“Nothing wrong with new customers. Everyone is online now,” Rob says, playing peacemaker. He gives Devin a stern, disappointed look. I try—and fail—not to look smug. “I can’t get that sister of yours to put down her cell phone for more than five minutes. Damn thing is practically glued to her hand.” I look between Rob and Devin, confused. Rob makes it sound like he’s more than just Devin’s boss. Stepdad maybe? “Tell me about this new computer system.”

I perk up, excited about this system and how much easier it’s going to make Devin’s life. “I researched a wide variety of systems, all with a different array of functionality, to find the ideal one to address your shop’s specific needs while maintaining a low price point.”

I open my laptop, loading the software interface for a demonstration. I click through a few menus. “It is clean and simple, easy to use but has all the functions your staff will need to replace your current paper system.” I pull a box of brake pads out of my bag and open the app on my phone. “Any smart phone or device can be turned into an inventory scanner.” I hold my phone over the barcode and wait for the beep before pointing to the screen.

“Would you look at that?” Rob grins when the brake pads pop up on the new invoice.

I smile wide, ignoring Devin’s gaze. “Each part will be added to an invoice automatically when scanned by your mechanic and simultaneously removed from inventory. This system will manage inventory, payroll, billing and scheduling. It even has interoperability to facilitate online customer bookings.”

Rob nods in approval. Devin scowls at me.

“Best of all, no more hours wasted with redundant data entry or trying to read Mikey’s horrible chicken scratch.”

Rob chuckles.

“We can’t afford this,” Devin snaps.

I grit my teeth and resist the overpowering urge to snarl. “While there will be upfront costs, these technological improvements will grow your customer base while streamlining overhead and minimizing non-income-generating man hours. As far as training is concerned, I’ve selected a program that’s intuitive to minimize training time.”

“The guys are never going to figure out how to use it. Waste of money,” Devin argues.

I rest my elbows on the table, lean forward, and narrow my eyes on Devin. “You could at least pretend to keep an open mind. Not all change is bad.”

“Not everything needs to be fixed.”

“You don’t give us old dogs enough credit, Dev. Some of us like learning new tricks,” Rob butts in.

“Thank you, Rob.” Devin and I both lean back and cross our arms. Rob studies the charts in front of him while we leer at each other. There is a challenge in Devin’s eyes. His glares at me like he wants me and hates me a little because of it.

“I’m going to have to talk it over with Mandy.” Rob re-stacks the charts in a neat pile. “How about you two come over for dinner tomorrow night?” he asks, standing. Devin and I don’t break eye contact as we both get up and push our chairs in.