Rumors

Chapter 1

Emily

I drive down the two way road that takes me out to Dad's, windows down, music loud. College is done, degree in my hand and world of possibilities at my feet.

When I decided to defer for a few months before starting work, I only did it to come home, to remind myself of why I left. On top of spending some time with my Dad. He's getting up there in age and with me being so far away soon, I wanted to help him down size his belongings. The nostalgia and homesickness has been creeping up on me these last few months and I feel I really need a reminder of why I went to college so far away instead of the community college one town over. I need to be reminded of the parts of me I've left behind and leave them here permanently.

I pull up to Dad's and park. The house is the same as it's always been, not a thing out of place, the yard mowed and various projects Dad has started and given up on strewn around the yard. Dad walks out the front door to greet me, taking my bags.

"It's good to have you home Emily." He says with a smile. He sets my bags at the foot of the stairs for me to take up when I'm ready.

"It'll be nice to be here for a few months Dad." I tell him because it's true. I've missed my Dad. He's the only family I have left with Mom gone.

"What do you think about dinner?" He asks, "Eat in or go out?"

"Let's eat in. I'm beat!" He nods and makes for the kitchen. I join him and we work on simple sandwiches together in silence. The sounds and smells of my childhood home wrap me up in a bittersweet feeling. I've barely spent more than a few days here on breaks over the last few years. I'm finding I'm actually glad to be back to stay a while.

"Any plans for the summer?" He asks, breaking our companionable silence.

"Just catching up with old friends. Maybe hit a few parties." I tell him, "I promise not to bring anyone home." He chuckles. The sound of his laugh brings back a flood of memories, all good ones. I had a good life here, a good childhood.

"I know hon." He says, "You've always been a good girl." He ruffles the top of my head, mussing up my hair. That was just the problem. I was always the good girl. The goody two shoes, straight A's, teacher's pet. I never did anything wrong. I never partied, I never drank, I never spoke out of turn. This was the standard I set for myself. To make Dad happy, to please the town's folk. It worked. I made my Dad happy and the town proud. That's the thing about small towns that really suck. They never forget who you were. You make one mistake and they remember that forever and never let you live it down. I decided young that I would never be the talk of the town in a negative light so I never was. I didn't spread my wings until I left this god forsaken town behind me.

Jake

"Did you hear that Emily is back in town?" Miles asks me. He can't see my roll my eyes from beneath the car but my lack of answer should be enough. "Emily, from high school? I heard she's back to spend time at home before she moves to LA."

"You gossip worse than the ladies after church Miles." I grunt out, "Who cares if Emily is back?" I'm staring up at the skid plate of this car that's fighting me, refusing to budge.

"You talk like you've been to church before. I care man! Did you see her at Diggerson's party last year? She's hot as fuck these days. Grew up real nice." He says, I can practically hear him licking his lips. I roll the creeper I'm laying on out from under the car and stare up at him. Miles is my best friend and a damn good mechanic but his player attitude grates my ears these days.

"She'd never go for you Miles." I say, "She never went for anyone back in school, she sure as hell didn't come back to this shit hole to hook up with you." Miles laughs.

"Maybe it'll just be a summer fling. A little taste of country life before she goes big city." Miles starts picking up my discarded tools and putting them up. "You need anything else before I go?" He asks.

"Nah man, get out of here." I shoo him out, "Go to Fat Jack's. Have a drink for me." He all but pouts at my words, a confirmation that I won't be painting the town with him tonight. He takes off and I walk inside the office, pausing to wash to grease off my hands and forearms before settling in my office chair.

I look around the room I used to spend hours in, learning everything about our business from Dad. Now, just a picture of him hanging on the wall behind me is what's left of him. That picture and this body shop he left to me. It's been two years of running this place alone, putting in the hours and the work to keep my guys paid and the lights on. In a lot of ways, Dad dying made me grow the fuck up but in others, it made me stop growing completely. I stopped going out with Miles when the bills weren't getting paid because I wasn't bringing in enough work to keep the shop afloat. It hit me that the guys who work on the cars had families to support and if I couldn't keep the lights on here, they couldn't keep theirs on at home. So I pulled my boot straps up and put in the hours myself to get jobs finished, to be on call 24/7 to tow cars in. I stopped drinking, stopped dating, moved into the empty apartment above the office, I ate slept and breathed the shop. Keeping this place running was all my Dad ever wanted and I had resigned myself to make that happen for his legacy. I'm sure I'm not doing it the way he would have liked but I'm giving it my best, which honestly isn't saying much.

Dad always believed in me, in the way that parents are supposed to believe in their kids. I never cared to live up to his beliefs back in high school. I drank, smoked and just generally did all the shit my friends were doing, which was being up to no good at every waking moment. I got arrested a few times for stealing, vandalizing, whatever I felt like doing on any given weekend night. I skipped school because what was the point of going? I didn't even give a rat's ass about the shop until Dad got sick. Everything changed when he couldn't turn a wrench anymore, all he could do was tell me what needed to be done and I did it. I'm still doing it.