The Therapeutic Effects of Tea
by sloanranger
Part 6
Ernie had worked on lots of cars in the course of his service, both military and civilian but he had rarely seen such a beautiful piece of machinery.
It was a 1923 Daimler and someone had kept her to a tee. He had seen a one or two in service, driven by Generals, generally. The ones he had come across though, were nothing compared to what he saw before him.
She was the color of chestnuts. Her cushions were the same hue and of the finest leather. Her chrome and glass sparkled like Ernie's teeth and he was thunderstruck.
He came over, taking the straw from his mouth and leaned down to the open window of the car. "A fine day, Misses. A bit of petrol?"
"Yes, thank you, whatever she needs."
Ernie went about filling the tank, checking under the hood and cleaning the windows, unabashedly admiring the automobile the whole time.
"Be two shillings, Miss."
When Ernie brought their change, he offered:
"If I might say, Misses, yours is the prettiest motorcar I've seen since I got back from the Army."
"Yes, it was Father's pride," Verna replied sociably. Viola, sitting in the passenger side, lowered her head to peek out the window.
"The one thing he ever allowed himself, managed by sheer circumstance."
With Ernie's silence Verna concluded the explanation: "His oldest customer went abroad. Sold it to him quite reasonably."
"Well, if I might say, your ol' Dad took proper care ov' her, he did."
(To be continued).