Wednesday was Manny’s first official day back at the garage, and Wyatt was near useless. He’d have to take back all those times he gave Dad grief for being a total mess after falling for Pauline. Love seemed to make a man temporarily stupid. Good thing Manny was back on the job as of today. He was itching to tell Manny about Marilyn, to get the wise old man’s take on all the ways his life had turned upside down in recent weeks.
Only when Manny arrived, he looked just plain run-down. He puttered aimlessly around the shop if the last thing he wanted to do was work. He’d always thought of Manny like Dad—both men didn’t know how to not work. Getting things done was like breathing, how they stayed alive.
“How’s Peggy today?” Wyatt called out casually as he applied a grease gun to an axle.
“You already asked me that,” came Manny’s reply from under a sedan, followed by the clang of something dropping and a grumble of frustration.
“You okay?”
“When are you gonna stop playing mother hen and finish that brake job?”
Wyatt capped the grease gun. “I am done, you old coot. What’d you drop?”
“My standards when I hired you.” Manny’s creaky laugh echoed out from under the vehicle.
“As if you could make it without me.” They had some version of this teasing exchange nearly every day since Wyatt had started helping out at the garage. It was mostly joking, but the thread of truth as to how much they enjoyed and counted on each other simmered underneath the humor.
Manny slid into view and sat up. “About that...” Wyatt did not care for the slow, grunting effort the man had to put in righting himself.
“What about it?”
“I been thinking...”
That could mean only one thing. A little burst of panic lit in Wyatt’s gut, popping the bubble of bliss he’d been walking around in since kissing Marilyn. Now? Really? He’d been dreading the day Manny opted to close up shop. Even if he learned every clever tactic the learning center could offer, he was far from being able to go out into business on his own. He certainly had no desire to work for one of the snazzy car dealerships in the next town, Mountain Vista was definitely off the table and, while he and Dad had patched things up, that didn’t mean he would go back to the ranch. He hated the idea of drifting again, especially with Marilyn and the girls in the picture.
Manny walked over to his desk, motioning for Wyatt to follow. “Did you know I opened this place in 1964? This building wasn’t even here. Just a garage shed and my toolbox.”
This sounded too much like a goodbye speech. “I know that.”
“I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. Not back then, and not for a couple a years after that. But I stuck with it.” Manny gave Wyatt a serious look. “Some things are worth sticking with.”
That was rather a peculiar statement, seeing as Manny took Wyatt in when he did the exact opposite of sticking with Wander Canyon Ranch. Back then Manny was the only person who understood why Wyatt had walked away from the family herd and property. “I appreciate the way you stuck with me, Manny.” A surge of sentiment tightened Wyatt’s throat. “It’s been a good run.”
Manny leaned back in his chair. “Now, what makes you think that run is over?”
“’Cause this sounds a lot like an ‘I’m retiring’ speech, that’s why.”
“I am retiring.”
He fully deserved to, but the three words still felt like the finale of some of the best months of Wyatt’s life. He’d loved it here. He’d found himself, become his own person. He’d met Marilyn here, fallen for her and the girls as they spent time here. “I’ll be sorry to see this place go.” It was easy to admit that. These bays and the apartment above were home to him. More home, oddly enough, than he’d felt in his last five years at his childhood home of Wander Canyon Ranch.
“Who says it’s going?”
Of course Manny wouldn’t just close down the garage. He’d sell it. He’d built up a solid business. More than once Wyatt had daydreamed about swallowing his pride and asking Dad to loan him the money to make Manny an offer. He supposed he could strike a deal with the new owner, but did it stand any chance of being like working for Manny? “Isn’t it?”
Manny chuckled. “I thought you were quicker on the uptake, boy.”
Wyatt leaned back against the work counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “How about you just come clean with me about who’s buying the place?”
Manny’s chuckle broke open into a laugh. “You are.”
That actually stung. “I can’t.” He’d give anything to swing purchasing this place, but it’d be years from now. He wasn’t near ready to, financially or organizationally—he’d need a dozen Marilyns to pull that off.
“Well, not yet, no.”
