3

“Camden, Michigan. Population... one hundred and twenty-six,” Emily recited off of a huge wooden sign that gleamed with a fresh coat of paint. Maybe I spoke too soon about civilization, she thought. 

“You have great eyesight, that’s just a blur to me,” Selma admitted as they approached the sign.

“Nah, I just got good at deciphering doctor handwriting, drunk handwriting, and smudged handwriting.” Working for a doctor, even if he was a complete idiot, had taught her a few things. Handwriting was one of them.

Maybe it was Emily’s imagination but the glow from the town of Camden appeared to get brighter as they passed by the sign. She was about to ask Selma if she noticed it too when suddenly the rain stopped pouring. Not even a drop of rain fell from the sky now.

“The rain just stopped,” Emily spoke quietly. “What in the fuck just happened? You saw that right? Or have I just gone batshit crazy?” Selma didn’t say anything she just continued to grip the steering wheel and drive into the eerie town. 

The town looked like Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. It was very retro. White picket fences. Every house perfectly spaced. 

Emily caught a glimpse of a 1942 Pontiac Streamliner. She tried to press against the window to get a better look at the beauty. She wished she could have had a better look at it. It wasn’t every day she got to come across one of those. 

She turned her attention back to the windshield. A sign with 'Snojason’s Garage’ caught her eyes.

“There,” Emily shouted waving her finger towards the garage. “A garage.”

Selma pulled into the small parking lot in front of the garage. It was a classic retro garage with only two stalls. The 'Snojason’s Garage’ sign beaming off the hood of the car. 

Emily and Selma looked around. First at the garage, then up and down the street. Finally, they looked back at the garage. Selma sighed then turned to Emily. 

“Do you want me to wait for you? I can...” Selma began.

“I know you’re worried about reaching the signing... You’re not the only one.” Emily breathed. She knew Selma was in a rush to get there. She couldn’t blame her. Emily was too. She would understand if Selma left her, but she preferred to have someone around to help identify her body in the creepy little town of Camden.

“Wait... look, there’s a diner a block or so up ahead. I’ll drop you here and go there to get something to eat. That will give you a chance to get things squared away and figure out what you’re doing. And, you can leave your things in my car until then.” She knew Selma didn’t want to wait around, but Emily was thankful Selma was willing to. At the end of all of this, Emily would find a way to pay Selma back for her help.

The thought of food made Emily’s stomach rumble. “Food. Ugh. That sounds amazing right now. Damn you, Bitching Betty!”

“Um...” Selma looked at her phone and then tossed it back into the cup holder. “Stupid electronics, I keep forgetting there’s no signal. But, anyway, I’m already later than I wanted to be and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be driving all night to make it to Lansing by tomorrow. So, when you’re done, I’ll sit with you while you get something to eat. How’s that?”

“You’re a goddess,” Emily agreed as she shifted her box and looked at the door.

“Let me,” Selma offered as she helped Emily shove her box of books onto the center armrest. Emily took a deep breath, got out of the car and made her way over to the garage door. She looked over her shoulder at Selma. Hoping the woman would keep to her word and not leave her. One last smile, then she went inside the building. 

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Hanging above the door was a string of bells. Very noisy bells. They jingled together when Emily opened the door and when it closed behind her. 

She took a step into the small lobby. It was barely bigger than her bathroom at home. Just like the town, it was retro. An old Coke bottle dispenser was next to the counter. Two red vinyl covered chairs sat in the corner next to a magazine rack. Emily noted how vintage the magazines looked. Super creepy. Something out of the Twilight Zone.

“Who are you,” a deep voice growled from behind her. She jumped and spun on her heels. Her eyes rested on olive green coveralls. She followed the zipper up to a thick, brown scruffy beard that was overdue for a trim. Her eyes continued up. The man had to be close to 6’ 5”. 

The thick beard came with a matching mustache. The man reminded her of a Viking. She finally found a nose and a set of vivid blue eyes that glared down at her. He had sun-kissed skin, smudges of grease on his cheeks and tip of his long, slender nose. The side of his head was shaved and the hair on top was slicked back like a Greaser.

