As if in slow motion Dom cried out, "No!" The three men raced over. Brian grabbed the wrench out of her hand, Jesse put himself in front of the engine, and Dom picked up Quin and spun her away from the car. "What were you doing?" he asked in complete, and horrified confusion.
"Well, you heard me say I'd look at the car for her." she explained, not understanding the problem. "Normally if I give it a few good taps it works a lot better." Today she was in jeans, work boots, an old t-shirt, and had a flannel tied around her waist.
"Ok, I want you to look with your eyes, not your hands." he admonished. Brian was still staring at the wrench in horror, and Jesse was in the process of apologizing and sweet talking the car.
"Well, my goodness, it's just a car. Not like it's a big deal." she huffed, and her lower lip stuck out in a pout which Dom found incredibly sexy.
"Why don't we look at Torin's car." he offered calming down a bit. "We work on cars all of the time, and this will free up some time for you to go do what you need to do."
She protested. "Oh no! You're not supposed to be working."
"But we love fixing cars. Seriously, are there any more cars that need to be looked at?"
She looked at him for a minute and then nodded. In the garage. Sloane's Explorer has been acting up, and my Spitfire probably needs a tune up."
Torin clapped. "Oh this is fabulous. Now we won't have to go in to Tiny, and have him staring at our breasts the whole time we're there."
"Is that a benefit to fixing the cars?" Dom asked with a grin. Both girls laughed.
"The keys are in the silver box in the garage. Have at it." Quin turned and blew Torin a kiss. Then she headed off in the direction of the stables.
Eventually Vince and Leon joined them, and the men found themselves in heaven. Besides the old blue ranch truck from the day before, the SUV, the CRX, and the MG, they found a BMW convertible which was in almost immaculate condition, and in the back covered with a tarp was a car with a good engine but the car itself was totaled. Dom wanted to ask Quin about it. He figured if she didn't mind maybe they could restore it. In pristine condition it would have been a Corvette Stingray. There were plenty of tools in the garage, and it was obvious they were kept in good condition. Above the tool chests was a wooden sign that had been engraved and said 'Connor's Garage'. Someone obviously came out and cleaned the area because there was no dust or dirt on any of it. Dom remembered that Martha had said Connor was the girls' father, and he remembered Brian telling them that their parents had died in a small airplane crash. Quin had told them yesterday her brother had been with them. That hadn't been so long ago. Well, every single one of them knew about loss. It wasn't hard to bring up the memories of his parents dying.
Mia had found Torin, and the two girls were working in the garden and the greenhouse. The time passed quickly, and Torin's boyfriend, Kyle, showed up before Quin got home.
He didn't impress any of Team Toretto. Kyle Andrews was just under 6' with sandy blonde hair cut short, and a thin, wiry body. He acted very proprietary of Torin making sure to kiss her as soon as he entered the home. He was smug. Vince understood why the other girls didn't like the man. He kept making condescending remarks, and he'd told Torin that he couldn't believe she hadn't worn something different than the tank and jeans she had on. Torin just laughed him off. Reilly looked at Vince and Leon who looked like they were going to tear him up. She mouthed 'see.' to them and it brought a smile to their faces. It was easy to get along with these women. They sure weren't like the women back home.
Dom thought he heard a door open in the kitchen and went to see if it was Quin. It was and she looked exhausted. "You look tired."
She gave him a weary smile. "Well, it sure isn't a walk in the park." She took her hat off and hung it on a peg near the door. "Will you let them know I'm going to shower, and then I'll be down."
"Why don't you just go to bed baby girl?" Dom hadn't even heard Ms. Martha enter the kitchen behind him.
"We have company Ms. Martha. You and I both know that if I don't show up Kyle will give Torin a hard time, and then he'll spread it around town that I can't handle the ranch."
"Who cares what those people think? You don't owe them anything, and there's plenty of money in the bank."
Dom saw the look that came into Quin's eyes. He recognized it well. Pride. "I will not let that man spread lies and rumors about any of us. I will be down shortly." She strode from the room leaving Dom and Martha alone.
Martha sighed. "That man is nothing but a problem."
"Why?" Dom asked.
"He spent months pursuing Quin. She told him she wasn't interested at least a hundred times. There's only been one boy that she loved and he broke her heart, hasn't found anyone to interest her since. Kyle didn't take the rejection well. Started whispering that she was gonna sell this ranch because she couldn't handle it." at his surprised look she continued. "Ms. Torin doesn't know it. Quin tries to protect those girls, and she just hopes Torin will move on. He bothered Ms. Reilly and Ms. Sloane too. I have a feeling he's after their money."
Dom snorted. "If I was after any of those girls it wouldn't be because they have money."
Martha cackled, "That's the kind of boys my girls need. Nice, red blooded men!" They rejoined the group in the formal living room where Kyle had insisted they sit and get to know each other.
"So, how long did you say you were in Mexico for?" Kyle asked. He didn't like the thought of all these men being around Torin, or any of the McKenna sisters for that matter. He figured he'd have to move up his plans on proposing to her. Kyle had wanted to give it time hoping Quin would come to her senses, but so far she'd remained adamant.
"Nine months." Dom told him from the doorway.
"And are any of you in college?" he asked pompously.
"Kyle!" Torin said with a frown, she smiled apologetically at everyone.
"Now Torin, I'm just trying to get to know your new friends." he said amicably.
"Mia was in school when we left. She'll be going back soon." Dom answered. "The rest of us figured we'd do what we were good at. Didn't need a college degree to work on cars, but we got certified."
Kyle was about to say something when Quin's voice over rode his. "Well, I think that if you're doin what you love then you really can't ask for more." She'd pulled her masses of hair into a high ponytail, and wore a fresh lemon yellow button down tank top, and denim shorts. Her long golden legs were left bare, and she crossed to stand next to Dom and Martha. "I don't necessarily think that a college degree is that important."
Torin smiled sweetly. "I agree. I mean I have to go for my chosen profession, but as long as you're good at what you do, then why should it matter?"
"If that's the case then Quin, why didn't you go back?" Kyle challenged.
"I graduated Kyle."
"Yes, you graduated from college, but you were starting law school, and you didn't."
"Well Kyle, after our parents and Park died I decided the ranch was much more important to me than having a law degree was. I love what I'm doin." she said patiently. "The only reason I wasn't before was because Park was doing it."
"Kyle why are you being even more unpleasant than normal?" Sloane asked. She was trying to lounge on one of the formal sofas.
Kyle turned red, but didn't answer. Quin spoke again. "And from what Brian tells me, Jesse there could get into any college he wanted, he's a technical genius."
"You said that?" Jesse looked at Brian, who just shrugged.
"Months ago, when he called to tell me about his new friends, and how one of them was in the hospital seriously injured." she went on. "He would call after he'd visited, and tell me about all of you."
"Wish he'd done the same for us describing all of you." Leon muttered, and it brought a delighted laugh from Sloane.
