twenty-two isn’t something you can do.”

  Even with all her savings it was an impossible number. “It’s not even something I can pretend to do.”

  “How much can you give?”

  “You mean like payments?”

  “No, I don’t do payments. People get forgetful and I get mad. It’s not a good idea.”

  “No, I imagine it’s not.” She’d been hopeful, but realistically she understood where he was coming from. Everybody had to live and she couldn’t begrudge him the need to be paid for his services.

  “Well, what do you think you can do?”

  “I can give you fifteen now and the rest later. No payments, but like a lump sum at the end of January.” They would have to tighten the purse strings, but if she hustled she could do it.

  “How about this instead? You give me fifteen plus the necklace you’re wearing and we’ll call it good.”

  “My necklace.” Nia’s hand automatically went to the pendant. “Why?”

  “Truth of the matter is, I’ve sort of been a bit low of funds myself and, well, I haven’t gotten my favorite girl anything yet.”

  “So, to make up for it, you’re going to take my necklace?” That didn’t seem right.

  “It’s not like I’m going to jack you or anything. We’re trying to work a trade after all.”

  “I doubt it’s worth the remainder that I owe you. It belonged to my grandmother and I’ve always loved it, but it’s not all that. Heck, the chain isn’t even working right now, here…” Nia turned the necklace around so he could see the broken part she had jury-rigged with a safety pin to hold the chain together.

  Kevin leaned forward and Nia did the same, tilting her neck up so he could get a clear view of what she was showing him. “You see?”

  When he didn’t answer after a few seconds, she pulled back a bit. “Do you see…” her voice trailed off when she noticed where his gaze was directed, “…anything besides my breasts, that is?”

  “No. I mean, I looked.” Kevin cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly.

  “Doubtful. Pig.”

  “Hey, I’m a pig with feelings and the ability to fix your husband’s car. I’m willing to take the little, key word there, little, money you have, plus the necklace, to fix it.”

  “Will you put it in writing? That you’ll rebuild the motor plus fix anything else that might be wrong with it for the money and the necklace?” Nia knew she sounded a little cynical, but she wasn’t going to take chances. Even though Kevin was Julia’s brother, it didn’t necessarily mean he was trustworthy.

  “Yes, absolutely.” Kevin’s agreement was quick and firm.

  “This week?”

  Kevin shook his head. “No.”

  “Kevin…”

  “Hey, I have other stuff to do. You’re not my only client or the only one I’m doing favors for.”

  “Fuck.”

  This was going beyond the call of Santa. Giving up her necklace for Eric’s car was a selfless thing to do, but Nia didn’t know if she was that person. She loved her necklace, but damn it, she loved her husband too.

  “Look, if you need to take time and think about it, that’s cool with me. I can try to fit you in after the beginning of the year, and maybe by then you’ll have the rest of the money saved up.”

  “No.” A week or two wasn’t going to make that much of a difference. She wouldn’t have an extra seven hundred dollars, and Eric would still be fumbling in the dark during his free hours that were too few and far between to try to fix it himself. The necklace wasn’t worth it. Her husband was.

  Resigned, she undid the necklace and placed it in his hand. She knew her grandmother would not only have understood, but would have approved as well. Family came first, and no matter how beloved the jewelry was, it wasn’t going to bring back her grandmother any more than keeping a car would stop Eric from turning into his dad. But out of the two of them, Nia was probably the only one in a place mentally to realize that just yet. “You have a deal, but I want a bill of sale. I swear to you though, if you screw me over, there will be hell to pay.”

  “What are you going to do, get Darnell after me?” Kevin guffawed at his own joke.

  “No, someone scarier. Julia.”

  “Hey now.” Kevin backed up. “Why you got to bring my sister into this? You don’t have to be like that.”

  “You didn’t have to look at my breasts either, but you did. And when I tell Julia, she’s going to have your ass for grass.”

  “Look, to prove that I’m a stand-up guy, I’ll even pick it up tomorrow, on Christmas, just for you, and return it to you before the end of the year.”

  Nia narrowed her eyes. “Swear.”

  “Man, Nia.” Kevin shot her a look of disgust at her tenacity.

  “Swear it.” She held her hand out to him.

  “Fine.” Kevin pulled a grease-stained rag out of his pocket and wiped up before offering his hand to Nia. “I swear to fix all that ails that piece of shit for the cash and the necklace, and have it ready before the end of the year. My word is my bond.”

  Nia shook his hand. When he went to let go, she tightened her grip. “If you fuck me over, I’ll personally bail Julia out of jail for beating your ass. My word is my bond.”

  “Man. Black people. Always with the black-on-black violence.”

  Laughing, Nia shook her head. “Your sister is right. You are a big dope.”

