I wiped the oil from my hands onto the rag that I kept in my back pocket. I slammed the hood to the navy blue Chevy truck that I was working on at 'Singer and Winchester's Auto Garage and Salvage Yard'.
"Dean?" My dad yelled and then came out of his office. His green eyes, a lot like mine, flickered back between the truck and me. "Are you done with the truck? Bobby's bringing in Jo's car. Needs her brakes fixed. Think you can knock that out before we close?"
"Totally replace or just her pads?"
"Probably just the pads but who knows. The girl can tell you which beer you should drink with which pizza but cars are just too far above her pay grade." My dad rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his dark hair. He loved Jo Harvelle like the daughter he never had, but sometimes she confused him.
"I'll take a look when Bobby gets back, but hey since you're out here for a change, can I ask for some time off?" My dad's eyebrows came together as he looked at me.
"Time off? You've been working here for three years and you have never asked for time off. What's going on?" I ran a hand through my short, dirty blonde hair. I knew my dad would let me have time off for it, but I still hated asking.
"Well, I was thinking about going to visit Sammy." My dad plastered that fake smile on his face. He missed him. Sam was my kid brother that was four years younger than me. He had left to go to Stanford, which was six and a half hours away from our hometown of Riverside, California. It wasn't that he was mad about Sam leaving. Matter of fact, he was damn proud of him (I was too). My dad just didn't like not being able to protect Sam (and neither did I, truth be told).
"Yeah, hell, Dean I think that's a great idea. He would love to see you. When were you thinking about going?"
"Not for a few weeks. I mean, I want to kind of surprise him, and I know he's busy with school."
"I wish I could go with you, but you know, I've got to work around here. Just let me know when you want to go, alright? I'll give you the time off."
"Thanks, Dad." I smiled. I was actually excited to go see Sam at his big fancy school. It was pretty hard for me to pass high school, let alone get into college, but Sam? Sam was probably the smartest person I knew. He got a full ride to Stanford and he was planning on being a big shot lawyer so he could save the world.
The door to the garage began to creep up and there was Bobby driving Jo's baby blue VW Beetle. It was so funny to see my uncle Bobby, a very rough and rugged guy (full beard and everything), driving the only girly thing that belonged to Jo. He pulled the car into the open space next to the office, turned the car off and got out. He had grease stains on his jeans and his ball cap that he always wore.
"There's nothing wrong with her car. Ellen is just paranoid." Bobby's rough voice came over the car. Ellen was Jo's mother and one of my dad and Bobby's best friends.
"Takes one to know one, Bobby. Just let Dean take a look and then we can tell Ellen we fixed it."
"Great, but hurry because Ellen wants us up at the bar for drinks right after closing." Ellen ran a bar in town called 'The Roadhouse'. Jo worked there as a waitress and sometimes bartender.
"Anything you say, boss." I mock saluted Bobby as he flipped the switch so the car began to rise. I looked at Jo's car and began to think about my crazy family. I was actually only related to my dad, John, and Sammy. Then there was my 'Uncle Bobby', he had helped raise me and Sam after, well, an accident that had taken my mother (and no, I don't want to talk about it, thank you very much). However, I had a mother-like figure named Ellen Harvelle. Her and her daughter, Jo, had been a part of lives for as long as I could remember.
"Bobby, there's nothing with this car. I think we can take it back to Jo now." I said after about an hour. We were just about to close, so we were probably going to head to the bar soon.
"Why don't you drive Jo's car, and I'll drive the Impala?" My dad didn't wait for a response before he grabbed the keys from my leather jacket hanging on the hook near the door and walking outside. Damn it, I couldn't be seen driving around in Jo's car!
"Meet you there, son!" Bobby shot me a smirk and then followed my dad outside. I heard the Impala rev up and I looked at Jo's car and sighed.
"Stupid fucking thing." I muttered as I got into the driver's seat. I drove over to The Roadhouse, walked in the saloon door of the somewhat rundown bar and looked around. I saw that Eli, a friend of mine, was working behind the bar when I was attacked by blonde hair.
"Dean! Thank God you're here! They're talking about us being a couple again." Jo backed away and looked at me. Her brown eyes looked very concerned.
"Aw come on, everybody knows that won't happen. You're obviously way out of my league." I did my best cocky smirk as Jo and I went up to the bar.
"Well duh. But, that got me thinking." Eli brought my regular beer and one for Jo.
"Help me, Eli. She's thinking."
"I'm not getting involved. Jo, take it easy on him." Eli winked and then walked down the bar.
"So, I was thinking, maybe I could get you a date. Ya know, it's been a while." Jo looked sideways at me and I took a drink of my beer. It had been a while, six months to be exact (and no I don't want to talk about that either).
"I'm not ready, Jo. Can we just drop it?" Jo sighed.
"Fine, but someday, and someday soon, you need to put yourself back out there." All I could do was nod. I wasn't ready for a conversation about my love life.