The morning went by quickly. Most of the paperwork Gabe had to do was on the Chevy ( and on the computer), tallying up the hours and parts costs. The deposit check she had given him easily covered his parts and sub costs. That's how he did business so if there was a problem with a customer all he would be out was his time. He felt fortunate that he never had that problem so he kept doing what worked. He had done the same thing with Mindy but things had changed over the last weeks, hadn't they? They'd changed A LOT!
Gabe usually gave his friends a break, no mark up on parts and a slightly reduced labor rate but this was a very different situation. He felt odd charging the woman he loved for labor. So that's why you're not supposed to mix business and pleasure. It makes sense now but that was his business, she came to him and she signed a contract. But if he didn't charge her for his labor he could probably write it off as a loss or a donation on his taxes. He'd call his tax guy before making a decision.
He saved and closed the program and headed into the shop to look at this '32 project. He put it up on the lift and brought out the power washer. Starting the process all over again excited him with the possibilities every time.
Washing the underside of the truck brought no surprises and showed the usual problems. Gabe swept up the truck's decades old dirt and washed the dust out the shop bay door, rolled up the hoses and put the washer back under the workbench. The clock on the wall said eleven fifty five, time to head up to the house. When he came into the kitchen Mindy had sour dough grilled cheese sandwiches in the frying pan.
"I hope this is okay for lunch," she said and he assured her that was great as he headed for the refrigerator.
"Love it! What would you like to drink?" he asked.
"Diet Coke, please." Gabe grabbed one for her and a beer for him and put them and two glasses, one with ice, on the deck table. When Gabe returned Mindy was putting the grilled cheeses and potato chips on plates. She picked up the plates, he got a couple napkins and went to the deck.
After lunch they put on their hiking shoes and headed down the hill. The trail wound along near the top of the valley along an elevation contour line so it was flat and Gabe loved watching Mindy's 'contour lines' as he walked behind her. The views of the valley from the trail were breathtaking and they had hiked a couple easy miles before turning to go home.
As they walked back it seemed to Mindy that they should be getting close to the house but she had no idea where to leave the trail. Gabe faked fear that he didn't know either. He stopped teasing when he saw concern in Mindy's eyes, assuring her he'd played along the trail since he was a child. Gabe pointed to a barely visible path and she climbed up the steep bank, sure enough popping out right at Gabe's driveway by the shop. They walked hand in hand up to the house and when Gabe opened the garage door he saw Mindy's car in its spot, feeling a sense of completeness.
The rest of Monday was low key as they each worked to pay the bills, knowing the other was near. Late in the afternoon Gabe heard Mindy's car start up at the house and he walked around the corner of the shop to see her backing down the drive to him. She stopped and got out, giving Gabe a deep kiss and very tight hug, pressing as much of her as she could against him.
"I have to leave for the airport but I'll see you at noon sharp tomorrow?" she asked, knowing he would be there.
Gabe answered, moping exaggeratedly, "Yeeeaaahhh, I suppooooose."
She laughed and kissed him again, getting back into her car. Once again, Gabe was releasing his dove, this time more confident she would eventually come home to stay some day.
"See you tomorrow! I love you!" she said to him as started up the drive.
"I love you, too!" Gabe shouted as she pulled away, this time sure of it.
That evening Gabe dug through his freezer, pulled out a chicken pot pie and put it in the microwave. Seven minutes later he had an upside down pie, spreading into a plateful of delicious, bubbling, steaming hot carbohydrates. He brought it into the living room and found some car shows he had recorded and ate while he watched. After the third show he started feeling tired so he cleaned up his dishes and headed up the stairs to his empty bed. Again. He showered, obviously it wasn't nearly as much fun without Mindy. Nothing was as much fun without her. He climbed into his empty bed and all he could think of were the things he loved about her and was finally able to get to sleep.
Monday was a day of de-construction which meant disassembling the '32. It was a simple vehicle and came apart easily. He pulled the front fenders, grille and radiator off, giving him access to the 8BA flathead V-8 engine. There was a dual carb manifold and headers on it which told him there may be some more to this engine but he wasn't as familiar with flat heads as newer engines. With his engine hoist Gabe pulled it out and set the engine in the bed of his truck. After he tied it down, he headed to Johnson Engines to drop it off for a rebuild. By the time he got the engine lifted out of his truck and the heads were pulled off for a preliminary inspection at Johnson's the afternoon was pretty well gone. Gabe was thinking about Mindy so much he couldn't focus much on work anyway.
She called that evening after she brought her parents home from the airport. They were excited to see her and they talked about their trip non stop as Mindy drove. She was glad that her dad hadn't yet noticed that his car was missing. "So, are you missing me?" she asked.
"DUH!" he said.
She laughed, "I'm missing you too." They talked for quite a while and the conversation was flowing easily again. They were both tired and ended their call, happy to get together the next day at noon.
Gabe woke in his bed alone. He really didn't like that any more and it almost seemed that even though he and Mindy were more together their number of nights together was static. He was willing to give it more time to see if they continued to grow closer and the over-nights went up. He went downstairs and had a bowl of cereal on the deck and, as everything had been, it wasn't as much fun without Mindy.
After he ate Gabe went upstairs and got ready for the big reveal. He hadn't driven grandpa's car yet so he wanted to put a few miles on it himself before giving it to Mindy's dad. He left home at eleven and pulled out on the road, rowing through the gears as the exhaust burbled out the back. The Chevy drove the country roads flawlessly, never giving Gabe any concern. He stopped to fill the tank and get a soda to drink. When he got back in the car he dropped his head to his chest, embarrassed to have missed a very important upgrade... cup holders!
It was eleven forty five when he pulled onto the shoulder of Rt. 20 a short distance from Mindy's folks' house. He waited ten minutes and then drove down the road, pulling into the gap in the blackberry bushes at 20809.
Mindy and her parents were sitting on the porch, about to have lunch when they saw the Chevy rolling up the drive. Her dad got up and walked to the end of the porch and looked at the empty space behind the garage where his wagon was supposed to be. He looked back at Mindy who was smiling at him and jumping up and down like a little girl.