He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed over a business card that had a bunch of shiny silver car parts embossed on it. His name was stamped in black and there was contact information as well as the address for a garage in Orange County. “You can reach me at the number on there and the website is up-to-date if you want to check it out so you know I’m not trying to scam you. Figure out what your bottom line on the Hudson is and if it’s reasonable I’ll see what I can work out. If you decide to pass, no hard feelings. We both know that kind of car will find a buyer in a hot second. I’d like to see it go to a guy who appreciates what he’s got and what it could be, but I learned early on in my career that I can’t save every beauty that comes my way.”

He looked away and I had the distinct feeling we weren’t talking about cars anymore. Every time this guy showed up at my shop it got weird and I wasn’t really sure what to do with that. I tucked the card in my pocket and told him, “Let me look at some things. I’m not going to tell you that I’m not tempted but I also have my first kid on the way so anything that’s going to cost a mint has to be carefully considered. I’ll give you a call in a few days after I crunch some numbers.” Before Kallie had dropped the bomb that we were going to be parents I would have snapped up the Hudson without a second thought, but now I had someone else I was responsible for making good choices for, even if that someone wasn’t quite here yet.

The older guy made a noise that sounded a little like he was choking and rubbed his hand over his mouth.

“You’re going to be a dad?” The words wheezed out and he loudly cleared his throat to cover the obvious strain in his words. “Congratulations, kid. That’s great.”

His reaction was so bizarre that I decided I’d enough of the conversation. There was something about this dude that was a little too intense for me. “Well, it wasn’t exactly planned and the circumstances could be better but I’m gonna do my best by the kid.” I snorted a little bit and looked down at the worn toes of my boots. “I had a shit example set for me by my own parents, so if anything, I know what not to do.” The guy made that choking noise again and I hooked a thumb over my shoulder at one of the open bays. “Thanks for stopping by and for having faith in my ability to handle the Hudson but I gotta go pay the bills. The minivans and SUVs are what keeps the lights on, and the guys who work for me paid. There’s no shortage of them waiting to be fixed.” I patted the pocket where I stashed his card and assured him, “I’ll let you know which way I’m gonna go in a few days.”

The guy seemed to shake himself out of a stupor and flashed me that friendly and familiar grin. “Sounds good, kid.” He ambled back to his car.

I roughly scraped a hand down my face and tilted my head back so I was looking up at the clear Denver sky. “I’m too tired for this. All I wanted was a cup of coffee.” The sky didn’t offer any kind of sympathy but Molly had a fresh pot of coffee in the office when I finally made my way inside. If I wasn’t so wrapped up in pretty Poppy and wasn’t too smart to court a sexual harassment lawsuit, I could have kissed the girl in gratitude.

The rest of the day dragged on much as I expected it to. I was chugging Red Bull at two in a desperate bid to keep going, with lackluster results. I wanted to cry when I called it a day for the rest of the crew at the end of regular working hours but knew I still had to stay to make up for my wasted hours during the morning. All I wanted was a beer and a soft bed … well, a softer woman wouldn’t hurt anything, but I didn’t want to be greedy.

I was shoulders-deep in the engine of a Jeep Cherokee when my phone started ringing. I knew it was Poppy by the bright, cheery ring tone I’d assigned to her. I was always the one that reached out to her, so the fact she was calling me, especially when I told her I would be in touch after work, had everything inside of me going on alert.

“Poppy?” I couldn’t hear what she was saying because she was crying and her voice was so shrill and high I was pretty sure only dogs could understand her. She was incoherent and I could practically feel the way she was sobbing through the phone line. “Honey, I need you to slow down and tell me what’s wrong. I can’t understand you.”

She wailed again but I heard her take a calming breath, and even though her voice cracked, she managed to get out, “I dropped Happy’s leash when we were out walking. He’s gone! He’s going to get hit by a car or attacked by a bigger dog! I can’t find him anywhere!” She started sobbing again and I pictured her collapsing in on herself in the middle of the sidewalk, falling apart with no one there to hold her together. I wiped my dirty hands on the legs of my coveralls and started shutting down the garage before I was really aware of the fact I was moving. The task usually took an hour but I didn’t bother to sweep the floors or shut off the lights. I made sure all the machines were shut off and that there was nothing left on that could burn the place down as I raced out to my car.

“Give me twenty minutes and I’ll come find him.” I kept my voice calm but on the inside I was just as scared as she was. Happy might be a pit but he was still a baby and he had no idea what was out there in the big bad world. He was so small that I didn’t want to start thinking about all the bad things that could befall him if I couldn’t find him.

“It’s too late. I ruin everything.” She sounded heartbroken … no strike that … she sounded broken period. It made everything inside of me tie itself in knots and had my heart kicking double time with worry and in fear.

I almost dropped my keys getting into the Eldorado and swore loudly, which made her cry even harder. “Poppy where are you?”

She didn’t reply for so long that I strongly considered hanging up and calling 911. She sounded like she needed help and I was still too far away to offer it to her. I was terrified of what I was going to find when I finally made it to her.

“Poppy?” I barked her name with more force and that seemed to get through.

She wheezed through the line and told me she was walking up and down the blocks near her apartment complex off Downing. She was looking in the decorative bushes that lined the walkways leading up to most of the converted Victorians in that part of Capitol Hill. She said she was also checking under cars and in the alleys that passed between buildings, which led me to scolding her to be careful. I was worried about her wandering the streets in her obviously hysterical state. She was as much at risk as the puppy was.