Beth was home.
She let out a sigh of relief as they all filed into her childhood home, dropping grocery bags onto the floor and taking off shoes. The familiar smell of the house made her feel a thousand times better than before. The stay at the hospital was comfy enough, but still, it was a hospital. Beth had tossed and turned all night, hearing every little sound as she attempted to fall asleep. The first night and she was already not following the terms that her doctor gave her. She most definitely did not get eight solid hours of sleep, and she would have to make up for that tonight in her own bed and in her own room.
"I can't believe that daddy is gonna let you have your own apartment off campus," Maggie whispered as they headed up the stairs to her room. "He didn't even hesitate for a second when your doctor told him that would be the best place for you to be."
"I know," she agreed, remaining in disbelief. "I think mom might have talked him into it further, though. She knows how badly I want to go away to college and it's too far to commute from home."
They both entered her room and Maggie shut the door behind her, the two of them sitting down on the bed. "How's your head feelin'?"
"It's okay, I guess. I'm holding up. There was a slight headache this mornin' and it was hard to focus, but other than that, it was not too bad."
"So, when are you gonna call Daryl?" her sister immediately jumped to. Beth knew that asking about her head was not the real reason her sister had followed her into her room where they could have more privacy.
"As soon as you leave," she teased. "I can't now. He's gotta be at work. I don't want to disturb him."
"You know, Daddy and Annette are really curious about him. Maybe you should invite him over for dinner. I'm sure they'd like to thank him even though he doesn't want any of that kind of stuff."
"Dinner? No way. He would never come, even if I wanted him to."
And Beth really would like him to. In fact, she would love it. Unfortunately, she got the idea that Daryl would not be comfortable with that. Not at all.
"Oh, well," Maggie sighed. "Hey, do you want me to drive you to that mechanic shop? I called and let the company who towed your car to drop it off there when I give them another call, and that you would meet them there to confirm that you're the owner. But I didn't really think about maybe you not wantin' to see the car and the damage. Sorry."
Her heart hurt thinking about the car that her parents had chipped in for as a high school graduation present. Beth had paid for most of the cost for her used silver 2006 Hyundai Verna that she had gotten for a good price through a friend at school. However, the good thing was that her insurance would cover the cost of the repairs.
Beth grabbed Maggie's hand. "It's fine, really. I don't have a problem goin'. I wanna hear what they have to say about how long it will take to get fixed. And I'd like to know who the mechanic is that will be fixin' my car. You can drop me off on the way to see your pizza delivery boy."
"Glenn!" she corrected. "And he's great, by the way."
"I know. I've never seen you so...so happy before."
Maggie shrugged, smiling. "He's so nice and funny. And he practically worships the ground I walk on, which is so weird, but also kinda sweet. It's refreshing, really. After all the guys I've dated in the past..."
"Don't remind me."
"Hey!" Maggie playfully swatted at Beth's arm.
"That's not fair. Don't hurt me, I'm injured," she played along. "When do you want to go?"
"The sooner we go the more time I have with Glenn," Maggie hinted, eyes drifting around the room until Beth answered.
"Okay, okay. We can go now. But under one condition. Only if you promise that I won't be force fed beets with plain lettuce in this house as a way of maintaining a healthy diet. Because you know that daddy and my mom are gonna be all over that. They are probably down there right now plannin' out my meals as we speak."
Maggie laughed, getting up from the bed. "I accept those terms. No beets! Ever."
"And you'll sneak me chocolate if I am in desperate need of it?"
Maggie shrugged one shoulder and pushed her lips together. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" Beth squealed, not happy with that response.
"I'm kidding. I'll bring a whole candy store in here at two in the mornin' and we'll have a party. How's that? Because, you know, you are actually gonna be eating a lot of lettuce very soon." Maggie made a sad face that made Beth giggle. "And that's no fun."
—
Maggie and Beth drove twenty minutes from their house until they pulled up at Martinez & Sons autobody shop that was off of a dirt road. From the looks of it, she was the first one there since no tow truck was in sight. Luckily, Beth was a fairly patient person and would not mind waiting for her car to arrive.
Beth hopped out of Maggie's car. "I'll call you when I'm done here. Have a good time with Glenn. Tell him I said hello even though he doesn't know who I am yet."
