Finding Home (Complete)

6. Encounter.

As far back as I can remember, my family has always gotten their cars through JJ Lane.

My grandfather had known John Joseph Lane since he was a toddler, as our family's have lived on the same street for decades. The Lane's and Mitchell's are the local equivalent of Ben & Jerry's and peanut butter and jelly.

Dad had grown up with JJ's son, Thomas, who opened the auto dealer and mechanic shop before I was born. Once their business boomed, Thomas and his wife moved to the other side of the state to open and run another auto place of the same name. When Liam mentioned setting me up to look at a newer car there, I was gladly surprised old JJ was still kicking.

Liam dropped me off before heading into the hospital for another twelve hour shift. He sent me with the credit card wired to my parent's estate money. As I now walk into the building, I turn the plastic card in my palm, it feels as though it weighs a hundred pounds.

I used to have a copy of this card before Liam caught on to my flare for unhealthy substances.  He had no idea how bad it was but he knew I was spending a lot of money with nothing to show for it.

During a nightly blow out in the kitchen, he demanded that I hand it over and angrily took the scissors to it, only making me more mad in the moment. The flash of the memory of the disappointment in his face as he screamed at my irresponsibility still haunts me. It made the way he handed it over to me in the car cause a lump in my throat. He didn't even hesitate, nor give me a lecture, or anything of the sort. He really is trying, and it warmed my heart to realize it on my own.

The loud jangle of the bells on the door startled me. I take a look around the fairly empty reception area, welcoming the cool breeze from the overhead air conditioning. A row of old styled chairs sit to my left, they are the same ones I remember playing on while Dad had his oil changed when I was little. Behind the small desk, a board of nearly four dozen keys hang, and I can't help but smile at how truly large this place had grown into.

I spot a framed image of JJ above the key board, and I get lost in my mind remembering dear, old JJ. His navy eyes sparkled madly, behind layers of crows feet and laugh lines. His once sandy brown hair is now snowy white, his thin mustache as well. I feel like a little kid looking at a portrait of Santa Claus, or a grandfather who rides a Harley on the weekends. I remember the year that JJ had played Santa in the winter parade. His face was rosy that night, at his perch in the back of the fire truck. It wasn't because of the bitter cold and snow falling, it was from the boisterous laughter as the children screamed for him to throw candy to them. JJ is the definition of a small town guy that everyone loves and wants to know.

"Can I help you?" A gritty, deep voice snaps me back to the present. I'm face to face with crystal blue eyes, boring into me quizzically.

"Um, hi. Sorry." I rattle, surprised. I've never met this guy before, but I instantly wish I have.

He's absolutely gorgeous.

His sleeves of his black henley are pushed up to his elbows, allowing the shirt to cling to clearly defined biceps. The exposed parts of his arms are already filled with grease and dirt. His backwards baseball cap has a thin line of collected sweat, framing wisps of light hair sticking to his sweat gleamed face. I feel my cheeks blush as I know I've spent way too much time checking him out. I shake my head free of the distraction. "I'm here to see JJ?"

"JJ?" He looks at me puzzled again, silently sizing me up. I quickly check my surrounding verifying that I am, in fact, in the right place. He pulls a rag from the back pocket of his jeans and quickly wipes off what he can from his hands. "You didn't hear?"

"No. I mean I just came back to town after a couple years. My family are life long friends of his." I feel panic slip into my chest. Liam would've told me if JJ passed away right? I glance back up to the picture, he doesn't look old or sick enough to have died... "oh god, JJ didn't die right?" I fail to hide the slight duress in my voice.