Finding Her Way

Chapter 21

Rider and I spent the night together on the couch, just talking. I completely forgot about school until Rider woke me up.

"Hey beautiful, it's school time," he whispered, running his hand up and down my arm.

I bolted out of Rider's grasp.

"If you disliked me so much, why didn't you say so?" He joked.

I shook my head and ran upstairs. I took the quickest shower known to man kind and walked into my room.

Rider was sitting on my bed.

"Jesus!" I yelled, pulling my towel closer to me.

"Where?" He asked, teasing me.

"Ha ha. Get out. I need to get dressed," I said quickly. We had 20 minutes until school.

He sighed and left.

I pulled on my gray ripped skinny jeans, black Beatles tshirt, and red high top converse. I put my hair up in a bun and ran out the door.

"Come on Rider, we're going to be late!" I yelled, running down the stairs. Rider was casually eating a bowl of cereal at my kitchen table.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"It's Saturday, sweetheart," he laughed.

I stared at him in shock. "What the actual hell?"

"I wanted to take you somewhere special, and we're going to be there all day. So I tricked you," he smiled. I leaned across the table and kissed his lips.

"You're lucky I love you," I said, stealing his spoon.

"We've got a little bit of a drive so we should be going," he decided.

"Okay, let's do this thing!" I cheered.

Rider smiled and took me to his car. We drove out of town, down a dirt road. We talked easily for the whole ride. Being with Rider was as easy as breathing.

"Okay, so I'm taking you somewhere very special to me. And you will also meet someone very important to me," he stated.

"Ooh, a mystery!" I smiled.

"Just understand that I don't do this often. This is where I go to clear my head," he said.

I gave him a mock salute, "Sir, yes sir!"

He pulled into a small auto shop. There were a few cars parked outside. An older man walked out of the garage and greeted us.

"Rider, my boy. Decided it was finally time to come help me?" The man laughed.

"Yeah, and I wanted you to meet somebody," Rider said, confident.

"Is this the pretty lady you've been talking about?" The man asked, holding out his hand.

"I'm Rider's father, Levi," he introduced.

I grabbed his hand out of instinct.

"I'm Skylar, it's really a surprise to see you. Rider didn't tell me I would be meeting any parents," I smiled.

"Rider talks about you a lot. I'm glad to see he's found somebody. And he brought you down to a little peace of heaven," Levi observed.

"I think this place is really cool. I know a little bit about cars," I explained.

Rider glanced at me then smiled.

"Well come on in, I've got a lot to do," Levi said, pulling me into his shop.

********************************
I was changing the oil on the fourth car that day. Levi, rider, and I made a great team, we were getting things done.

"Rider, would you go to the gas station and get us some drink, I forgot to bring some down," Levi asked.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a few," he said. He gave my head a quick kiss and walked out.

"So Mr.Lee, how long have you been working on cars?" I asked.

"First off, it's Levi. And most of my life. My father handed down this shop to me and I plan on doing the same for Rider," he answered.

"I think that's really cool. I don't have family to pass things down to me," I explained.

"No family at all?" He asked, confused.

"My mom travels for work and my dad died in this town in a car accident. I really don't know if I have aunts or uncles. But I did just meet my long lost sister and her husband,"I said.

"That's too bad. You seem like a really nice young lady. And you've got a great taste in music," he winked, pointing to my shirt.

I laughed, "I got that from my dad."

"So you're mom travels the world for work? I don't mean to be rude, but that's an awful parent," Levi told me, shaking his head.

"You grow used to being alone, you know?" I asked.

"If anybody would understand that it would be Rider. He lost his mom a few years back and they were very close. He kind of lost all emotion and integrity. But never since he found you, he's changed," Levi said, frowning.

"Rider has changed me too. Your son makes me really happy," I complied.

"Well I'm glad. Everybody deserves to be happy," Levi said.

Rider walked back in with a 12 pack of Gatorade. He chucked one to me and then his dad.

"What are we talking about?" He asked, leaning up against a car.

"Talking about how much you slack on the job," I teased, sliding back under the car to finish the job I started.

"I don't slack, I pay attention to detail," Rider said, joining me under the car.

He leaned in close to my face.

"Your dad is really cool," I whispered.

"You're really cool," he countered.

I pecked his lips.

"Why don't you stop slacking?" I asked.

"I'm paying attention to detail," he murmured, watching my every move. As I closed the new filter nice and tight, Rider slid out from under the car.

"That was really sexy," he whispered, pulling me in for a hug.

"I'm just doing what I do best," I whispered back.

"Skylar, thank you so much for coming down and visiting. I'm expecting to see you again," he said, pointing.

"I'll probably be around more than Rider," I laughed. This shop was really relaxing. Just working on cars and talking endlessly was something everybody needed to experience.

"I probably won't be home tonight dad," Rider said, winking.

"Just use protection, I'm too young to be a grandpa," Levi said, stern.

I blushed at how open he was.

Rider guffawed. "Too soon, dad."

"Never too soon!" He yelled ad we walked out of the garage.

Rider and I laughed all the way to his car.