  “Yep, but she loves me.” Kevin slipped the necklace in his pants pocket. “I’ll come by the diner tomorrow with the paperwork. You can give me the keys then.”

  “Tomorrow’s Christmas.”

  “You off?”

  “Surprisingly yes, just swing by here. My husband won’t be off until late that night.” Much to her dismay.

  “Sure, that will work too.”

  “Great. Thanks again, Kevin. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  Kevin opened the door, but before he made a move to exit, she called his name once more. “You make sure your girl takes care of my necklace.”

  “But of course,” he said with a smile, before slipping out of the car and slamming the door shut.

  Nia watched him get in hi
s own car, a bit shocked at everything that had just transpired. This was definitely going to be a Christmas for the books. And since she’d handled the present part of the evening, all she had left to work on was the make-up sex. Something told her that was going to be easier and a whole lot more fun.

  Eric stifled a yawn as he walked into the break room to find himself a cup of coffee. He was pulling a double tonight and it was killing him. He knew it was only for a short while longer, but the time seemed as if it were dragging tonight. It was especially difficult after the fight with Nia this morning. He wanted to be with her, to make up for all the crap he’d put her through. But his responsibilities and their bills had him stuck here at work.

  It didn’t help either that by the time he’d showered and cleaned up, she’d been gone. A glance at the clock told him it wasn’t for work. But since the closet was still full and there wasn’t a wedding band waiting for him on the kitchen table, Eric was just going to count his blessings. He had been a royal dick, and he was man enough to admit he owed her an apology. That would, of course, require her being around to hear it though.

  Even Eric knew better than to try to apologize over the phone. Despite his best attempt to prove otherwise, he wasn’t that big of a jackass. So no matter how much it bothered him to be on her shit list, he was just going to stay there a bit longer, until he could do the right thing and fix it in person.

  A prospect he wasn’t entirely looking forward to.

  With a heavy sigh, Eric scrubbed his hands over his face, blinking hard as he tried to focus on the task at hand. Coffee. And lots of it.

  After a few minutes hunting up a Styrofoam cup, he poured himself a steaming cup of java that smelled as stale as the break room itself. Stifling a yawn, Eric claimed one of the tattered La-Z-Boy chairs and sat down. He took only one drink of his hazardous coffee before setting the caffeine-heavy drink on the small table next to the chair. Releasing the lever, he pushed back in the seat and let out a sigh of relief as his legs were swept up onto the footrest.

  Lord, he was tired. With a weary moan, he closed his eyes for a moment to chase after the catnap that had been avoiding him all evening. The ER was quiet for now, as was the break room, much to his happy surprise, but he knew neither would last long. Just as he began to drift off, however, his much-needed rest was interrupted by Choy entering the room.

  “There you are, Athers. I’ve been looking for you all over the place.”

  Eric dug around in his pants pocket for his pager and pulled it out. Through blurry eyes he stared at the front but didn’t notice anything of importance. “I haven’t slept though a page, have I?”

  “Oh no.” Choy waved the words away as he took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Eric. “I’m looking for you, not the hospital.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I have something for you.” Choy pulled out a business card from the pocket of his lab coat and handed it to Eric.

  Curious, Eric took the card and glanced down at the name. “What’s this?”

  “Business card of this patient who came in. Damn fool nearly severed his index finger completely off. I had to sew it back on, which wasn’t easy with him bawling like a baby.” Choy shook his head. “This guy was two seventy, two eighty easily, a big bruiser of a man, crying like a little girl over a hundred stitches. It was pathetic.”

  Eric laughed. “The big ones are always such pussies.”

  “I know, right?” Choy grinned. “Anyway, after I was done and he put his big-boy boxers back on, he hands me his card. Says he buys old cars. Doesn’t even have to be in perfect running order.”

  Eric’s amusement fled as quickly as a cat in rain. “Did Nia put you up to this?”

  “Up to what?”

  “Trying to convince me to sell my car?”

  “No.” Choy frowned. “I told you this guy came in and—”

  “I don’t appreciate you talking to my wife about me. Our personal life is just that, personal. And before you pick a side, keep in mind you don’t know the whole story.”

  “I’m picking the side of sanity.” Choy’s words were heavy with sarcasm. “I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. But if you are fighting with Nia, make no mistake, I’m definitely on her side. Anything that has you this defensive can’t be right.”

  “I’m not defensive.”

  “Riggghhhttt.” The thick layer of disgust in Choy’s tone brought a flush of shame to Eric’s cheeks.

  “Fuck.” Eric figured at this point his nap was a moot point. He reached over and flipped the footrest down. “I’m having a bad day.”

