I hung up and dropped the cordless back into its base and shook my head. “Uh, Jack Harrington.” She’d think I was totally stoned or something. I opened the fridge to look for something to eat. What did I care what she thought? I’d just bought her a car, she wasn’t going to hate me, that’s for sure.

I marched back to the living room and unmuted the television, then channel surfed till I found a football game. I ate my sandwich and stared at the screen, my eyes following the game and my brain in a completely different realm. A long time passed before I realized I’d spent it all thinking about her.

GRACE

“HE GAVE YOU a car?”

I held the phone a few inches from my ear as Missy squawked. “Ow. Quieter, please. And yes. How incredible is that?”

“He just stopped on over, dropped the keys in your hand, and said it was all yours?”

“Believe it or not! You were right, Missy; God provided.”

She laughed in evident amazement. “That He did. What did you say?”

I laughed. “Thank you,’ about a million times. I even called him to thank him—”

“He gave you his number?”

“Well, that’s the thing, he gave me his card and said to call if there was a problem with the car. So I called after he left to leave him a message and tell him thank you again. It was his assistant!”

“He has an assistant?”

“Apparently. I was so embarrassed. And she had no idea what I was talking about. It was awful; I felt so stupid.”

“I’m sure you didn’t sound as bad as you think.”

“I hope you’re right. Man, I wish I could drive, I want to test it out.”

“We ought to take it for a spin tomorrow after work.”

“Ooh, great idea! I wonder what features it has.”

“You should read the owner’s manual.”

“Oh, now that’s fun.”

“Hey, never know what useful tidbits of information you’ll learn.”

“Whatever. Call me when you get home tomorrow, okay?”

“Will do. Have fun admiring your new ride.”

“No problem there.”

I grabbed my jacket, hobbled down to the car, and scrambled into the front seat to avoid the rain. I readjusted the seat to suit my outstretched leg and sat staring at the dash. It smelled faintly of vanilla.

I turned it on to look at the lights on the display. It had a full tank of gas. What a gentleman! I played around with the radio, changing all the presets and fiddling with the equalizers even though I didn’t really know what they did. The owner’s manual sat alone in the glove compartment; I pulled it out and started skimming. Dry reading, to be sure, but useful.