IF YOU WANT SOMETHING BROKE

Opie looked over the hood of the car he was working on when he heard his dad start to curse. Piney didn't work on the vehicles that came into Teller-Morrow Automotive anymore, so Opie tried to figure out what had the old man so annoyed. After watching him for a few minutes, he still couldn't tell what bug had crawled up his dad's ass, so he decided he would have to question his father to find out.

He shook his head and laughed softly to himself before he asked, "What's wrong, Pop?"

"What's wrong is that we're missing half of our mechanics, but we still have all of these cars to service. Even if the guys clock OT, we'll still fall behind."

"We could always call someone in to help us."

"Alright, Genius, who do you suggest we call?" Piney asked with a pronounced eye roll. "We can't really tap another charter for this."

"There's always Andie. I'm sure..."

"No," Piney replied over the rest of Opie's statement.

"But I'm sure that if we explain to..."

"NO. That is NOT an option." Piney then turned around and started to walk away. Opie thought that was a signal that that was the end of the conversation, but then Piney paused just briefly enough to add, "DO NOT make that phone call, Son. I already have a big enough headache, I don't need Andie here to make it worse."

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What neither of the Winston men were aware of was that Gemma had had the same idea as Opie. And she didn't have anyone around to talk her out of making that phone call.

"Sweetheart, we could REALLY use an extra pair of hands at the garage. I mean... that is... if you can pare the time."

I could hear the fake humility in Gemma's tone and knew that there was no way she was going to take no for an answer.

"Dare I ask what happened?"

"Oh... just a little payback gone wrong. Most of the club is in Stockton right now."

"Shit... shit... I really wish I could help, but my bartender is out of town for a funeral, so I'm doing double duty tonight. I might be able to give you a few hours tomorrow."

"Anything you can offer would be a blessing."

"Alright... No promises, but I'll try my best."

"I know you will, Baby. Thanks."

"No problem. I'll call tomorrow to let you know for sure."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

After I disconnected the call, I just stared at the darkened screen on my phone and whispered, "I said maybe."

Damn. Now I would be lucky if I got any sleep after I closed down my bar tonight. Why can't I just say no to her? I had a business of my own to worry about. I really didn't need to stress out about TM's lack of manpower because the MC decided to be hot-headed and charge in full boar before they had a proper plan. Most of them acted without considering what the consequences would be. Maybe now they'd actually try using their brains for once.

Nah... That wasn't likely to happen.

I pulled down a bottle of my favorite scotch and poured myself a shot. It went down smoothly, so I poured myself a second one. And then a third. I didn't normally drink at my own bar, but then again, I usually don't have to deal with MC bullshit either. Their recklessness would drive the Pope to drink.

I heard a deep chuckle off to my left as I placed the glass on the bar top. I turned towards the voice as he asked, "Who or what is driving you to drink?"

I pulled a bottle of beer out of the cooler in front of me. As I popped the cap off, I closed the distance between us answering, "Guessing they're the same reason your bar tab has doubled recently."

He nearly choked on his beer as he laughed again. "Yeah. I'm really not sure what I should do with the Sons of Anarchy."

"Ignore them as much as possible is my go-to," I said with a loud sigh.

He raised an eyebrow asking, "And that's not possible for you to do right now?"

"Nope. Gemma just called. With the guys in County, she asked if I would help out at the garage."

"Oh... That's right... The church thing. So? Why don't you just say no?"

"Church...?" I shook my head and said to myself 'not important' before I answered, "Because it's Gemma. I'm going to try to give them some time tomorrow afternoon. That's if I can get any sleep after closing tonight... then again probably if I can't. But... Enough about them. What can I get you to eat tonight Deputy Chief Hale?"

He gave me a wide toothy grin. "Well, it all depends on how my girl is feeling. If she's still mad at me, then I think I'll finally try your garlic fries with a cheeseburger, extra onions."

"And if she isn't?"

"Plain hamburger and a salad, no dressing."

I pulled out another shot glass and filled it with tequila. I then slid it to sit beside his beer bottle and gently patted his hand resting on the bar top. "You shouldn't torture yourself. I'd go with a cheeseburger, hold the onions and fries."

"Really?"

"Really." I leaned over the bar and waited for him to meet me halfway. I gave him a soft kiss then added, "I was never mad at you, I was just annoyed."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. And we aren't going to rehash that conversation or I WILL get pissed off and you'll need more than some garlic fries to keep you warm at night."

He held his hands up in surrender. "I learned my lesson. Agreeing to disagree on that topic. And I most definitely will go with your meal suggestion."

"Smart man," I replied with a warm smile. I filled out a ticked and carried it over to the kitchen. I stopped at David's side on my way back to give him a hug. He looked somewhat surprised, so I gave him a quick kiss then said, "That's my way of saying thank you for dropping that subject. I know we'll never see eye to eye on that topic, so I promise I'll stop picking at it too."