"You'll meet him soon!" Maggie gleefully hinted. "I promise."
"Fine," Beth sighed. "See you soon."
She waved goodbye and noted that she could walk down along the dirt road to a few little shops that they had passed and a small cafe that she could go to in order to give her sister more time with Glenn.
Beth thought about waiting outside for the tow truck to arrive, but the heat and extreme humidity of the summer was too much for her to bear. She walked up through the dirt parking lot and went past a number of cars that were in need of either being serviced or waiting for the owner to pick it up. She grabbed ahold of the door handle to the front part of the shop, swinging it open, and stepped inside. It was cooler in there, and Beth sighed in relief.
No one was at the messy front desk that was filled with paperwork which was scattered all over, so Beth turned around the corner to walk toward where she heard some distant clanging noises and a pair of voices. She waited a few minutes but when it was clear that no one was going to come out and acknowledge her presence at the place, she crossed through another door's entryway, not thinking that she would be trespassing or anything like that.
When she came around the corner, she anxiously stepped into the garage part of the place where they serviced all the cars, it smelling like oil and car parts in there. A man who was very tall and looked to be of Hispanic descent was writing something down as he examined a truck that was right by him.
Beth waited for him to look up, but he never realized that there was another person in the room. Beth looked around, trying to figure out what to do because she did not want to disturb the man, but also needed to explain why she was in the middle of the floor looking around awkwardly.
When a minute went by and he had yet to notice Beth as she stood there, she cleared her throat, him looking up and over at her. "Hi," she greeted, motioning to the door she came out of. "No one was in the front so I came back here. My sister called not that long ago. My car is supposed to be dropped off here."
"Right," he said, not bothered by the intrusion, and set the clipboard he had in his hands on the hood of the truck in front of him. "I remember that. Babe on the phone sounded kind of upset about it."
Beth shrugged, remembering how tense Maggie would get about what had happened. "The whole car situation is not exactly her favorite thing to talk about. Makes her angry, really."
"Yeah, I didn't any details about it," the man explained. "What all happened? The only thing I know is that there's a bunch of damage to the right side."
"Well..." Beth looked for a name tag but could not find one so she motioned for him to give up what his name was.
"Martinez," he told her. "It's actually Caesar. But no one but my mom calls me that."
"Alright, Martinez it is. But, uh, I was actually in a car accident. I'm not even sure how bad the damage is since I never got a chance to see it. The car kind of flipped a few times, but you can do whatever needs to be done. Insurance will cover almost everythin'."
"Cool," Martinez said, acquiring a quizzical look from Beth. "I mean the working on the car part and insurance covering it. Not the you getting in an accident part," he quickly added, trying to backtrack and explain what he really meant. "It's not like I enjoy hearing people have been injured. I'm not a psychopath or anything like that."
"Good to know," Beth laughed.
The door to the side of Martinez then swung open before the conversation furthered. "When were you gonna tell me got another wrecked car comin' in here?"
She had heard that voice before.
Beth froze, her back straightening up when her ears had alerted her of the familiar voice, and then a person came around the corner, revealing that it was Daryl. He looked the same as before, possibly more handsome, if that were even possible. Beth spotted that there was a mixture of grease and oil on his hands, along with it stained onto his blue mechanic shirt.
He looked straight at Martinez before he noticed that she stood there, doing a double take when he recognized her. His face went from what looked to be annoyed when he had come in, to being shocked when his eyes settled on her, his expression then going blank.
"Hi," she kindly said in almost a whisper after a few beats passed, surprised that he worked here and that she just so happened to show up at this place after Glenn suggested it to Maggie.
If fate were ever knocking, this would be that time.
Daryl blinked a few times. "Uh, hi."
There was a moment of silence after that, which consisted to the two of them looking at each other in awe and also complete surprise. Martinez, who was now observing Beth and Daryl, exchanged glances between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on.
She believed that she could have heard a pin drop. It was that quiet.
"You know each other, I'm assuming," Martinez hinted, to tell them he wanted to be in the loop.
Beth ripped her eyes away from Daryl, shaking off the disbelief. "Yes!" She silently noted how she sounded more enthusiastic than she needed to be. "Daryl is the one who saved me from the accident the other night. That's why my car is damaged."
