The Mechanic.

Chapter 4

Ella opened the door for Josh to crawl into the backseat and handed him his backpack after he was settled in. He was grumbling about not being allowed to ride shotgun even after she had explained to him severally how the backseat was safer for him. She patted his brown curly hair and went round to get into the driver's seat.

After she had started the car and they were moving, She tried to make conversation with the grumpy little boy in the backseat.

"So, how was school today sweetie?" She asked.

"Cool." He answered shortly. Ella smiled to herself, he was so salty. She took a quick glance at the mirror to see what he was doing and as she had expected, he was frowning so adorably.

"Come on, Josh," she coaxed. "You can't be mad at me forever."

"It's not even been thirty minutes." He said as if he knew how long thirty minutes was.

"It doesn't matter. It's been long enough." Ella whined. He wouldn't be able to resist much longer. She decided to sweeten the deal. Literally. "You can have two of those lemon cupcakes after lunch."

She looked at the mirror again to see his reaction. His face burst into a grin immediately she had finished talking. "Really?" He asked happily, all his anger immediately forgotten.

Ella smiled. He was too easy. "Mm hmm."

"But isn't that too much sugar?" He asked, reminding her of all the times he had asked for two cupcakes and what her response always was.

"It is, but we can let that slide this one time." She said turning her attention back to the road.

"Are you trying to bibe me, mummy?" He asked.

Ella burst out laughing. "It's bribe, baby." She corrected. "And where did you learn that word?"

"TV," was his short reply.

"No, baby. I'm not trying to bribe you. I'm just being nice," She was definitely trying to bribe him, but he didn't need to know that, or think that bribery was acceptable.

"Okay." He replied as he pulled out a storybook from his bag and occupied himself with it.

"Honey, we're going to make a quick stop at the garage, okay?" She said to him after a few minutes.

"Cool."

****

"Hey, you showed up." Jon said cheerfully as he walked toward her. He hadn't been around when she had arrived but no one else had agreed to check out her car, they had all told her that Jon had given them strict orders to come find him when she showed up. She watched him as he approached. He was wearing his navy overalls as usual, but the top part was hanging down from his waist and the sleeves were tied around his waist. He was not topless, no. He was wearing a grey wifebeater which was fitted and highlighted all of his muscles. He was wearing huge boots on his feet and there was a grease stain on the tan skin of his muscular bicep.

Ella forced her gaze back to his face, it was not less appealing, his hair was messy like his fingers had run through it one too many times. His amazing eyes were happy and she completely given up on resisting his smile. She smiled back. "Of course. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"Well, I had my doubts." He nodded. "I thought that since my dad wasn't around anymore, you might..." His voice trailed off.

"Well, I still need to get my car checked." She replied. "I know absolute nothing about cars."

As he opened his mouth to respond, another voice joined the conversation. "Mummy! I'm thirsty and the water in my bottle is finished." Josh said from where he had come to stand beside her.