His zipped up coveralls didn’t hide his large, muscular physique. He had the body of a bodybuilder. Emily dropped her gaze to his work boots, then brought it all the way back up. Taking in all of him. Emily had to admit he was quite sexy. 

“What are you doing here,” he asked crossing his arms in front of him. Emily shook her thoughts of the sexiness in front of her.

“Um... Hello. My car broke down and I’m here to see if you can tow it?” 

“Your car broke down,” he asked. Emily nodded. “Then how did you get here.” He pointed down at the floor. 

“My friend gave me a ride.” Her and Selma weren’t friends. They were barely even acquaintances, but it was easier to say friends than a fellow author she had met at a write-in and just so happened to be driving by. 

“There’s another one of you?” Another one of you? Emily thought his choice of words was strange... and rude.

“I guess you could call her that. Yes. There is another one of me.” He looked behind her. 

“She went to grab something to eat at the diner.” The man rolled his eyes. 

“How exactly did you get to this town?” Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest. He wasn’t the friendliest person on Earth. He seemed to be interrogating her. 

“We drove down a thing called a road.” 

“Obviously,” he snorted. “You were just able to drive through without any problems?” 

“Look, can you tow my car or not,” she groaned at the male who was starting to piss her off.

“Why are you drenched?”

“Because it was pouring down raining.” Is this guy a complete idiot? Emily thought trying to figure out how the man missed the rain of cats and dogs earlier.

“Really?” He seemed truly surprised, which answered her question as to if he was a complete idiot or not. “You’re going to get my floor wet.” Emily huffed. She wasn’t going to get any help from him. She faced the door. 

“Thanks anyway.” 

“Wait.” There was a sound of defeat in his voice. “The roads are washed out.” She spun on her heels again.

“How do you know? You didn’t even know that it was raining.” 

“Anytime it rains, the roads get washed out for a few days.” 

“You don’t even know which way we came in from.” He leaned against the counter glaring at her. His facial expression telling her he felt the same way towards her as she did him. She was getting under his skin. All she wanted was her car towed. Maybe he doesn’t work here?

“Look, I’ll get your car in the morning.”

“The morning,” she shrieked. “I can’t wait that long. I need to get back on the road.”

“Can’t help until morning.” 

“You seem like you don’t want to help me.”

“Look, lady,” he growled. Emily’s temper flared, and she took a step towards him.

“Look... Jughead! I don’t know what your problem is. You work in a garage. Your job is to fix cars. Yet, you won’t even pretend to tinker with the idea of getting my car tonight. You don‘t even need to work on it. I just need it towed here.”

“Jughead?” 

“Would you prefer that I call you an asshole,” she snarled. His blue eyes were burning a hole in her. Or at least he seemed like he was trying to. “I’m not scared of you, Jughead. I’m not scared of anyone. So you can take those glaring pretty blue eyes of yours and shove them up your ass.”

“You have some nerve.”

“I have some nerve,” she gasped theatrically. “Do you even work here? Let me speak to the manager. I want to speak to them.”

“You’re looking at him.” 

“Of course I am,” she growled. “I need my car towed. Just get it towed to town. I’ll work on it myself. I‘d even pay you to use one your bays and tools.” He threw his head back and laughed, then looked back at her.

“You work on a car? Do you even know how to pop the hood?” Emily balled her fists tightly at her sides. “I’ll get your car in the morning.”

He headed over to the phone on the wall. He gave Emily a weird look then picked up the phone and dialed. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw a phone with a cord. It reminded her of the old phone in her grandmother’s kitchen. 

“Nikki,” he growled into the phone. “We have visitors...” Visitors? “How the fuck am I supposed to know? She just strolled into my garage talking about her car being broken down... I told her I can’t tow it until morning, so you figure something out...”

“You’re ridiculous,” Emily yelled then made her way out the door. The bells sounded behind her. She heard him calling after her. She wasn’t stopping. She needed a moment to gain control. The cord had looked like the perfect weapon to strangle him with. The man got under her skin. He was nice on the eyes but a shitty human being. 

Emily headed down the street towards the diner. It didn’t take her long to reach the diner. She found Selma’s car right away. It was the only one that was of this century. Emily began to walk up to the door, but something made her stop. Deep down she had a gut feeling she needed to go the other direction.