  “I didn’t notice at all.” Choy slipped his hand in his other pocket and pulled out one of the many lollipops he kept on hand for when he worked with children. He held the candy within arm’s reach of Eric and twirled it about. “Do you want to tell Dr. Choy where it hurts?”

  Even though he didn’t want to, Eric laughed. “Your head if you don’t leave me alone.”

  “You sure it’s my head that’s in danger, and not your own? For the very reasonable price of nineteen ninety-nine, I and my well-trained staff can perform a cranium-gluteus-maximus-ectomy.”

  “What, pray tell, is a cranium-gluteus-maximus-ectomy?”

  “It’s an operation to remove your head from your ass. Something you obviously need if you’re fighting with your sainted wife.”

  “Nia’s no saint.” As comebacks went it was pretty weak.

  “She has to be to be married to you. Hell, to be hitched to any of us. I couldn’t do it. Could you? Just imagine being tied down to someone who works long hours, who’s ulcer ridden, and yet has a God complex, as we all admittedly do. Not exactly thrilling when you put it down on paper.”

  “We’re definitely not the pick of the litter.”

  “Yet your wife still adores you.”

  “Not today.” Eric looked away.

  “Did she say that?”

  Eric shrugged. “Something like it.”

  “Something like what, specifically?”

  “Ugh,” he groaned, tired of the whole thing. Sharing his feelings had never been his strong point, but he intuitively knew he would gain no reprieve from Choy. The man was as tenacious as a bulldog. “Fine, she said she didn’t like me. She also said I was being an asshat.”

  “Well, were you?”

  Annoyed, Eric cut his gaze to his friend. “Possibly.”

  “Then why would she like you?”

  “’Cause she’s my wife.” Was he the only one who remembered that? “Liking me kind of goes with the job.” He at least hoped it did, otherwise he was in really big trouble.

  “Says who?” Choy countered mockingly. “Liking you is a luxury. Hell, you should still be happy she loves you. Which, by the way, she does, you know.”

  “I know.” It was true. Deep in his heart he knew Nia loved him, no matter how dumb he acted.

  “Then stop being an asshat and apologize already.”

  “How do you know I’m the one in the wrong?”

  Choy crossed his arms over his chest and raised a single eyebrow. He didn’t say a word, but the smug look he shot Eric spoke volumes. “Fine. It’s me. I overreacted when she suggested selling the car.”

  “Oh…” Choy nodded slowly. “So when I came in with a buyer, you thought she’d put me up to it.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “I see that now.”

  “Tell me. What’s with you and that car? No offense, man, but it’s a piece of shit. I’ve seen you work on that thing more than I’ve seen you drive it.”

  “We have history.”

  “Not a driving one.”

  “History, nevertheless.” Eric’s childhood was so vastly different than that of Choy’s privileged, loving one, it couldn’t be explained without a sad, sappy soundtrack to accompany it. “It’s nothing I want to talk about, least of all with you. It’s just something that is.”

  “Fine, I can respect that. But let
me ask you this. Is your history more important than your present, more important than your future? If you can answer yes to those questions, then by all means, keep the car. But, my friend, if the answer is no…” Choy tossed the card onto Eric’s lap, “…then make two calls. First to the car man, then to your wife.”

  “I’m not ready to give it away.” He offered the card back to Choy, who stood but stepped away.

  “When you are?”

  Eric stood but didn’t grab hold of the card. He allowed it to fall to the floor in front of him. “You are just as bad as Nia.”

  “Yeah, but she’s prettier.”

  “True.” Eric smiled. Just then his pager went off. On alert, he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down at the texted words. “I got to go,” he said to Choy, who was answering a page of his own.

  “ER?”

  “Yep.”

  Choy slipped his pager back in his pocket. “Me too.” He bent over to pick up the discarded card and shoved it in his pocket.

  “To think,” Eric said wistfully as they headed out of the break room and into the hall, “we thought it was going to be an easy night.”

  “No such thing.”

  “So true.” The pages hadn’t said there was an emergency, but as the two residents on call it must be a significant trauma for both of them to have been paged.

  Corrine, the nurse he met the night before, was waiting for him by the intake desk. “Sorry to interrupt your break, Dr. Athers, but I have a patient you need to see in exam-room three.”

  “No problem.” Eric glanced at Choy. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Okay,” said the other man, who was already being briefed about his own page.

  “So what do we have here?” Eric took the chart from Corrine. He began to glance at it as they made their way to the room. According to the chart, the patient was twenty-four years old. Her vitals seemed to be fine, nothing out of the ordinary. “What’s she in for?”

  “The patient is complaining of rectal pain. She said it’s severe and she’s had it since early this morning. Heart rate is normal, blood pressure stable.”

  “Okay.” Eric stopped outside the door and gave a brisk knock against the wood. “Mrs. Smith, may I come in?”