SPARKS FLEW FROM the wire brush on the drill as Alex scrubbed rust from the brake calipers of a Dodge Challenger. A sudden influx of cars to be repaired meant Manny had a backlog of work. That suited Alex fine. He needed something to do with his hands to keep his mind from idling.
Not that things had been going all that well in the shop today. While troubleshooting an intake gasket on an idling Crown Victoria, he’d sprayed carburetor cleaner with what turned out to be too free a hand around the intake, causing the engine compartment to burst into flames. The fumes of the carb cleaner must have gotten sucked into the distributor cap and touched off by the ignition spark, with the flames quickly spreading to all the oil and grease accumulated under the hood. Some prompt squirts from the fire extinguisher had taken care of the blaze, leaving Alex to ponder the flammability of carburetor cleaner and wonder whether mechanic work was a safe occupation for a guy who’d just had his heart ripped out and handed to him on a trash-can lid. But what else was he going to do? Brood in his apartment, going back through Lauren’s Instagram for the zillionth time? No thanks. On the balance, flammable liquids and heavy machinery were probably his safest bet.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He felt bruised inside, pulverized. He couldn’t believe she’d blown him off that way—and yet it had been exactly what he’d expected from the start.
So he’d made a mistake. Now it was time to move on.
If only it was that simple.
He couldn’t think straight. He felt like he’d left part of his brain somewhere.
He shut off the drill and wiped the loosened rust from the calipers with a damp rag.
“Alex. That you under there?”
It was Tony’s voice, and from the sound of it, he’d probably been waiting awhile for the drill to stop. Patience was not one of Tony’s virtues. Alex was lucky his brother hadn’t tried rocking the body of the car to get his attention.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Well, come out. I want to talk to you.”
Tony was mad, and not just about the wait. Alex could tell, because Tony was using that voice.
In many ways Tony was a weird candidate for older brother. He wasn’t a studious person, or diligent, or steady, or particularly responsible. Alex was more like a firstborn. Tony would have done better as the baby of the family, with his charm and carefree ways. But he had his moments, times when he’d suddenly rise up out of his free-wheeling, fun-loving disposition and get all puffed up with righteousness and big-brotherly authority. You never knew what might set him off. Dumb stuff, usually, like his bottle of hair product being moved aside in the bathroom cabinet. It was totally random and really annoying.
Alex rolled his way out from under the car’s body on the creeper.
Sure enough, there Tony stood, bowed up and indignant, looking about three inches taller and twenty pounds heavier than usual, like an avenging angel on steroids.
“What’s up?” Alex asked. If he kept cool, the whatever-it-was would probably blow over pretty soon. Tony’s temper was impressive while it lasted, but it never lasted long.
Alex wasn’t feeling very cool right now, though. He felt more like an ignition flame waiting to come across some carb-cleaner fumes.
“That’s what I want to know. What’s up with you, man? What’s your problem?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s my problem?’ What’s your problem? You’re the one with the attitude. I’m just minding my own business trying to get some work done.”
“Don’t play dumb. I want to know what happened between you and Lauren.”
Wow. Besides a broken heart, I get my older brother on my case about it. Bonus.
“Look, Tony, I’ve got a lot to do today. After this brake job I’ve got to overhaul a transmission. I don’t have time for this right now.”
“No. You don’t have time for anything but work and your dress-up history games. There’s no room left in your life for anything that might get in the way of those things.”
Alex rolled back under the car and started spraying caliper paint. “You’re way out of line, man. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then tell me. Why did Lauren leave?”
“Because she’s a flake. All in the moment, living the experience and not able to stick to a task and see it to completion. She’s childish and shallow and thrill-seeking. She can’t see anything that isn’t right in front of her face.”
“So that’s it, huh? You think she’s not good enough for you? Not a suitable wife for someone who wants to be a rancher?”
Alex rolled back out again, stood up and reached for his water bottle. “We’re too different for it to work.”
