Author's Note: Here it is, the final chapter. I managed to write some of this one on my lunch break today, and the rest when I got home. I'm not really sure about it, so I want lots of feedback, good or bad.

In the Shadow of my Father

I returned to the café when I was finished on the phone. Sheriff had disappeared somewhere, but Doc was still in the café. He was talking to Flo as I walked in.

"Did you get through to your father?" Doc asked me.

"How did you know I was phoning him?"

"You said you 'worked with your father'. I presume you were letting him know you aren't going back."

"I was." I nodded.

"How would you like a job here? We could do with an attorney. You could ask your father if he'd let you transfer over here." Doc looked at me over the rim of his mug. "There's not an awful lot of work out here, though."

"I never had much to do in the city. I have to go back tomorrow anyway; I need to get my clothes before I settle anywhere. I could ask him then."

"You'll be all right getting back there?"

"I think so. I might need someone to show me the way back to the Interstate though."

"I'll talk to Sheriff." Doc said.

It was early when I took off the following morning. Sheriff had agreed to show me back to the Interstate, so for a few miles I was following his Mercury Police Cruiser. He stopped when we reached a train line and wound his window down. I pulled up beside him and did the same.

"Just follow this road, it'll take you to where you want to be." He called across to me.

"Thanks." I replied, and set off again. I watched him turn his car around and head back to the town in my rear view mirror. I had to admit it was very lonely now I was alone on this road.

Hours later I was pulling up at a motel for the night. It was one of the ones I had stopped at on my way out, but it was a different receptionist tonight. Darkness had fallen at least two hours ago, but I hadn't been in a position where I could stop. With luck I would be in the city late tomorrow. For now I would get as much sleep as I could manage.

Once again it was fairly early when I continued my journey, though this time it was after sunrise. The road was quiet, and I was able to make good time. By late afternoon I was on the outskirts of the city. I decided to go straight to my flat and visit my father in the morning. That didn't mean I couldn't phone him at home though.

Two hours later I was going up the stairs to my pokey little abode. The key was still attached to the to the bunch that also held my car keys, so getting in wasn't a problem. I managed to scrape a few things together for a quick dinner before I set about getting the rest of my clothes and essential items. I would leave most of it behind and give the key to my father when I saw him. I still had two of the suitcases from when I had moved in stacked in a spare cupboard. I stuffed most of my clothes into one of them, and filled about half of the other with some more, the cosmetics and a few other items filled the rest of it.

By the time I was done it was approaching midnight. There was just last minute stuff to pack now, which would be done in the morning. I knew the best time to visit my father would be in the mid-morning, unless of course he was out on business. Somehow though, I knew he wouldn't be. I found it hard to believe it was only a little over a week since I had left. After the quiet nights in Radiator Springs the traffic outside seemed alien to me, even though I had spent the better part of 21 years living with it.

I felt out of place in the office too as I walked into reception the following morning. It was Seraphine behind the desk today. She seemed surprised to see me as I went over to her.

"Your dad said you weren't coming back." She said.

"I had to get a few things from my flat. Is Dad in?"

"Sure." She reached for the phone. "I'll see if he's available."

I looked around the room while I waited. I had never really taken the time to look before. The potted plant in the corner looked like it had seen better days, but the paintings on the walls managed to make the place a little brighter. I thought it was time it got repainted; the yellow had faded to an odd shade of cream.

"You can go through." Seraphine replaced the phone.

I thanked her and walked the familiar route to his office. I didn't bother to knock on the door, having never been required to before. He was sitting behind his desk, but as soon as he saw me he stood up and came around to me.

"I thought you weren't coming back." He said, hugging me tightly.

"I had to get some things from my flat." I returned the hug. "And I have a proposition from a friend."

"Let's hear it then."

"Well, I ended up in a town called Radiator Springs, on old Route 66…"

"Ah, somewhere near the Wheel Well Motel I believe."

"Yeah, I drove up there after Doc fixed my car. Anyway, Doc's kind of multitasking, he's the doctor, a mechanic and the town judge." Dad look surprised at this. I hadn't exactly expected such a small community to have a judge either. "He found out about me being an attorney and suggested transferring over there when I said I didn't want to come back here."

Dad thought it over for a few minutes.

"Do you like it out there?" He asked. "It's not exactly the city."

"I know, but it's where I want to be. Please, Daddy?"

He observed me with his soft hazel eyes. "I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, thank you! There's something else, actually." I extracted the bunch of keys from my bag and removed one. "I don't know if I'll be returning to the flat at all, but I don't want to sell it. Can you and Mum look after it for me?" I held the key out.

He took it slowly. "You really mean it, don't you? You're really not planning to come back."

"Not this time."

"You'll phone us?"

"As often as I can." I promised. "Mum knows all ready, I went to see her earlier."

He smiled sadly at me. "Take care, Sally."

Two days later I was back in Radiator Springs. Doc greeted me as though I had always been there. He also had an interesting suggestion while I waited for my father to contact me.

"We could do with having someone running the Cozy Cone Motel. Flo does it at the moment, and while there's not many people coming to stay it is a bit inconvenient that they have to go to the café to book in."

I looked over at the motel. They had given me a room there while I sorted more permanent accommodation out. Taking over the motel would mean I'd have a home, and a job to do when I wasn't needed as an attorney. Flo wasn't really kept that busy at the café at the moment, but what if things picked up again? I knew this town had been popular at one time. If it became busy again, someone would need to work full-time at the motel.

"Sure, I'll give it a go." I replied.

A couple of weeks later there was an important looking document for me. I had soon discovered that someone in Phoenix held onto the mail for the town while someone from the town went out every couple of days to get it. On this occasion it had been Doc who had gone into Phoenix. He handed the envelope to me and then went off to hand out the rest of the mail. I sat in the reception of the motel and slit it open.

Sally,

The documents have come through. I got you transferred to Radiator Springs to work under Doc Hudson. I'm sending a copy of the documents to you in case you need them for some reason, plus I feel it makes it more official.

Hope you like your new home.

Dad

I pulled the documents from the envelope. This was it, the start of my new life. I could only hope that I wouldn't up and run if things got too much for me again, though I had a feeling that wouldn't happen. There was so little work to do here that I spent most of the time in the café with the rest of the residents. Sarge and Fillmore, the army Sergeant and the hippy, had quickly accepted me, and were used to my methods of sorting out their arguments, though I tended to leave the trivial ones to them. I hadn't been sure how well the rest of the town would accept me, but within a few days of returning, it really had felt like home, and I had started to see every one of them as my friends.

It was a long time before I saw anyone else coming through the town. For some time I had begun to think I would be the last to arrive, but then Sheriff came tearing through the town in hot pursuit of a red racecar. That was when I found myself falling in love for the first time…with the driver of the racecar. He wasn't half as bad as I had initially thought once he had learned a few things about our simple lives.
Author's Note: I would expect everyone to know who the driver of the red racecar is. The end of another story. I think this one makes a total of 7 complete Cars fics now. Hopefully it won't be too long before Staying Strong is finished, though I am struggling a little with chapter 11. It's a great idea, I'm just having a little trouble finding the words for it. And there should be a new story online soon titled A Hidden Past.