When The Mechanic meets The Doctor

Chapter 11: Behind Letter J!

Her jogging outfit was dropped on top of her dirty clothes pile and as she dug in her drawer for a clean pair of underwear, Deanna realised how long it had been since she had done some laundry.

Certainly before she had arrived in ... damn, she cursed silently. She still did not know the name of the town. She showered quickly, as was her habit after jogging and dressed in a cool pair of linen pants and a close fitting t-shirt.

Deanna gathered together the dirty, rumpled clothes and stuffed them into a duffel bag, zipping it closed just as someone knocked on her door.

"Seems to me that I was rude to just leave so sudden before. Thought I might ask if you'd maybe like to come to town with me. If you ain't got no plans for the day."

Watching J's obvious discomfort, Deanna half expected the woman to start kicking the ground and say 'aw shucks'. "Do you think you could maybe take me to a laundromat?" she asked response and both women smiled.

The drive to Bakerstone took little over a half an hour and the women filled the time talking, both comfortable in each other's company. Aly's earlier outburst came up and they both laughed. "So how long has Aly been there anyway?" Deanna asked. "One minute it seems like she arrived a week ago and the next you'd think she owned the whole town."

J laughed. "She sure has a way, don't she? I ain't too sure how long she's been running her roost. I been at Dusty's nearly three years and she all but adopted me when I landed. Mighty grateful she did, too," J added after a moment.

"So what's your story, J? And what the hell is J short for anyway?"

"Jemma," the mechanic answered with a shy smile. "Was named after my mama and my mama's mama and ... you get the point. Been called J since I was a baby."

"Jemma," Deanna repeated, studying the woman's profile. "Suits you. It's a beautiful name."

J smiled her half smirk and glanced out the window as Deanna realised what she had just implied. "May I ask what brought you out here?" Deanna quickly asked, hoping to save J from her discomfort.

"Other than my truck? Don't much know. Like I said, I just landed here. I was just driving trying to find a place to be. Clutch started sticking so I pulled off the interstate and asked Billy if I could borrow some tools. Next thing you know I was teaching him how to replace a head gasket and now, here I am."

"No family to go home to?" Deanna asked distractedly petting Rosco's head.

"Oh, I got family back in Georgia," J replied bitterly. "They just don't want me in it no more."

"They're all fools," Deanna stated flatly after a moment. "Every last one of them." Then she feigned interest out of the window to allow J a moment to herself.

The two women had an easy day, doing their chores, eating lunch in a quiet restaurant, discovering a mutual love of fantasy novels and finally strolling through the grocery store together.

As a thank you to J for her help, Deanna bought J a CD of her favourite jazz musician and it played gently in the truck as they cruised back home.

Neither wished to part from each other's company, but neither wanted to admit it either. Finally, Deanna offered to buy J dinner at Aly's and they rolled to a stop outside the diner.

"Looks busy tonight," J commented as they walked to the door, but Deanna never got the chance to answer.