“Oh, wow, what an insight. When did this wisdom come to you? I notice she wasn’t too flaky for you to get involved with to begin with.”
“I didn’t think it through, okay? I shouldn’t have done it. I see that now. I saw it at the time, but I couldn’t stop myself. But it’s over now before any more complications can mess up my life.”
Tony grabbed his arm. “Don’t call it that.” He was so mad he was shaking, and for a second Alex thought his brother was going to hit him.
Alex was mystified. “Call what that?”
“The baby, moron. Don’t call the baby a complication.”
Everything went blank. Alex felt his mouth opening and closing soundlessly, like a fish out of water.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Tony went on. “I saw the expectant-mother packet in her van, in the holder thing behind the driver’s seat. It’s the same kind Dalia got at her first appointment, and it had Lauren’s name on it. I just...wow. I always knew you were stubborn, and fixated on the family land and Texas history in a borderline unhealthy way. But I always figured you’d snap out of it when you fell in love. I didn’t think you’d just use a woman and then cut her loose. I mean, it makes me feel like crap, because I actually wanted the two of you to get together. I knew she’d been done wrong by that scuzzball ex-husband, and I felt bad for her, and wanted her to find a good, kind, decent guy. And who better than my own brother? I thought you were that, at least.”
Alex’s voice started working at last. “Lauren’s pregnant?”
He pulled his arm free and started walking around the garage with his head in his hands. She was pregnant? And she never told him?
Suddenly a lot of things made sense.
“Alex, I—I’m sorry, man. I just assumed you knew. It never occurred to me that she didn’t tell you.”
Tony really was sorry. Alex knew that. As angry as he’d been before, he was twice as sorry now, and willing to do any generous or helpful thing possible. Alex could ask for the actual shirt off his back right now and Tony would give it to him without a moment’s hesitation.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “It really sucks, not telling you.”
“It’s not my baby.”
Pause. “It’s not?”
“No.”
Another pause. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! And thank you very much for assuming the absolute worst of me.”
“Dude, I’m sorry. Really I am. It’s just...well, you have spent a lot of time together lately, and I could tell there was something there. And if it’s not yours, then whose is it?”
“Has she taken off yet?”
“She left about an hour ago. I’m so sorry. I wish now I’d come sooner. It’s too late.”
“Maybe not.”
Alex peeled off his nitrile gloves, picked up his phone and started tapping.
“There. She’s on Old Meyer Road, just past the bridge.”
“Whoa, what is that? Some sort of stalker app on your phone?”
“No, we just turned on our locations and shared them with each other, when we went to the Béxar reenactment. I can see wherever she is as long as she has her phone.”
He unzipped his coverall and started to shimmy out of it. It clipped him pretty tight in the shoulders, and getting it off took a certain finesse, but today he had no patience. He tried to use the sole of one work boot to kick off the other and ended up falling over.
“Whoa, are you okay? Is that how you take that thing off? How are you even alive?”
Alex looked up at Tony from the floor. “Quit being a smart aleck and help me.”
It wasn’t much better with the two of them pulling at cross purposes, but eventually Alex was upright and free of the coverall, in just his Under Armour boxers and tank. He stumbled to his locker and pulled out one of the shirts hanging inside.
“If I head east on the loop, I can probably intercept her. It might take a while to catch up, but I’ll be monitoring her progress, and I know the roads around here better than she does.”
“I don’t know, man. That sounds kinda creepy. Maybe you should just call her.”
“No. Some things you have to do in person.”
“Well, if you’re going to do it in person, then wear the other shirt, the blue one. And take your hair out of the ponytail.”
“Why?”
“Just trust me. Whoa! Whoa! You’re getting your buttons all messed up. Come here.”
Tony got him buttoned up, took off his safety glasses and looked him over. Then he smiled and gave him a bro hug with two thumps to the back.
“Thanks for coming,” Alex said. “Even though you did place my behavior in the worst possible light. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known.”
“You’re welcome. Godspeed, brother.”
Alex got into Rosie and drove away.