“You’re not making any sense, old man.”
“You’re gonna buy it from me bit by bit. Much as you can, fast or slow as you can manage it.” He straightened up. “You didn’t actually think I’d up and sell this place to anyone else, did you?”
Did he hear that right? “Wait... Me?”
“It’s called financing. As in me financing you. Instead of me paying you, you run this place and pay me for ownership. Ease into it. Best of both worlds. I just come in, say, once a week. Peggy says she’s not keen to have me home bugging her all the time anyhow.”
Wyatt felt like he had to be extra sure he’d heard what he thought he had. “You’re gonna let me buy the business from you in payments?”
“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”
“Um...yeah.”
Manny’s expression was an amused sort of puzzled. “You do want to run the garage, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Wyatt answered without hesitation. “Absolutely.”
“Honestly, I half expected you to come to me with the idea. Carl at the bank brought it up the other week. I figured you were just being nice, waiting until Peggy and I were ready.”
Wyatt wiped his hands on a rag, happily stunned. “Am I ready?”
“Well, maybe not on your own, but seems to me you might have the right sort of partner within reach now.” Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “You shoulda heard Katie Ralton complaining to her lady friends in the diner this morning about ‘that no-good Wyatt Walker’ kissing her daughter at the end of her driveway.” He laughed so hard he wheezed a bit. “Wander’s always watching, isn’t that what you say?”
Wyatt practically gulped. “So everybody knows?”
“If they don’t, they will. She’s yours now. That is unless you’re dumb enough to let her get away.” After a pause, he added, “You’re not that dumb, are you?”
Chaz had told him once about the moment he saw his future line up bright and shiny in front of him. As if the storm ahead of him in life had burned off the way storms so often did in this part of the country. After a tumultuous season, and even a fistfight with Wyatt himself, Chaz had struggled through to making a future for himself and Yvonne on Wander Canyon Ranch. Now Wyatt felt he was standing on the same brink of a future he’d never thought possible. “No, Manny,” he heard himself saying. “I’m not that dumb. I can’t let her get away.”
Manny grinned. “Now there ya go.”
Wyatt had never been a patient man. Suddenly his impatience to step into that bright future practically swallowed him whole. He didn’t want to wait one hour more to reach for what life—no, what God—had spread out before him. Thanks for Your infinite patience with me, Lord. I expect I sorely tested You. Wyatt checked his watch. Marilyn should be getting out of her meeting with Gail at the Chamber of Commerce just about now. The girls were still at the craft day they talked about at Sunday’s church service. “You think you can hold this place down on your own for an hour or two, old man?”
Manny’s grin widened. “Been doing it for years before you got here.”
“I got something I gotta do.”
“I expect you do.” Manny surprised Wyatt by standing up and pulling him into a hug. “Go get ’er.”
“I plan to. All three of ’em.”
Gail slid the paper across the desk toward Marilyn. “So, here’s what we’re prepared to offer you. It’s probably way below what you were used to in Denver, but we’re a small operation here.”
Marilyn wondered if it was professionally appropriate to look aghast. She hoped so, because she had no hope of hiding it. “You told me you weren’t expanding here at the chamber.”
Gail blushed. “Well, that’s before we found out I was expanding.” When Marilyn gave her a quizzical look, Gail laid her hand on her belly. “I’m due in January.”
“You’re expecting!” Marilyn cried out.
“Expecting, expanding, and...exhausted. We’d be essentially job-sharing. Are you okay with that?”
“Absolutely!” The hours and salary fit Marilyn’s needs perfectly. Still, she felt she had to ask. “You’re okay with...me?” After all, this was a public relations position representing Wander Canyon, and there were still going to be people who stared a bit too long or wouldn’t quite meet her eyes.
Gail gave her an understanding look. “I can’t think of anyone better for the job. And quite frankly, I think the world doesn’t have a better set of problem-solvers than a pair of working mothers.”
Marilyn laughed. “You’re right there.” There had been a time when the threat of looks and questions would have kept her in hiding. She was on her way to becoming a different woman now. Wyatt had peeled away the layers of need and doubt that Landon had created. She knew, now, that she would never allow someone to do that to her again. She could—and would—teach her girls the same strength and sense of self.
