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.“I figured Metallica or Korn, but not Brantley.”He laughed and glanced at her.“Oh, I like them too, but some days I just enjoy myself some country.”Anna nodded in agreement.“Me too.”“I am glad we are in agreement on what to listen to at least.Music is generally the first way you learn if you will get along with someone or not.”Anna nodded again.“It is.I can’t be friends with people who regularly listen to Kenny G or Michael Bolton.They remind me of my grandma too much!”“Now, now, there are some good Michael Bolton songs.How ’bout ‘Jack Sparrow’? You can’t lie and say that’s a bad song.”Kyle began to belt out several lines of the Lonely Island song causing Anna to clutch her stomach in a fit of giggles.“Oh my geebus! Stop! That song is too funny!” His Michael Bolton impersonation was killing her.Kyle laughed too.“Another Lonely Island fan, I see.Let me serenade you with more!”Kyle sang lines from at least three other songs, causing Anna to snort.“Ha ha ha ha, I made you snort! That’s awesome!” Kyle blurted.He banged his steering wheel in amusement.“Oh, shush!” Anna continued to laugh.She was enjoying his company and was regretting that they were now pulling into the parking lot of the auto parts store.A few minutes later they were done recovering the part and were back at her car, pulling the old part off.“Tell me why you have an old Camaro instead of some little compact car.Don’t get me wrong, I love these cars myself, especially since my old man drove one when I was younger, but there has to be a reason why you are driving some unruly, gas-guzzling beast that’s hard to drive in rain and snow,” Kyle said while banging on the small part he was replacing.Anna leaned against her blue baby casually and folded her arms against her chest.Her father had asked her the same question a few weeks ago, and she was tired of having to explain it.“I just love these things.My dad bought one when I was fifteen, and I was only allowed to drive it on weekends when I was in high school.I fell in love with Camaros then and wanted one of the new ones when they first came out.But when I drove one, something was missing.I dunno what it was, but once I found this old man, I knew I would never be happy driving any other car.I might eventually get a little Honda or something, but for now, this is enough for me.”Kyle looked up from under the hood of her car and nodded.“I get that.People sometimes ask me why I am driving around some beat-up, seventeen-year-old pickup, but I love it and plan on driving it until it falls apart.”Kyle wiped his hands on some napkins Anna had recovered from inside her car, and slammed the hood shut.“Well, we are done here.Want me to follow you home? If you still wanted one, I could give you a quote on your lawn too.”Anna pushed off from her car, happy this afternoon was going much better than she could have expected when she first couldn’t start her car.“Sure.Let’s go!”It took them ten uneventful minutes to get out to Anna’s house on Otter Gap Road.Since her place of employment was already on the edge of town, her house was well into the country.Dwarfed by an acre of field in the front and two acres of lightly wooded backyard, her small two-bedroom house was perfect as far as Anna was concerned.It was far enough back no one could see into her open windows but not so far back she couldn’t see someone pulling into her paved driveway.Eventually she wanted to start a garden on part of the property and dig a pond, but for now she was happy with her overgrown flower beds and shade trees.Her house might not be new, and it might not be large, but she had bought it for the land.She was lucky a family friend was moving to Florida and had wanted to sell it cheap.“Welcome to Casa Mara, home to Anna and Chester, the big ginger tabby.” Anna gestured, welcoming Kyle to her home when he got out of his truck.“Damn, lady, got enough yard?” Kyle clicked his tongue, taking in the fence row separating her property from the rolling cow pasture next to it.“Yeah, it’s a bit much for me to maintain, obviously, since I don’t have one of those big riding mowers you landscapers do.” Anna surveyed the six-inch high grass.“Takes me all weekend with my tiny push mower, and it died last weekend cutting the weeds along the fence row, so yeah, I need help.”Kyle chuckled and jotted down some notes on a scratch pad he had taken from his truck.“I can fix you right up.Let me walk around for a few minutes, and I can give you a price, okay?”Anna nodded and headed towards the house.“Kyle, just come right on in the front door when you are done.I will have some tea waiting out for you.”Kyle simply grunted and walked around the side of her house, mumbling.Anna was a little worried he would quote her some outrageous price now that he had seen her yard, but then she remembered he hadn’t even mentioned what she owed him for the part for her car [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]