Martinez's jaw dropped, turning his attention to Daryl "Wait. What?"
Oh.
That was when Beth realized that Daryl had not told Martinez about the whole car accident debacle and how he had managed to save her life that night. She had assumed that he would have, considering they worked together and that Martinez was probably someone who Daryl considered to be a friend. She guessed that he really did mean it when he said that it had been no big deal on his part. And now she felt bad for exposing the truth, one that Daryl had not mentioned to Martinez.
She looked over at Daryl, who then averted his eyes to the ground. Beth figured she better explain, seeing that Daryl seemed reluctant to do so and Martinez seemed like the kind of guy to not let something go. "Uh, yeah. I was trapped in the car and Daryl came to cut me loose."
"Why is this the first time I am hearing about this?" Martinez asked, an amused grin on his face as he talked, turning towards Daryl, and waiting for a response from him.
Daryl rolled his eyes. "Didn't say because it ain't nothin' to talk about. Ain't no big deal or nothin'."
"Actually, I probably would have died," Beth interjected before she could think, feeling the need to give up some of the knowledge her doctor and nurse had shared with her. "My doctor even told me that he was ninety percent certain that I would have died there if Daryl hadn't gotten me out because of the head injury and the combination of being upside down," she explained to the both of them, a chill running down her spine because of the thought.
She could have died.
Died.
But, no, she didn't. A man in an angel winged vest came and prolonged her life a little further.
Beth exchanged another glance with Daryl, as if to say thank you to him again.
Martinez then interrupted the eye contact and threw a dirty rag over at Daryl, who caught it in midair. "Wow, look at you over there, Superman. Saving damsel's in distress from near death experiences. Nice!"
The bell on top of the door in the front office rang to alert that someone had entered.
"Shut up," Daryl muttered. "Go help the other customer. Probably the tow guy wantin' to know where everyone is so he can get the hell outta here."
"Alright, alright, I'm going. No fooling around back here while I'm gone," Martinez smugly told Daryl as he passed by him, suggestively winking on his way out, landing a strong hand onto Daryl's shoulder before he went through the doorway.
Daryl muttered something else but Beth didn't catch what it was. He looked over at her awkwardly, a faint blush on his cheeks that she found to be adorable. "Sorry 'bout that. Martinez is a jackass sometimes. Likes to say inappropriate stuff to make people uncomfortable."
Beth let out a small laugh. "That's okay. It doesn't bother me all that much."
There was another pause between them, neither of them knowing what to say.
"So, um," Beth started, hoping that her brain would jumpstart again. "This is where you work?"
"Yeah."
Beth nodded her head, looking around the place more. "I think it's obvious by now that my car is the wrecked one that's comin' in...the one from the accident." She paused, looking back over at Daryl. "Is that okay with you?"
He quickly ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah. I guess. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I wasn't sure if maybe it would be too..personal?"
She knew the wording was not exactly right, but it was the only way she could describe it to him. Working on the car that had been a death trap to Beth did not exactly seem like a walk in the park. In fact, it seemed rather coincidental that she ended up here and that Daryl would be working on the car that he got her out of.
What were the chances of that?
"So, I would really like to talk to you. When do you get off work?" she questioned before she lost the nerve to do so.
"Not for a while—"
"But he can take off now," Martinez jumped in, not missing a beat as he walked back into the room, overhearing Beth's initial question. "I can fill out the paperwork for this and we'll start on her car in the morning after I finish up on that Camaro out there. It's not busy now. Get the hell out of here, Daryl. You don't want to keep a lady waiting."
Martinez threw Beth a mischievous smile, which she then rolled her eyes to, them finding their way back to Daryl, who looked unsure of what to do in that moment. She was actually very grateful that Martinez had let Daryl off the hook and he had the option to come with her instead.
Beth watched as Daryl looked undecided for a minute. But then he shrugged, sighing, and threw the rag he had in his hands onto the hood of a car that was next to him, one that was in for repairs for what seemed like an indentation of a pole in the front corner.
"Alright, then." Daryl motioned for Beth to come with him, and head towards the door. "Let's go."
A/N: Before I go, I need to express how lovely it is to hear from everyone with your comments on the story! Thanks for reviewing, following, and adding to your favorites. And also thank you to my anonymous reviewers!