She peeked through the diner’s windows. It wasn’t a big diner so she could see from the front door to the kitchen. She gazed around but didn’t spot Selma anywhere. Where did you go?  

She wondered if Selma could have woofed down her food and went for a walk. Maybe Selma decided against the diner and went for a walk instead. Emily panicked. She didn’t like the thought of Selma wandering around the Twilight Zone town. 

She took another look around the diner before deciding to go search for Selma. She couldn’t have gone too far. 

Crash! 

The sound of lightning striking off in the distance made her cringe. Everything about this town was eerie. She would feel a lot better once the town of Camden was in her rearview mirror. That’s if she could get Jughead to tow her car. If he wouldn’t, she would just have to see if Selma would take her back to it.

“She couldn’t have gone too far,” Emily sighed. She looked around and decided Selma would have stayed near the town square. Or at least that’s what she hoped.

Emily headed up the street adjacent to the garage. She wanted to keep the garage in view in case Selma went to look for Emily.

Emily made it to the corner where the town library was. Still no sign of Selma. Or anyone for that matter. She made a right and continued walking the square. She passed a tailor shop, laundromat, and even a fortune-telling shop. She shuddered as she passed the fortune telling shop. She didn’t see any lights on in the shop but she felt like she was being watched. 

We are going to end up on an episode of 48 Hours. That was if Selma’s family reported Selma missing and Dr. Hemington reported Emily missing. Emily had left home at seventeen after a huge falling out with her parents. They were never caring parents so she doubted they would have reported her missing even if they were still part of her life.

Emily had just made it to the next corner of the town’s square when the sky opened up. It began to rain cats and dogs. Lightning flashed through the sky. The wind whipped around. She looked over her shoulder and debated running back to the diner or garage. The diner gave her the creeps, and she really didn’t want to wait the rain out with the pompous ass. She was between a rock and a hard place.

“Damn you, Bitching Betty!” Emily turned to head back to the garage. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a gazebo. “Score!” She took off for the gazebo that rested in the middle of the town square. It would do the trick for now and spare her from going back into the garage. 

Emily made a mad dash to her safe haven. She ran up the gazebo’s two steps and came to an abrupt stop. There was somebody already in the gazebo. Her DC shoes slid on the slick wood and she fell backward. The ground never came though. A muscular arm had wrapped around her waist. The smell of Old Spice cologne, aftershave, and peppermint filled her nostrils. It was a weird combination, but something about the aroma made Emily swoon. 

“Easy. I gotcha,” a husky masculine voice said. It was one of those voices that could make any woman melt. 

“Th... thanks,” she breathed as her hero helped her stand. His arm remained around her waist. She could feel the warmth of his body against her. 

She looked up to see the man who was so bold to still have his arm wrapped around her waist. Just like Jughead, he was close to 6’5”. His features were hard to make out because there wasn’t much light. The only light was the light posts’ lighting up the path to the gazebo. 

From what she could tell, he had dark hair that was cut short and swept back and off to the side. Unlike the mechanic, mystery man’s face was clean shaved. He was wearing a suit and dress shoes. Emily could tell about his shoes because the lights were gleaming off of them. 

“You okay, Miss,” he asked looking down at Emily.   

“I am fine. Thanks again.” She took a step back and put some space between them.

“New to town?” 

“Not quite. Just passing by once I get Jug... the mechanic to tow my car to town. I can fix it and get back on the road.”

“Ah. I see,” he chuckled. “A woman after my own heart.”

“Excuse me.” Emily couldn’t help but frown at his poor attempt at flirting. 

“Fixing cars. Few women know how to do that.” 

“In this day and age, women can do a lot of stuff. They don’t need a man,” she proclaimed. She wasn’t even sure why she said it. He hadn’t said anything offensive, yet she felt the need to defend women and their abilities to be independent. 

“Yeah. I suppose times would have changed by now.” Changed by now? The man was talking as though he was stuck in the past. 

Emily stared out at the rain that still hadn’t let up. The lightning was striking every few seconds. And the thunder was roaring. She doubted the storm would pass anytime soon. 

Click. 

The sudden change in lighting blinded Emily. The man had turned on the lights to the gazebo. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she turned towards the man. What she came face to face with made her heart skip a beat.