A gush of gratitude filled her, as if the tight knot that had been in her stomach for months finally eased its grip.
They talked for a few more minutes about schedules and logistics. By the end of the conversation, Marilyn had no doubt the job would be a perfect fit. At one point, she looked out the office window to one side and caught sight of an anxious-looking Wyatt pacing the sidewalk in front of the building.
Gail gave a knowing smile. “I think someone is impatient to see you.” She handed a folder to Marilyn. “Here’s a draft of the fall and winter schedule and a list of the regular meetings. Can you start next Monday?”
Marilyn thought how good it would feel to have a place to use her talents, to feel truly part of the community. “I could start tomorrow.”
Gail laughed. “Next Monday will be fine.”
Marilyn calmly gathered her things, keeping mostly professional until she made it out of the office door. At that point, she rushed at Wyatt with a glee fit for Margie and Maddie. “Good news!” she called to Wyatt. He wrapped her in a hug without the slightest hesitation. Wyatt’s embraces were like the man—strong and dramatic and enthralling. He had shown her just how pale and halfhearted her life had become. And now he was showing her how bright and bold it could be.
“Me, too,” he said, squeezing her hands as he gave her a kiss. On the lips. Landon had a policy—and how telling it was that her mind used that word—of kissing her only on the cheek in public. Wyatt kissed her as if the whole world should know how deeply he felt about her. As if Wander could watch all they wanted. There was something warm and wonderful about that.
“You first,” Wyatt said as he pulled back.
Landon always declared his news before hers. Her world was changing in so many ways.
“Gail offered me a position! Job-sharing with her. She’s expecting and they need someone to divide the workload and take over for her when she’s on leave. The hours are perfect. Everything’s perfect.”
“That’s amazing!” His eyes told her he was genuinely happy for her. “You’ll be fabulous at it.”
She felt almost breathless with happiness, wondering just how much more joy the world could hold for her. “What’s your good news?”
Wyatt stepped back and spread his hands. “You are looking at the new partner and future owner of a certain highly successful auto garage.”
That was fabulous news indeed. “Really?”
“I thought Manny was telling me he was selling the place. But he wants to sell to me. A sort of pay-as-you-go setup that allows him to scale back and eventually retire.” He grinned. “I’m gonna own the garage.” He pulled her close again. “I feel like the king of the world.”
“A promotion above the Carousel Man?”
“I’m thinking I just may keep that title. I mean, these days I feel like I’ve got enough fabulousness to spread around.” It was all joy, no boasting. No positioning, no tactics. She’d been part of a network in Denver, but this is what it felt like to be part of a community. How had she allowed herself to forget that?
His eyes grew serious for a moment. “Everybody knows.”
“Maybe they’re as amazed that we fell in love as we are. Do you care?”
“Nope. Do you?”
She surprised herself by answering, “Not a bit. Our friends know what a good thing this is. The rest will just have to figure it out.” It felt wonderful to remember she had good friends here.
Wyatt took her face gently in his hands. “What about the girls—are they okay?” As if it still baffled him, he added, “Do you have any idea how much I love your girls?”
Those were the only words that could fill her heart more than it already was. Speech left her, and she managed a nod as she felt a happy tear slide down one cheek.
Wyatt wiped it away with his thumb. “I love you. All of Wander could raise a monumental stink about it and I’d still love you.” Way back then, she’d known a Wyatt who was brazen, defiant and mesmerizing. The man holding her in her arms was still a bit of those things, but he had also grown into a man who was loyal, true to himself and those he cared about, and strong. A man she could love without fear or doubt.
Wander Canyon had blue skies and bright sunshine most days of the year. But today the skies were far bluer, the sun far brighter, and the world opened up to new possibilities Marilyn had doubted would ever come.
A delightful version of her traditional list sparkled in her mind:
Three things I’m thankful for:
1. Wyatt.
2. Wyatt.
3. Wyatt.
Three things I need:
1. Wyatt.
2. Wyatt.
3. Wyatt.